CARBONDALE - The bench that Southern Illinois University's men's basketball team was hoping for last season has already begun to pay dividends for Kevin Dillard.

Instead of playing an average of 30.9 minutes per game, as he did last year, Dillard has been able to split time with Kendal Brown-Surles, Justin Bocot and Tony Freeman at the point. Through two games, he is averaging 25.5 minutes per game, and recorded just the sixth double-double with points and assists in school history Tuesday against Indianapolis.

"Last year, I played a lot of minutes. Later in the season, I felt that," Dillard said. "So, I feel like, with Kendal coming in and (Bocot and Freeman) handling the ball, that takes a lot of pressure off of me."

Last year, the Salukis had hoped to have the 10-man rotation they've built this season, but defections and injuries took their toll. Guard Torres Roundtree and forward Christian Cornelius left the team, walk-on Brandon Allen only appeared in three games, and four-year starter Bryan Mullins suffered a stress fracture that knocked him out for the last month and a half of the 2008-09 season. With four newcomers and Nick Evans (then a redshirt freshman) having to carry the load, SIU struggled to a 13-18 mark, its first losing season since 1998.

SIU coach Chris Lowery feels so comfortable with his current 10-man rotation, he had all newcomers in the game for a period of time against the Division II Greyhounds on Tuesday night. The bench has proven to value its time. The Salukis have received 71 points off the bench in their two games, bolstered by junior forward Carlton Fay, a former starter who has 29 points this season.

Tonight at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas, Lowery will get to see how much his bench values its time, because there might be less of it.

"We've settled into a 10-man rotation, but now, we go on the road, and that rotation may tighten up a little bit," he said.

UNLV (3-0) comes off an 88-75 win Wednesday over Nevada.

Tonight's game is SIU's first in the Mountain West-Missouri Valley Conference Challenge, a four-year deal between the two leagues that will pit nine teams against one another in order of the previous year's finish. The Valley lost the first one when BYU topped Bradley. SIU is 13-4 against the Mountain West but trails the series against the Runnin' Rebels, 2-1.

"They go six deep at the guards, so I think that's a challenge for us, because we go six deep, too," Lowery said. "That's their strength, and we know that their guards were phenomenal (Wednesday) in a win versus Nevada, so we know that they are capable of going on big runs offensively and defensively. Coach (Lon) Kruger is a good coach. He's a Final Four coach. He's taken three different teams to Sweet Sixteens, so he understands how to win on every level. I think it is a challenge for us, but I think our team's up to it."

Dillard said a good start was key to tonight's game, which will be one of SIU's most important in a nonconference schedule that doesn't feature any current top 25 teams.

"If we come out early and have an aggressive start, I feel like we'll do fine," he said. "If we come out with a slow start and give them momentum at home, it's going to be hard to rebound from that."

todd.hefferman@thesouthern.com

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