ST. LOUIS (AP) -After seven straight postseason appearances, all but one of them in the NCAA tournament, Southern Illinois fell way short this season.
The young Salukis finished at 13-18 with a 67-55 loss to Bradley in the quarterfinals of the Missouri Valley Conference tournament on Friday. None of the starters in that game, including two freshmen and two sophomores, started in last year’s tournament, and the team dressed just eight players.
Five of the players were in their first season. It was a big switch from the glory years, when the Salukis advanced to the Sweet 16 in 2002 and 2007.
“We beat up a lot of young teams on our way, and now we’re younger,” coach Chris Lowery said. “They’re taking their lumps now, but it’s going to make them stronger.”
Star guard Bryan Mullins’ season-long injury woes are a big reason for the school’s first losing season since going 14-16 in 1997-98. Mullins, the Valley’s defensive player of the year, missed the last nine games with a stress fracture in his right foot.
“We’ve never lost our best player and two years in a row, he’s been out at the end and we’ve struggled without him,” Lowery said. “But I think we’re going to be OK with these young guys.
“The other guys in our league really punched us this year and all our young guys really got a taste of what it’s all about.”
Southern Illinois is a perennial power in the Valley, winning the regular-season title four straight times earlier this decade. The school was a fifth seed in this year’s conference tournament, its worst since 1999, after winning its last two regular-season games.
“Our fans expect a certain level of play,” Lowery said. “They didn’t know how to provide that because they didn’t know how to do it all the time.”
Tony Boyle, one of only two seniors on the roster, had 16 points and six rebounds in the finale. Bradley coach Jim Les noted Boyle was playing with urgency.
“There is no tomorrow, and I tried playing like it,” Boyle said. “The only way there is going to be a tomorrow is if we make it to tomorrow.”
Guard Kevin Dillard, the Valley’s freshman of the year, was scoreless for the first time in his career, although he had six assists and played all 40 minutes.
“We don’t want to have a losing season,” Lowery said. “But what we can take from that is we got everybody’s best shot and still finished fifth. That’s something to build on.”
Missouri State’s run of seven straight winning seasons ended in a lead-in loss to Wichita State on Thursday. The Bears were 11-20 after their earliest elimination in 19 conference tournaments.
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