Southern Illinoise University Athletics
Men's Basketball announces 2011-12 schedule
09/08/2011 | 12:00:00 | Men's Basketball
Sept. 8, 2011
CARBONDALE, Ill. - Southern Illinois University released its men's basketball schedule on Thursday, unveiling a slate that features 16 home games this season, plus a trip to Honolulu for a nationally televised tournament on ESPN.
The Salukis open the season with four of their first six regular-season games at home. Included in those games are matchups with traditional rivals Saint Louis (Nov. 15) and Western Kentucky (Dec. 7). Southern also begins a new home-and-home series with SIUE, when they host the Cougars on Dec. 19.
The marquee tournament event for SIU will be the ESPN Diamond Head Classic. SIU opens with Kansas State (Dec. 22) and will play either UTEP or Clemson the next day. All three teams played in either the NCAA Tournament or NIT last year. The three-game tournament will be televised on the ESPN family of stations.
"With our schedule, we've gotten back to the right mix of regional rivalries along with one big-time tournament," head coach Chris Lowery said. "We have opportunities for success as well as opportunities to play some of college basketball's elite programs."
Southern begins conference play at Evansville on Dec. 29 and plays its first conference home game on New Year's Day against Illinois State.
The Missouri Valley Conference will announce its television schedule later this month.
