Southern Illinoise University Athletics
Men's Basketball to Host Indiana State Saturday Night
01/17/2002 | 12:00:00 | Men's Basketball
Jan. 17, 2002
CARBONDALE, Ill. - Southern Illinois (15-3, 5-1) will host Indiana State (3-12, 1-5) Saturday night at 7 p.m. Good seats are still available by calling the ticket office at 453-2000. The game will be televised in Terre Haute, Ind. by WTWO-TV.
Satellite coordinates: SBS 6, Transponder 18
Also, bring your ticket stub from the men's game to Sunday's women's game against Illinois State and get in free. The women's game starts at 2 p.m. Sunday.
Complete Game Notes in PDF Format
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The Series vs. Indiana State Southern Illinois holds a 62-34 advantage in the all-time series with Indiana State. The Salukis have won 20 straight games against the Sycamores at home. Their last loss to ISU at home was on Jan. 15, 1981. SIU head coach Bruce Weber is 5-2 in his career against the Sycamores.
League-Leading Dawgs In addition to being in first place in the MVC standings, SIU leads the league in several statistical categories... Scoring Margin +8.6 FG % Defense 39.4 Rebound Margin +4.6 Blocked Shots 4.9
Front Court Tandem The inside tandem of Rolan Roberts (6-6, 250, Sr.) and Jermaine Dearman (6-8, 220, Jr.) continues to impress. Roberts is second on the team in scoring (13.2 ppg) and rebounding (7.3 rpg), and leads the team in blocks (2.6 bpg). He also shoots a team-high 60.0 percent from the field. Dearman leads the team in rebounds (8.1 rpg) and is third in scoring (11.7).
Dawg Bites Opponents are shooting 39.4 percent against SIU this season. The last time a Saluki team held opponents below 40 percent on the season was in 1967-68...The Salukis have held every opponent except Colorado State below 45 percent shooting...The Salukis' 55 points at Bradley Wednesday night was its lowest output since scoring 54 at Bradley last season...SIU is well ahead of last year's attendance average (6,361 to 4,483).
Williams 16th in Career Scoring at SIU Junior guard Kent Williams is the 34th player in school history to reach the 1,000-point plateau. The team's leading scorer now ranks 16th in career scoring at SIU with 1,274 points.
Roberts Climbs Blocks Chart Rolan Roberts is climbing the school's single-season blocks record. After 18 games, he has 47 blocks and needs 43 more to tie Joe C. Meriweather's record set in 1973-74.
National Rankings The Salukis are currently 41st in the Coaches Poll, but did not receive any votes in the AP Poll. The only time SIU has been ranked was during a three-week span in late Nov./early Dec. in 1976. SIU rose as high as #18.
Defense Much Improved Southern Illinois' defense has improved dramatically since last year. 00-01 01-02 FG% 45.4 39.4 3FG% 38.9 33.1 Points 72.0 66.1 Only one team, Colorado State, has shot better than 45 percent against Southern Illinois this season. SIU has held 11 of its 18 opponents below 70 points this year. Last season, the Salukis held opponents below 70 points just 13 times in 30 games.
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 (10.0 ppg) and fourth-leading scorer overall. He is also third in rebounds (4.3 rpg) Hairston has started every game and is fifth in scoring (6.8 ppg) and fourth in rebounding (4.2 rpg). He is also third in assists (41) and third on the team in steals (23).
Block Party Last year, SIU averaged 2.3 blocks per game. This season, the Salukis are averaging 4.9 blocks per contest. Rolan Roberts leads the team with 47 blocks (2.6 bpg). Jermaine Dearman adds 0.6 bpg.
Playing a Role Every player on the 15-man roster has a well-defined role to play this season. The Salukis have used only one starting lineup throughout the season, and virtually the same playing rotation in every game. Last year, Coach Weber experimented with five different variations on the starting lineup.
Redshirting Three players will likely redshirt this season. Expected to redshirt are sophomore center Josh Warren, freshman center Stefan Jabkiewicz and freshman guard Matt Miller.
