Southern Illinoise University Athletics
Southern Illinois-Texas Tech Preview
03/12/2002 | 12:00:00 | Men's Basketball
March 12, 2002
From the Associated Press
GAME: No. 11 Southern Illinois (26-7) vs. No. 6 Texas Tech (23-8).
REGIONAL: East, First Round.
TIME: Friday, 7:50 p.m. EST.
SITE: United Center, Chicago.
It took only one year for Bobby Knight to get Texas Tech back into the NCAA tournament. Judging from his recent postseason history, the Red Raiders might not stick around very long.
Knight makes his first trip to the tournament with a team other than Indiana as his sixth-seeded Red Raiders face Southern Illinois in an opening-round East Regional game.
Following one season away from the game, Knight returned this season and surprised the skeptics by leading Texas Tech to its first tournament berth since 1996.
This is the 25th appearance for Knight, the first 24 of which came with Indiana before he was fired. His last six years saw the Hoosiers suffer two second-round and four first-round exits, including an opening-round loss to Pepperdine in 2000 in his final game with Indiana.
His first season with the Red Raiders has many calling Knight a top national coach of the year candidate. He guided them to 23 wins - including two Big 12 tournament victories after Tech had only one in five years - and a third-place tie in the final regular-season standings.
"I don't think it ever gets old, playing in the NCAA tournament or making a birdie or hitting a home run or whatever," Knight said. "We were able to do what I thought we might be able to do, and here we are."
The Raiders went 9-19 and finished last in the Big 12 last season, leading the conference's coaches to pick them to finish 10th at season's outset.
Knight now must get his team to erase the memories of an ugly loss in its last outing, 90-50 to Kansas in the Big 12 tournament semifinals.
The Raiders shot just 27 percent as Andre Emmett and Andy Ellis - the team's top scorers - combined to go 0-for-15 from the field and both went scoreless. That duo accounted for more than 35 points and 13 rebounds per game this season.
"We just have to put this behind us," said Tech forward Kasib Powell, the team's third-leading scorer at 15.0 points per game. "It's a big accomplishment, what we've done. A lot of people didn't think we'd come as far as we did. But we proved them wrong."
Southern Illinois proved that a Missouri Valley team is capable of reaching the NCAAs without winning the conference tournament.
The Salukis lost to Creighton in the title game after beating the Bluejays twice during the regular season. They have victories over Iowa State and Indiana, as well as a three-point loss to then-No. 2 Illinois on Nov. 24.
Despite being a No. 11 seed, Southern Illinois has one major factor in its favor, with this game being played about 300 miles north of the school's campus.
"We're ecstatic," coach Bruce Weber said. "We were worried about just getting in. Hopefully, playing in Chicago will give us a little home-court advantage."
While the Salukis have a pair of solid frontcourt players in Rolan Roberts and Jermaine Dearman, their offense goes through guard Kent Williams. The 6-foot-2 junior led Southern Illinois in scoring in 15 games this season.
PROBABLE STARTERS: Southern Illinois - F Dearman (11.6 ppg, 7.5 rpg), C Roberts (13.8 ppg, 7.1 rpg), G Williams (16.2 ppg, 3.1 apg), G Marcus Belcher (6.2 ppg, 3.3 apg), G Stetson Hairston (7.5 ppg, 4.6 rpg). Texas Tech - F Powell (15.0 ppg, 6.2 rpg, 3.9 apg), C Ellis (16.5 ppg, 6.9 rpg), G Emmett (19.0 ppg, 6.7 rpg), G Will Chavis (7.7 ppg, 3.5 apg), G Nick Valdez (4.2 ppg, 2.6 apg).
HOW THEY GOT HERE: Southern Illinois - At-large bid, Missouri Valley Conference. Texas Tech - At-large bid, Big 12 Conference.
ALL-TIME TOURNAMENT RECORD: Southern Illinois - 1-4, 4 years. Texas Tech - 5-11, 10 years.
