MILWAUKEE (AP)—Darren Brooks scored 26 points and Brad Korn added 15 Saturday to lead Southern Illinois to an 81-77 victory over Wisconsin-Milwaukee.
In a matchup of two NCAA tournament teams from last season, Matt Painter became the first Southern Illinois coach ever to win his first three games as coach of the Salukis. Painter replaced Bruce Weber, who took the job at Illinois.
The Panthers (2-1) were led by Dylan Page with 24 points and Adrian Tigert 14. In their last meeting March 22, Southern Illinois won 66-64.
The Panthers cut the Salukis’ 10-point halftime lead to two at 60-58 on a basket by Tigert midway through the second period.
But Bryan Turner made a 3-pointer and Sylvester Willis a pair of free throws to push the Saluki advantage to 65-58 and the Panthers never got that close again.
Southern Illinois, which made it to the Sweet Sixteen in the NCAA tournament last season, led at the half 48-38.
After a Chris Hill basket put the Panthers ahead 29-28 with 5:41 remaining in the first half, the Salukis took control by scoring 10 straight points, including a pair of 3-pointers by Korn.
