Southern Illinoise University Athletics
Men's Basketball an 11-Seed vs. Texas Tech
03/10/2002 | 12:00:00 | Men's Basketball
March 10, 2002
CARBONDALE, Ill. - Number 11 seed Southern Illinois (26-7) will face number 6 seed Texas Tech (23-8) in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on Friday at the United Center in Chicago at 6:50 p.m. CT.
The Salukis received the school's first-ever at-large bid to the tournament and fifth bid overall. Southern played first round games in 1995, 1994 and 1993, and advanced to the Sweet 16 in 1977.
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Excerpts from Coach Weber's Press Conference
On being selected to the NCAA Tournament:
We're thrilled to death to be in the tournament and to be an at-large bid. It's great for our program. And, it's great for our league to have two teams in. Four years ago when we took the job here, we set a goal to within a number of years to win the league and get in the NCAA Tournament, and we've been able to do that. So, we're pleased with the progress of our program. Now, we've got to go into the tournament and do something.
On the team's goals set before the season:
I've given our guys a lot of high goals since last spring, and lot of times there were some skeptics about could we reach those goals. But, the kids kept battling and working at it, and we've been able to reach almost every one that I've set. The last one was to get to the Sweet Sixteen, which is a mouthful. But, if you don't have that as a goal, you're never going to get there. You've got to have high goals. I've asked the players, "Did I put too much pressure on you guys?" But, they've bought into it. They've been driven. And, now, they're pretty happy about being in the tournament.
On getting an at-large bid:
The neat thing is the at-large thing - that shows respect for our program and our league. Yeah, it would have been nice to win the (MVC) tournament and avoid the hoopla this week, but I think (the bid) shows respect for what we've done consistently all year. Our guys have worked very hard since last spring. The seniors have been great leaders. Our upperclassmen have been great leaders. We've got 26 wins because of them.
On playing in Chicago:
It's a great game for us. It's great to be in Chicago. Any game now is a tough game. You've got the top, elite teams in the country. If we play good basketball, we can compete with them. For us, it's tremendous exposure. Hopefully, it will help our recruiting and the interest.. I know we're going to have upset fans when they can't get tickets. That's the only negative.
On facing Texas Tech and Bobby Knight:
We didn't get to face (Texas Tech Coach Bobby Knight) earlier this year. With Indiana playing here, and I know a lot of people were looking forward to that. The ironic thing is that probably we're in the tournament because of him. He's the one that scheduled the game here and that big win over Indiana probably made a difference. And, now he's got to face us. He's done a tremendous job this year. This is the same team that last year was one of the bottom teams in the Big 12 and he's turned it around with a lot of the same players.
On the Indiana-Purdue connection:
I had a chance to be on the opposite bench from him - I think it was 33 times - while I was at Purdue. We're not Purdue and they're not Indiana, but at the same time we have some concept of the way they play. It's going to come down to stepping up to make shots, playing with freshness and aggressiveness. We're going to have to defend - I think that will be a key. They are a very high-scoring team, especially at home. They've had big scores at home and then on the road they've struggled some. So, hopefully, it will feel like a road game to them. We've got to make shots, get rebounds. We've got to play at that magic level. And, we are capable of that - we've done it before this year and, hopefully, we'll do it again.
On teams that didn't get in:
I feel for (Butler). I feel for Utah State. We're the lucky team to get in, but there are some other teams and if I was in their shoes, I'd be very disappointed. We're ecstatic, but at the same time I sympathize with them for how they're feeling now - teams that had tremendous years that didn't get in. When the (Selection Show) started, I started getting butterflies. All week, we've been watching the scores and a lot of things went right for us. Things worked out our way. I thought we deserved to get in, but I wasn't completely confident we'd get in. We became like an underdog and it seemed like everyone was cheering for us.
