Salukis' trip to the Sweet 16 not considered a surprise

	#3 Southern Illinois #6 Virginia Tech 63 48   Box Score Recap All Scores
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COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Southern Illinois is in the Sweet 16. This should be a really big deal, right? Time for the talking heads to fall all over themselves in shock that some school from Carbondale, Ill., is still alive in the Big Dance while the likes of Duke, Arizona and Wisconsin have gone home. Time for fans around the country to break out the inevitable "What's a Saluki?" line.

Not this time.

SIU may have been a Cinderella the last time it made it this far -- as a No. 11 seed in 2002, when Bruce Weber was its coach -- but the only surprising thing about the fourth-seeded Salukis' 63-48 second-round victory over Virginia Tech here Sunday was the margin of victory. After all, SIU only won by five the last time they played.

Having reached five straight tourneys, won the now-respected Missouri Valley championship and risen as high as No. 11 in the rankings this season, fans watching at home probably found themselves recognizing more of SIU's players -- veterans like Jamaal Tatum, Tony Young, Randal Falker -- than that of their ACC opponent.

"We've shown we're able to play with the supposed 'high-majors'," said guard Bryan Mullins. "Virginia Tech did well in the ACC, so it's good to see we could beat them twice."

The Salukis wore down the Hokies much the same way they've done 28 other opponents this season -- with a headache-inducing, in-your-face defense that held Virginia Tech to 2-of-13 3-point shooting while raining a slow but steady drain of 3-pointers (12-of-21) themselves. With Virginia Tech opting to collapse multiple defenders on Falker, Tatum (6-of-9 threes) and Young (4-of-8) kept getting open looks, much to the surprise of their coach.

"People in our league know how well Jamaal and Tony can shoot from the outside. That's why I kept yelling at them to shoot it," said the nation's hot-coach-of-the-moment, Chris Lowery. "But a lot of that had to do with Randal making good decisions [to pass back out]."

Most impressive about the Salukis' rout is they did it without the help of their lead-leading scorer, Matt Shaw, who sat out with an ankle injury sustained during his team's first-round win over Holy Cross. "With Matt Shaw being out, it was like we were playing with a fire," said Young. "There was a concerted effort from everyone on the court to go all out."

The 34-year-old Lowery made two previous Sweet 16 trips (in 2002 at SIU and '04 at Illinois) as an assistant to Weber, but this one "kind of validates us as a major program," he said. "We're going to San Jose on a mission. We're not just happy to be there. The first time [in '02], when we played Connecticut, we were in awe, and as soon as we felt like we might lose, we quit. We won't do that this time."

PLAYER WHO IMPRESSED ME

The Salukis fit the definition of a balanced team, but no one comes up big more consistently than Tatum, the Missouri Valley Player of the Year. Nearly every time Virginia Tech threatened to make a run, Tatum, who finished with a game-high 21 points, was there to answer with a three-point dagger. In a sign of things to come, Tatum hit consecutive treys late in the first half to open up a 28-20 SIU lead, which it took to the locker room. He then opened the second half with another three -- set up by a Young steal -- to make it 31-20. The Salukis led by double digits most of the second half, but when the Hokies mounted one last comeback attempt, cutting a 15-point lead to 10 with 5:42 remaining, Young drained a three to go back up 13 and Tatum hit a dagger with 3:38 left to put the game out of reach at 56-41.

COURTSIDE CONFIDENTIAL

With an impressive 10-point, 12-rebound, three-assist, three-block effort, Falker redeemed himself for a nightmarish performance (three points, four rebounds) in the Salukis' conference title-game loss to Creighton. Lowry said, "We held a closed-door meeting and I told him, 'You've got to get over this, it's one game. You're a first team all-conference player, you're too good to let something like one bad game affect you the rest of the way." ... After the final buzzer sounded, SIU players Young and Falker ran into the stands to celebrate with their fans and family. ... With just over a minute left and the outcome in hand, those same Salukis fans began chanting "San Jose! San Jose!" You don't hear that every day. ... Virginia Tech's 20 first-half points were a season-low. The previous low: 21, two nights earlier against Illinois. ... Through two games of the tournament, the Salukis are holding their opponents to 49.5 points per game, seven points lower than their season average of 56.5, which was good for third-best nationally.

BIG PICTURE

A matchup between the Salukis and top-seeded Kansas in San Jose on Thursday will be incredibly intriguing, even if SIU will be considered a heavy underdog. In an ultimate matchup of contrasts, Lowery's team will try to slow down Brandon Rush, Mario Chalmers and the rest of the usually fast-paced Jayhawks with their trademark defense. Kansas will have an obvious athleticism advantage, but not as much as you might expect from a mid-major. Tatum, Young and Falker are plenty athletic, even if they don't get to show it too often due to the Salukis' plodding style. "We guard everyone the same, whether it's Kansas or whoever," said assistant coach Jack Owens. "We know they like to get out in transition, and we'll try to take that away from them."

Realistically, the Salukis - who average 63.2 points per game - don't have the firepower to win six straight games. But a Final Four trip? Don't rule it out. They are, after all, a No. 4 seed and top-15 team nationally. They won at fellow Sweet 16 entrant Butler earlier this season. Kansas coach Bill Self was likely too consumed with second-round foe Kentucky to worry about his next matchup, but it's a safe bet he would have preferred to see Virginia Tech.