Carbondale, Ill. - Southern Illinois used a 10-2 run midway through the second half at SIU Arena in Carbondale, Ill., en route to a 64-48 victory.

The Salukis scored the first four points of the game as the Billikens missed their first eight shots before III sank a jumper for SLU. The Billiken defense did not allow SIU to pull away as the Salukis still only led 11-2 nine minutes into the game. Kevin Lisch completed a three-point play, and a Liddell steal and layup brought SLU to 11-7. The Salukis slowly built a 19-10 lead, but SLU received two free throws from Ruben Cotto to close to 19-12 with just over five minutes left in the first half. Kwamain Mitchell swished a trey from the right side as the Billikens edged to within six at 22-16. However, Wesley Clemmons hit a long jumper at the buzzer to hand the Salukis a 24-16 lead at intermission.

Willie Reed scored on SLU's first possession of the second half, and a baseline jumper by Brian Conklin drew the Billikens to 24-20 forcing an SIU timeout. The Salukis hit four consecutive free throws to build a 28-20 lead five minutes into the half and eventually took a double-digit lead 32-22. SIU still led 34-24 until Liddell drained a jumper from the left elbow to cut the gap to eight. Lisch hit a 3-pointer on SLU's next possession to pull the Billikens to 34-29. A Mitchell drive and free throw edged the Billikens to 39-33 with 9:02 to go. SIU answered with a 10-2 run to take its largest lead of the night 49-35. The Billikens cut the lead to 10 on two occasions, but the Salukis tallied eight straight points to take control late.

Lisch led the Billikens with 13 points, while Liddell also reached double figures with 12. Carlton Fay topped the Salukis with 17 points.

The Billikens fall to 2-4, while the Salukis improve to 3-3. The Billikens host Savannah State on Saturday, Dec. 6. Game time at Chaifetz Arena is 7 p.m.