Southern Illinoise University Athletics
Men's Basketball hosts Missouri State on Tuesday
02/06/2006 | 12:00:00 | Men's Basketball
Feb. 6, 2006
By Brian Feldt
www.SIUSalukis.com
The Southern Illinois University men's basketball team returns home Tuesday night against Missouri State, a team which has had the Salukis' number in recent years.
Podcast with Coach Lowery (by Beth Miller)
The game will be televised by ESPNU at 8 p.m. CT.
Missouri State (15-6, 8-5) trails the Salukis (16-7, 9-4) by one game in the Missouri Valley Conference standings, and have won four out of the last five meetings between the two. The Bears beat SIU by seven points in Springfield in January, and they have also knocked Southern out of the MVC Tournament the last two years.
"We haven't been successful against them, and it is tough to play them," said Saluki head coach Chris Lowery. "We have to focus on getting better and not what we have done against them in the past."
Southern Illinois is trying to avoid its first three-game losing streak since the middle of the 2000-01 season.
The game will feature a showcase of two elites in the MVC. Missouri State, the most prolific scoring offense will be playing a Saluki defense that is ranked fifth in the nation in scoring defense by allowing only 56 points per game.
Bears' guard Blake Ahearn is the MVC's top scorer this year averaging 18.1 points per game.
"Ahearn is crafty -- he is a very smart player," said Lowery. "He seems to thrive on the big-game situation, and he seems to thrive against us."
Randal Falker, who has recorded three-straight double-doubles in points and rebounds for SIU, should be a key factor in the game, Lowery said. Falker scored just five points before fouling out in the first meeting between the teams.
"When a guy gets three double-doubles in a row, you have to go to him," said Lowery. "We need to have Randal in there doing the things he does best."
Lowery said he is pushing his team to overcome the fatigue that invariably sets in this time of year after so many games in a short period of time.
"This is the youngest we've ever been," said Lowery, whose only two seniors are walk-ons. "We have to coach through this wall because we don't have any seniors this year to say, `C'mon guys, let's get through this wall.'"
"It's not an excuse, but it is a reason why we have come so close without winning some of these games."
