Southern Illinoise University Athletics
Men's Basketball to Host League-Leading Creighton
02/18/2002 | 12:00:00 | Men's Basketball
Feb. 20, 2002
Southern Illinois (21-6, 11-4) will host Creighton (18-6, 13-2) tonight in a must-win game in the race for the Missouri Valley Conference title. If the Salukis win, they will pull to within one game of first place with two games remaining for both schools. If the Bluejays win, they will clinch the regular-season conference title. Purchase tickets by calling 618-453-2000.
The game will be televised live on Fox Sports Net Midwest and Cox Communications in Omaha, Neb. The game will be tape-delayed on Fox Sports Net Chicago at 3 a.m. on Feb. 21 and on Metro Sports at 3:30 p.m. on Feb. 21.
Satellite Coordinates: Galaxy 3 TR 9, Digital Slot A, KU Band
Complete Game Notes in PDF Format
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The Series vs. Creighton Creighton leads the all-time series with Southern Illinois, 36-24. The Bluejays have won 10 of the last 13 meetings overall and five of the last six at SIU Arena.
Defense Yields After holding every Valley team below 45 percent shooting this season, the Salukis allowed both SMS (45.6) and Illinois State (48.2) to top that mark last week. Not coincidentally, the Salukis lost both games. The only other team to shoot better than 45 percent against Southern Illinois this season was Colorado State (49.1) on Dec. 18. Last year, 17 of SIU's 30 opponents shot better than 45 percent.
Road Warriors Despite losing back-to-back road games for the first time this season, SIU still has the best road record (8-5) of any team in the conference. In fact, only five other Division I schools currently have more than eight road victories this season.
Home vs. Road The Salukis have been a dominating team at home, posting a perfect 11-0 record. SIU is less proficient on the road, with an 8-5 mark. Statistically, the Dawgs shoot better at home (48.0/44.6), score more points (82.2/71.1), and defend better at home (38.3/42.1). They also shoot better from the FT line at home (62.1/55.0).
Dawg Bites Illinois State made 27 free throws against the Salukis Saturday, the most by any opponent this season...Kent Williams has a 3.2 to1 assist to turnover ratio in MVC games this season.
Williams 12th 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 12th in career scoring at SIU with 1,406 points.
League-Leading Dawgs SIU leads the MVC in several categories... Scoring Offense 75.7 Scoring Margin +8.6 FG % 45.9 FG % Defense 39.9 Blocked Shots 4.7
