FanHouse RandalFalker

Creighton's 9-1 start was quickly forgotten when they opened league play with consecutive losses to Illinois State and Indiana State. It fell even further into history as the Redbirds and Drake kept winning games to pull clear of the rest of the league. Somewhere in the darkness, though, the Bluejays found their way. They beat Northern Iowa 68-59 last night for their fourth straight win.

While none of those wins have come against Illinois State, Drake or Southern Illinois, they can't be discounted. Three of them have come on the road, the Jays have played four of six MVC games away from Omaha, which boosts both their chances in the second half. They'll play seven of the final 12 league games in their building, which should serve them well. As the grind of the nation's toughest defensive conference takes its toll, Creighton can sit home and pick teams off and climb back to the top of the league heap.

That's not a given. Creighton's penchant for turnovers, highest rate in the league, needs to be addressed. They are sound everywhere else, though, and last night's 10-of-24 from three reminds us that all those Jays can shoot the ball. They're very deep, 11 guys average 10 or more minutes, and built well for the long road ahead of them.

Tonight's matchup between Butler and Southern Illinois had everything you look for in a trademarked bracket buster. There was no such marking on tonight's game, those aren't until February, but the outcome may make it hard for Southern Illinois to find their way into the NCAA tournament as an at-large team. A.J. Graves nailed a three from just inside the half-court line as time expired to give the Bulldogs a 57-55 win.

The loss drops SIU to 5-6 on the season and was incredibly frustrating. They complemented their defensive intensity with better than usual shooting, highlighted by Joshua Bone's best game of the year. Bone hit 7-of-10 from the floor, including five threes, and SIU shot a respectable 47.9% from the floor. That defensive intensity, which limited Butler to 15 field goals all night, had a downside, though. The Bulldogs went to the line 30 times and their 21 makes helped make up for their erratic shooting.

The fouls also kept Randal Falker on the bench for long stretches, another key factor in the loss. Falker had 14 points, seven rebounds and four blocked shots but wasn't around long enough to tip the game his team's way.

When Maryland beat Morgan State on December 6, it was Gary Williams' 131st nonconference home win in 134 tries. When Maryland hosts Delaware on Friday, he'll take his third whack at number 132. After losing to Ohio, Williams and the Terps got beat in College Park again yesterday by their neighbors from American. That's a pretty rare occurance in the 80 year history between the two schools. The only other Eagles win was in their first meeting, sometime in the 1926-27 season. The exact date has escaped memory, something that's unlikely to happen with yesterday's 67-59 win.

Derrick Mercer won't soon forget his 18 points, for example, and Bryce Simon will always remember his career-high 17. None of the Eagles will forget holding the Terps to five first half baskets nor will they need reminders of the way they outhustled, outrebounded and outdefended their more heralded opponents. For a team that's lost to Fairfield and Loyola (MD), this win came out of left field and will have Williams pulling out his hair in search of answers.

Greivis Vasquez had 28 points and the other guard Eric Hayes had 16 but the rest of the Terps only made four baskets. Maryland was so flat and lifeless, though, that its pretty clear the problems go well beyond shooting. Williams benched Braxton Dupree and Landon Milbourne in the second half, probably the first of many changes in what's looking like a long season.

Elsewhere on the mid major hardcourts:

Southern Illinois knew they were going to have to worry about Eric Gordon on the offensive end. The freshman was scoring 27 points per game entering play in Carbondale last night and was going to make it hard for the Salukis to extend their home winning streak to 16 games. They didn't count on him making such an impact defensively, though. Gordon had three blocks and two steals to go with 24 points, all keys in Indiana's 64-51 win.

Not that the Salukis did much to help themselves on that end of the field. They shot a brutal 37.5% and missed all but one of the 14 three-pointers they attempted. Matt Shaw and Joshua Bone, the players Chris Lowery counts on to balance his offense with Randal Falker inside, were 1-of-11 from deep which helped the Salukis to their second straight defeat. It was only the fourth loss for SIU in their last 84 home games and one that damages their effort to gain in national reputation.

Beyond Gordon, Indiana got strong games from D.J. White and Jamarcus Ellis. Each forward finished with a double-double as the Hoosiers outworked the normally tireless Salukis on the boards. In the end, though, it was Gordon who made the difference once again. He became the third man to score more than 20 points against SIU in the last two years and showed that, as good as the beginning has been, the best is probably yet to come.

Anyone who follows mid-major basketball will have their eyes on two games tomorrow. At noon, Davidson will try to knock off Duke and tomorrow night Eric Gordon leads the Hoosiers into Carbondale for a date with Southern Illinois. Each game provides a chance to make a major statement for the smaller programs against iconic teams that share their regions.

Davidson won't be able to rely on the singular brilliance of Stephen Curry if they hope to knock off the Blue Devils. They'll need a repeat of the team effort that nearly brought them to an upset of North Carolina earlier this month. Duke is even deeper than the Tar Heels, if not as talented, and the Wildcats will need to pressure them into something close to the 19 turnovers they got in the earlier game to have a chance. Kyle Singler will put a lot of pressure on Davidson's forwards while Curry can't afford to rest on the defensive end against DeMarcus Nelson and Gerald Henderson.

As for the Salukis, they'll need to turn in a performance that's 180 degrees from their work against USC last weekend.

The biggest strength of the Southern Illinois basketball team is their ability to slow down the game and turn it into a low-scoring slugfest. They had the ninth-best defensive efficiency in the nation last season which spurred their run to the Sweet 16 and that kind of intensity was why they were ranked in the Top 25 to start the season. It's not the most watchable or artistic brand of basketball in the world but it is a surefire way to close the gap in talent and Chris Lowery's team does it very well.
Well, usually does it very well. In Anaheim yesterday, their defense abandoned them. USC routed the Salukis 70-45 on the back of 59.5% shooting but that was only part of the reason why the result was so troubling. SIU was outrebounded, something which cannot happen if they are going to make noise this season, and they were 5-of-20 from three. Matt Shaw was a big reason for both shortcomings. He grabbed just one carom and missed four of his six attempts from deep, leaving Randal Falker to do all the heavy lifting. He did his part but SIU can't be a one man team and hope for success.