Southern Illinoise University Athletics
Men's Basketball Takes Aim at Northern Iowa
01/25/2002 | 12:00:00 | Men's Basketball
Jan. 25, 2002
CEDAR FALLS, Iowa - Southern Illinois (17-3, 7-1) will play at Northern Iowa (10-7, 5-3) Saturday in a key MVC matchup. A win would give the Salukis their best start ever in conference play.
The team travelled from Des Moines to Cedar Falls on Friday and practiced at the UNI Dome in preparation for Saturday's contest.
Complete Game Notes in PDF Format
Download Free Acrobat Reader
SIU Off to Best Start Since 1966-67 Season The Salukis' 17-3 start is the best since the 1966-67 team went 24-2 and won the National Invitation Tournament.
Best Start in MVC? A win over Northern Iowa would give SIU its best start in the MVC since joining the league in 1975.
League-Leading Dawgs In addition to being in first place in the MVC standings, SIU leads the league in several statistical categories... Scoring Margin +9.5 FG % Defense 39.6 Rebound Margin +5.2 Blocked Shots 5.0
The Series vs. UNI Southern Illinois holds a 19-7 advantage in the all-time series with Northern Iowa. The Salukis have won four in a row and eight of the last 10 meetings. SIU head coach Bruce Weber is 5-2 in his career against the Panthers.
Spreading the Wealth Five different Salukis have led the team in scoring in a game this season, Kent Williams, Rolan Roberts, Jermaine Dearman, Darren Brooks and Marcus Belcher.
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 1,306 points.
Dawg Bites The Salukis are 20-for-39 (.513) from 3-point range in their last two games...SIU is 14-0 in games where it outrebounds an opponent...The Salukis have held every opponent except Colorado State below 45 percent shooting... Opponents are shooting 39.6 percent against SIU this season. The last Saluki team to hold opponents below 40 percent on the season was the 1967-68 club.
Roberts Climbs Blocks Chart Rolan Roberts is climbing the school's single-season blocks record. After 20 games, he has 52 blocks and needs 38 more to tie Joe C. Meriweather's record set in 1973-74.
