NCAA Game Summary - Evansville at Southern Illinois

St. Louis, MO (Basketball News) - LaMar Owen scored 18 points and grabbed nine rebounds to lead 15th-ranked Southern Illinois over Evansville, 93-67, in the quarterfinal round of the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament at the Savvis Center.

Darren Brooks also netted 18 for the Salukis (25-3), who earned the top-seed in this tournament by winning the regular-season title with a 17-1 mark. For the third straight year and the sixth time overall Southern Illinois has captured the top spot, however, it has been nine years since the Salukis have captured a tournament title, losing out to Creighton in the championship game in each of the last two years.

Southern Illinois might have a chance to redeem itself though as it will play the winner of the Creighton/SMS contest in the next round on Sunday.

Clint Cuffle posted a team-high 13 points for the Purple Aces (7-22), who finished the regular season just 5-13 in league play earning them the ninth- seed and a first round contest. In the opening round on Friday, the Aces pulled the tournament’s first mild upset with a 63-59 victory over eighth- seeded Indiana State. This was the first trip to the quarterfinal round since 1999 for Evansville, which also received 12 points and eight boards from Bradley Strickland in the setback.

Evansville is still just 3-10 all-time in MVC Tournament play and is still one of three teams to have never won the crown

The Salukis opened the game with a 19-6 run and they led the rest of the way. Sylvester Willis capped off the early spurt on a free throw with 13:05 left in the first half.

Evansville would not go away though as it trimmed the deficit to three after responding with 10 unanswered points. On two successful foul shots, Robert Nelson completed the burst, cutting the score to 19-16.

But the Salukis came out of their dry spell with a 15-6 run to remain in control. Brad Korn capped it off with a shot from the stripe and Southern Illinois led 34-22 with 1:48 remaining in the half.

Evansville went into the intermission down 37-25 after shooting just 28 percent from the field.

Brooks, who was recently named MVC Player of the Year, led Southern Illinois in the first half with 11 points. Brooks was also named Defensive Player of the Year, making him just the third player in league history to sweep both honors.

The Salukis broke the game open in the second half when they tallied 56 points.

Southern Illinois started the half with a 20-9 run to expand its margin to 57-34.

The Salukis led by as many as 34 when Jamaal Tatum hit a bucket with about eight minutes to play to put his team in front, 77-43.

Southern Illinois shot 46 percent from the field and won the turnover battle, 16-7.