Jake Odum had 17 points and eight rebounds to lead Indiana State to a 66-51 win against Southern Illinois in the opening round of the Missouri Valley Conference tournament on Thursday night.
Dwayne Lathan scored 15 points and Myles Walker 12 for the eighth-seeded Sycamores (18-13), who advanced to face top seed Wichita State in the quarterfinals on Friday. Indiana State is 4-0 in MVC tournament games under second-year coach Greg Lansing.
Mamadou Seck had 14 points and 11 rebounds and Kendall Brown-Surles 12 points for the No. 9-seeded Salukis (8-23).
Multiple times during the second half, Southern Illinois got within six points, only to see Indiana State pull away again.
A three-point play by the Salukis' Justin Bocot made the score 54-49 with 3:02 remaining, but the Sycamores responded with two free throws by carl Richard and two baskets by Lathan to restore a double-digit lead. Seck's layup made it 59-51 with 1:54 left, but that was Southern Illinois' last gasp.
Bocot finished with 10 points.
Indiana State shot 50 percent (25 of 50) from the floor.
