SEATTLE -- Alabama coach Mike Gottfried predicted it would take an upset to beat Southern Illinois, even though his team was expected to win all along.
It sure felt like an upset in the end when Antoine Pettway hit a 6-foot runner with five seconds left and the Crimson Tide pulled off a 65-64 victory Thursday in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
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Southern Illinois had a chance to win, but Darren Brooks missed a long jumper for the Salukis as time wound down.
The Crimson Tide (18-12), which had been 1-5 in the tournament over the past two seasons, had to scrape just to make it in this year. Alabama finished 8-8 in the SEC, and lost to Florida in the conference quarterfinals.
"When you look at it, the only reason people expected us to win the game is because we play in the SEC and they play in the Missouri Valley," Gotfried said. "They're an excellent basketball team. Darren Brooks could be a great player in our league.
"It's a great win for our program."
Southern Illinois came into the game ranked No. 23 in the final Associated Press poll. The Salukis ran off 17 straight wins in the MVC before losing the regular-season finale to Northern Iowa.
The Salukis (25-5) lost to Southwest Missouri State in the conference tournament semifinals, but received an at-large berth to make the NCAAs for a third straight season.
"We knew coming in that we'd be playing a great team. We knew they had a 25-4 record. We knew they had to be a good team," Pettway said. "We just focused on the Salukis and let everything else take care of itself."
Shelton scored 18 points for eighth-seeded Alabama, which advanced to face top-seeded Stanford in the second round of the Phoenix Regional.
After Pettway's basket, the Salukis inbounded to Sylvester Willis, who drew a midcourt foul by Chuck Davis. That left SIU with 2.8 seconds for a final play. The ninth-seeded Salukis again inbounded to Brooks, who missed a 16-footer from the left wing.
"It looked good when it left my hands," Brooks said. "It just went a little left."
Trailing 34-23 at the half, the ninth-seeded Salukis threatened when Brooks hit a 3 to make it 57-53. After Earnest Shelton answered for Alabama, Brooks got a layup to keep it close.
Jamaal Tatum's 3-pointer cut it to 59-58, prompting many in the sellout crowd to chant "S-I-U! S-I-U!"
Emmett Thomas came back with a fast-break layup for the Tide, and Southern Illinois' Brad Korn was fouled on the other end -- but missed an opportunity to tie it when he made just two of three free throws to make it 61-60.
Korn redeemed himself with a layup that made it 62-61, but then fouled Thomas, who made two of three free throws to move Alabama back ahead. Brooks hit a layup with 13.4 seconds left, but the Salukis couldn't stop Pettway's final drive.
"I don't know if we have anybody else on our team who we'd rather have taking that shot. He's made it time and time again," Shelton said about Pettway. "From the moment it left his hand, it looked like it was going to hit nothing but net."
Brooks led Southern Illinois with 25 points. Korn added 15, but was inconsolable after the game.
"My career is over. I don't care about points. I don't care about any of that," he said. "We just lost."
The game opened strong on defense but short on shooting until Brooks hit a 3-pointer to get things going for the Salukis, who extended the lead to 8-2 before Shelton hit a jumper and a 3 to narrow the gap.
The Crimson Tide pulled ahead 13-12 midway through the first on Thomas' tip-in. Shelton's 3-pointer pushed Alabama's lead to 19-14, but Brooks answered with his own for the Salukis.
Shelton hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer to make it 34-24 for the Tide at the half.
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