Men's Basketball Leaves for West Coast
12/14/2001 | 12:00:00 | Men's Basketball
Dec. 14, 2001
CARBONDALE, Ill. - The men's basketball team left Friday on a six-day road trip in which it will play Cal-State Northridge on Sunday and Colorado State on Tuesday. The team will return home Wednesday.
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Salukis Heating Up From 3-Point Range: The Salukis have made nearly half of their 3-point attempts (14-of-29, 48.3) in the last two games (Indiana and George Mason). On the season, SIU is shooting 37.2 percent from behind the arc, and four Salukis are shooting 40 percent or better... guards Kent Williams (46.3) and Marcus Belcher (47.1), and forwards Tyrese Buie (50.0) and Brad Korn (40.0).
Defense Much Improved: A dramatic improvement has taken place for Southern Illinois on defense, compared to last year. Opponents' field goal percentage has dropped from 45.4 to 37.6 percent, opponents' 3-point field goal is down from 38.9 to 27.7 percent, and opponents' scoring has dropped from 72.0 ppg to 63.4 ppg.
SIU Versus the Big West: Southern Illinois beat Cal-State Northridge at SIU Arena, 73-67, on Nov. 24, 1991. It was the first and only meeting between the two schools. SIU is 8-1 all-time versus the current members of the Big West Conference.
Dawg Bites: Kent Williams has scored at least 20 points in four straight games, the longest 20-point streak in his career...At 7-1, the Salukis are off to their best start since the 1992-93 squad opened the season at 9-1...Rolan Roberts has scored double figures in six straight games...SIU has held all but two opponents (Saint Louis and Illinois-Chicago) below 40 percent shooting in the second half of games this season.
National Rankings: Southern Illinois is close to gaining recognition in the Top 25. The Salukis are 28th in the AP Poll and 32nd in the Coaches Poll. The last and only time SIU was ranked was during a three-week span in late Nov./early Dec. in 1976. SIU rose as high as #18.
Williams 22nd in Career Scoring: Junior guard Kent Williams became the 34th player in school history to reach the 1,000-point plateau when he did so earlier this year. In just his third season, he now ranks 22nd in career scoring with 1,118 points.
Block Party: Last year, SIU averaged 2.3 blocks per game. This year, the Salukis are averaging 5.0 blocks per contest. Rolan Roberts leads the team with 21 blocks (2.6 average).
Freshmen Make Impact: A pair of freshman guards, Darren Brooks and Stetson Hairston, have made a major impact so far this season. Brooks, a redshirt, is the team's top scorer off the bench (8.9 ppg) and fourth-leading scorer overall. He is also third in rebounds (4.0 rpg) Hairston has started every game and is fifth in scoring (6.6 ppg) and tied with Brooks for third in rebounding (4.0). He is also one of the top defenders on the team.
