WICHITA, Kan. - Southern Illinois University's 1986-87 men's basketball team was 0-5 before it got its first league victory. This year's edition didn't want to wait that long, and it was clear from the start Wednesday night at Koch Arena.

The Salukis hit six of their first nine shots, finally found an inside presence and jolted Wichita State, 74-62, Wednesday night in front of 10,103 fans.

Ryan Hare led five Saluki starters in double figures with 18 points and a team-high eight rebounds. Bryan Mullins extended a one-point lead with a critical 3-pointer from the left side of the arc, and helped SIU overcome 19 points from Wichita State post J.T. Durley to snap a three-game slide.

"Coach talked about always keeping our poise, especially on the road," Mullins said. "They cut it to one, I think, and we were able to hit a couple shots to stretch it back out. That's what you gotta do on the road. They're going to make their runs, and the crowd is going to get into it, but you gotta find some shots. Earlier in the season, we probably would have gone scoreless for three, four, five minutes and never come back.

"I guess we're growing up a little bit."

The Salukis (6-9 overall and 1-3 in the Missouri Valley Conference) fell over each other to make contributions to the win. Shortly after Mullins put SIU ahead 59-55, Carlton Fay took a charge to get the basketball back with 7:40 to play. Hare then drew two of his game-high 10 free throws, and put the Salukis ahead six with two shots. Big Nick Evans, SIU's 6-foot-11 center, then did enough defensively to distract Durley from making one of his easiest shots of the night.

Durley, a 6-7, 233-pound forward who was 8-of-9 from the field, may have been able to score a dunk before settling for a five-foot jumper in the paint. Evans, trying to draw a charge, flopped with no call with 6:45 to play. Durley pulled up, then rimmed out his jumper. Evans came up with the rebound, and after Fay hit one of SIU's eight 3-pointers on the next possession, the lead grew to nine.

Wichita State (6-9, 0-4) was held without a field goal for the last 5:52 and lost its fourth straight.

"It just seemed like every time we almost got a stop, there was a near travel, the ball was loose, they come up with it, they get it to a shooter with a second, second and a half, and pull the rabbit out of a hat," Shockers coach Gregg Marshall said. "That's what good players do, and he's a good player, as is (Kevin) Dillard."

Dillard, averaging 19.7 points per game in conference play, went for 14.

Tony Boyle and Fay helped SIU jump ahead early. Boyle, who turned 23 Wednesday night, scored eight of the Salukis' first 18 points. Fay scored eight of his 15 points in the opening six minutes of the game to help SIU go up 18-7.

Boyle finished with 12 points, just three off his career high, on 5-of-8 shooting. The 6-8 senior was shooting nearly 40 percent from the field entering the game, but had tripped a few bunnies off the rim more times than Saluki fans could count. Wednesday night, he almost couldn't be stopped, and SIU followed suit.

"This was probably the first game, probably since Charlotte, that he's finished plays off, and he's getting the same looks every game," SIU coach Chris Lowery said. "When he does that, he gave us a 10-point cushion, because he made five layups in the first half. That cushion helps us, because, then, our guards are not depending on freshmen to make plays for us down the stretch at the end of a shot clock, when he does that for us."

Behind Boyle and Hare, SIU outshot WSU 18-15 at the free-throw line, making 16 attempts to the Shockers' nine. It was only the fourth time all season SIU made more free throws than its opponent.

Hare made all 10 of his attempts at the stripe, but was more concerned with getting as many tries as he could.

"That's just what I do. I try to attack the basket, and get to the free-throw line and make free throws," he said. "Just being aggressive is the most important part. We did a good job of getting to the line and being aggressive."

With 14 conference games left, the Salukis hope their first MVC win becomes a springboard into Saturday's contest against Evansville. SIU was picked to finish second in the conference in the preseason poll, just behind favorite Creighton.

"Coach always says confidence is always a win away," Mullins said. "We're getting a little more confidence, and we get to go home for a game. We want to start something here. A lot of people think we're out of it. We still have half our season left, so, we can erase a lot of stuff that's happened in the past with a good second half of our season."

todd.hefferman@thesouthern.com / 351-5087