CARBONDALE - Kevin Dillard still takes the losses pretty hard. Even the ones that don't count.

Southern Illinois University's returning point guard huffed and puffed a bit after Tony Freeman ended a pickup game earlier this week at Davies Gym. Despite playing with one of the Salukis' best incoming freshman, 5-foot-10 speedster Kendal Brown-Surles, and two juniors, Dillard's squad came up short for the third straight time. The next game, the 6-foot Dillard took things into his own hands, making the finger roll he missed in the previous game and finding junior college transfer John Freeman for a few other buckets.

After the victory, his walk was a little taller to the seats at the south end of the gym. This winter, Dillard, 19, hopes you can't tell what the score was when he walks off the court.

"It's good to play fired up, and with a lot of energy, but when people make mistakes, it's not good to show emotion on that, and that's what I'm talking about," Dillard said. "I don't want to bring any negativity to the team, because I feel like that was a part of last year. There were a lot of negative attitudes. If we stay positive, I think we're going to be special."

If the Salukis hope to rebound from their first losing season since 1998, they will likely have to do it through Dillard and Tony Freeman. Dillard started 22 of the 31 games he played in last season, and led SIU with 129 assists after former point guard Bryan Mullins was knocked out with a stress fracture. Without Mullins, a four-year starter trying to latch onto the Boston Celtics or Chicago Bulls this summer, Dillard was thrown into a three-way role as a true freshman. He was forced to find open teammates, score when no one else could, and lead a group of largely underclassmen in a league of upperclassmen.

Starting three newcomers at the end of the season, SIU finished 13-18 overall and a respectable fifth in the Missouri Valley Conference at 8-10. The Salukis missed the postseason for the first time since 2001, but could return six of their top nine from 2008-09 this winter.

Tony Freeman, a transfer from Iowa that had to sit out last season via NCAA rules, will likely share point guard roles with Dillard and Brown-Surles in his last collegiate season. Freeman was the Hawkeyes' leading scorer as a junior, averaging 13.8 points per game, and could give SIU a lot of the same things Mullins did. Brown-Surles, a lefty who averaged 18.1 points and 5.7 assists per game as a senior in high school, gives the position a bit more speed than Dillard or Freeman.

"Tony Freeman is a pure shooter. I really don't want to come off the ball this year. I wanna run the point and try to distribute a lot more," Dillard said. "He can get hot at any moment of the game, so I feel like if he runs off of picks, and can get open quicker, he can get more shots off."

Freeman cautioned about Dillard playing as a straight point guard this winter, as he was the team's leading scorer last season for a reason. Dillard was the Salukis' best 3-point shooter (45.2 percent), averaged 12.2 points per game and was the sixth SIU player to ever win the MVC's Freshman of the Year Award.

"He can't just have his mind, and just be focused on being a point guard. He's gotta be a player," Freeman said. "He's gotta be a guy, that's going to have to play defense, but be able to find the open man, run off screens, and shoot, too. He's going to have shots, just like I'm going to have shots. I'm going to have to make plays, just like he is."

Whoever becomes SIU's starting point guard when the team opens up against Tennessee-Martin could inherit quite a different group than Mullins had to start his final season. Four players return that started at least one game, yet, the Salukis could still have eight newcomers. Two junior college transfers, 6-5 forward John Freeman from Vincennes (Ind.) University and 6-4 guard Jack Crowder from Cowley (Kan.) College, could make the Salukis older, but are still newcomers to the system.

Second-year graduate assistant Tony Young, a former Saluki guard who was a part of four NCAA tournaments, said Dillard and Tony Freeman may rotate at the '1' in the middle of a half.

"In our system, and the way we play, he may be able to play both," Young said. "That way, the pressure don't have to be on him the entire time. Playing with Free, he'll be able to handle the ball and make plays for other people, too."

SIU coach Chris Lowery is not allowed to watch the team scrimmage during the summer, via NCAA rules, but said Dillard could play a few different positions this winter.

"We just gotta wait and see because we're going to have so many different pieces back," Lowery said. "Obviously, he's going to have the ball in his hands, but then you add Tony Freeman, and then our team changes because he can score. Different guys are going to play different positions during the game, according to who's hot. Learning how to play off the ball is going to be the big thing for him, and it'll help everybody else. He is such a dominant player. People are going to have to guard him."

If all goes well, Dillard will be walking tall a lot this winter. Win or lose.

"Last year I was immature on the college level, so, I didn't do a good job leading. I did a lot of crying when things didn't go my way, but, this year, I'm trying to work on that and stay positive," Dillard said. "I use that as motivation, that we got swept by a couple teams in our conference. I feel like next year, it's our time to pay 'em back, but it all starts with the head."

todd.hefferman@thesouthern.com / 618-351-5087