Southern Illinoise University Athletics
Men's Basketball prepares for showdown with Creighton
01/23/2006 | 12:00:00 | Men's Basketball
Jan. 23, 2006
By Brian Feldt
www.SIUSalukis.com
Southern Illinois hosts Creighton Tuesday at 7 p.m. in a men's basketball showdown between two of the four teams tied for first place in the Missouri Valley Conference.
The Salukis and Bluejays are both tied with Northern Iowa and Wichita State atop the MVC with a 7-2 record.
"The conference right now is as crazy as its ever been," Saluki head coach Chris Lowery said. "But that's what makes the league so special, and it's a great league."
SIU has a 32-game home-court winning streak, which is the longest active streak in the nation and the longest in school history. Southern's last home loss was to Charlotte on Jan. 2, 2004. Since the start of the 2001-02 season, SIU is 63-1 at home.
Creighton, which is currently on a six-game winning streak, has been without their best player, Nate Funk, who underwent season-ending surgery on his shoulder on Jan. 5.
"They are playing with a lot of confidence right now." said Lowery. "When you lose a guy who is a player of the year candidate (Funk), usually your season goes the other way."
Picking up the slack in place of Funk, is junior forward Anthony Tolliver and senior guard Johny Mathies. Tolliver, who is shooting 55.5 percent from the field and averaging just under two blocks per game, is second in scoring behind Mathies, who averages 14.2 points per game.
In the current winning streak, Mathies' numbers are even more impressive. In the last six games, he is averaging 18.5 points per game with 3.3 steals.
Southern also has the longest MVC home-winning streak in league history, tied with former members Oklahoma State and Cincinnati at 41. SIU has not lost a conference home game since Feb. 24, 2001, when it was beaten by Evansville.
TV Clearances: Live on FSN Midwest, Fox College Sports (50 million digital homes), Comcast SportsNet Chicago. Tape-delayed at 8 p.m. on Comcast SportsNet Southeast, Live at 7 p.m. on Metro Sports in Kansas City, Mo.
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