BOWLING GREEN, Ky. - Turnovers continued to plague the Southern Illinois University men's basketball team Wednesday night at Western Kentucky.

In its first true road game of the season, the Salukis gave away 18 possessions and were outshot 32-18 at the stripe to fall 79-70 at Diddle Arena. SIU cut a 17-point lead in the second half to six in the final minute, but couldn't ever take the lead against the Hilltoppers.

"We gotta learn to value the ball, No. 1, and our young guys need to understand it's not about them," SIU coach Chris Lowery said. "When we learn it's about our team, and losing yourself to your team, that's going to be so important for us from here on out, and that's where Bryan Mullins has to continue to lead them. He's done a good job, and they gotta buy in. We can't play that hard, like we did at Madison Square Garden, and then come and try to play at the end."

The Salukis (2-3) turned it over 12 times in the opening half and trailed 40-32 in front of 3,948 fans.

Carlton Fay, who scored 12 to go with six boards, led SIU with nine points in the opening half. Kevin Dillard had eight of his 10 in the first half. Freshman guard Ryan Hare led the Salukis with 16 off the bench in a career-high 30 minutes. Bryan Mullins added 11 points, grabbed three rebounds and had seven assists to three turnovers in 37 minutes.

WKU (2-2) had 15 assists, and seemed to hit every open look it got against SIU. In his first start as a Hilltopper, sophomore guard Sergio Kerusch had 20 points to go with Steffphon Pettigrew's 20. Orlando Mendez-Valdez (17), A.J. Slaughter (10) and Anthony Sally (10) all had double figures for WKU, which moved to 62-35 against the Missouri Valley Conference.

SIU fell behind by as much as seven in the opening half, but managed to tie the score at 25 with a Fay four-point play. Fay hit the second of two 3-pointers and was floored by WKU's D.J. Magley with 6:14 to go. His free throw knotted the score.

Both teams shot 48 percent from the floor in the first half, but SIU's turnovers proved to be a difference maker early on. The Hilltoppers scored 17 points in the opening half off Saluki turnovers. SIU got four off nine WKU giveaways.

Dillard got the Salukis within single digits after WKU took the first double-digit lead of the game at the 16.9-second mark. Pettigrew scored right off the right block and drew the foul on Christian Cornelius. His free throw made it 40-29.

Dillard then took a pass from Bryan Mullins in the left corner of the floor and hit his second triple of the night in as many tries.

SIU failed to become just the second team in the last 16 non-conference games to beat the Hilltoppers at Diddle Arena. WKU tied the all-time series at 10-10 with the win.

todd.hefferman@thesouthern.com / 351-5087