Men's Basketball hosts SEMO on Wednesday night

Dec. 1, 2015

CARBONDALE, Ill. - Southern Illinois (6-1) hosts SEMO (0-5) on Wednesday night in a non-conference matchup at SIU Arena. The Salukis have won 15 of the last 18 meetings versus SEMO, including the last seven games at SIU Arena. The last time SEMO won at SIU Arena was on Dec. 4, 1982.

The contest is also the seventh-annual Wounded Warriors game at SIU. Special activities will include Presentation of Colors and halftime recognition of wounded warriors from Southern Illinois University and Fort Campbell, Ky., as well as World War II, Vietnam, Iraq, and Afghanistan veterans.

Saluki Athletics and the Carbonale Police Department are continuing their Coats for Kids drive. Fans are encouraged to donate gently used coats for area youth ages 1-to-11 years old. All donations benefit the Carbondale Police Department's Community Christmas Store.

SEMO (0-5) at Southern Illinois (6-1)
Date	Wednesday, Dec. 2., 2015
Time	7 p.m. CT
Location	Carbondale, Ill., SIU Arena (8,339)
Game Notes	Southern Illinois
Tickets	Buy On-Line
Radio	Saluki Sports Network
Watch	ESPN3
Live Audio	CBS All-Access
Live Stats	Stat Broadcast
Social Media	@SIU_Basketball

Coach Hinson Transcript

Is there any change on Bola Olaniyan's status for tomorrow's game?

"There's a change in his status as far as he is back with our basketball team practicing at this time. He's been given, for lack of a better term, a homework assignment in order to get back on the team. Until that assignment is done he wont see playing time. The duration of that is entirely up to me and our staff and our team, because I let them be a part of this decision as well."

Will he play tomorrow?

"Absolutely not."

How much progress do you think you've made getting back to the practice floor on your transition defense?

"We'll be able to tell the progress after tomorrow night's ball game. We certainly needed it. It was the first practice that we've literally had, just a general practice, not a scout practice, just a general practice that we've had almost in two weeks. Everybody is doing it, it's not just us, everybody is going through it. We've played the second most games in the Valley. Illinois State has played eight games and for the most part, everyone will catch up except for Northern Iowa. They play later in a tournament. When you play as many games as we have, you just don't get a chance to sit down and practice."

Do you think winning right after a loss validates you guys as a winning team?

"I don't know about validation but I think what it does is validate that our kids are able to come back after a loss. I thought that was a huge thing for us. I said going into that game that I thought it was important that we had to make sure how we were going to respond after a loss. The old adage is you never try to lose two in a row. That's a big deal. Can you respond? I thought Portland is a very good basketball team. They gave us a lot of problems and we were down, we suffered our first loss. It was a little bit different for us. But yeah, I was proud of them."

How much has SEMO improved?

"This is the one thing I'll tell you about SEMO because everyone is going to look at their record; if we played SEMO's schedule we'd probably have the same record. Seriously. They've played five games and four of them have been on the road. This is their fifth out of six games on the road. They've only played one home ball game. As far as I'm concerned, all I remember is .03 seconds when they beat us last year. That's what I remember. This is a big game. It's a regional game. It's a rivalry game. It's a big game for us."

You mentioned not overlooking any teams. How do you think the team has responded to that?

"I don't know. We practiced yesterday like we we're 1-6 and were going to practice that way again today. The hardest thing to handle is success. It is really hard to handle. We all get there. We get feeling good and don't exercise as much and keep eating those Big Mac's and cheeseburgers and ribs and the next thing you know you look in the mirror and you've got to go back to the regime. Hopefully we'll be ready. I certainly will, I can tell you that."

How well has Sean O'Brien taken advantages of the mismatches he's had?

"Sean O'Brien is playing about as well as he has played, but this is what he did last year, too. He was in the same exact mode last year. I think he's a different person. I think he'll tell you that. It's a different team. It's a different environment. He's a different kid. He's playing with a lot more confidence. We have never as a staff lacked confidence in Sean O'Brien. Sean O'Brien has lacked confidence in himself. He's his own worst enemy. We believe in Sean O'Brien. I think this kid has a chance to be one of the best players that's come through this program."

Do you think he believes more in himself?

"I think with the exception of one game, I don't think he got through the first half the other night. In the first half he didn't play very well. In the second half he just went off. He played extremely well. He came back and played his tail off. It didn't have anything to do with us; it had everything to do with him. I'm proud of him and I told him that. I had a brief breakfast with him right before we got on the plane in Corpus-Christi. I just said I want to tell you I'm proud of you, you're playing really well. That's a big deal for Sean."

What do you want to see tomorrow night?

"There are two things we've got to see immediately. Our defense has got to get better and our rebounding has got to get better. We're going to struggle at rebounding. When you've got Michael, Leo and Anthony or Tyler on the floor at the same time we're going to struggle. There are 357 Division I programs, we're 309th in height. We may say the team takes after the head coach, but I really think the team is taking after the coach physically. We're limited but rebounding is about heart and effort. A lot of times size gets involved which it certainly has. We've got to improve defending and rebounding."

You've used Bobby Mannie in spot duty. What do you like about him?

"The thing that Bobby brings is tenacity. The guy wants to guard and he's so unselfish. I can say Bobby, you go guard that guy and don't let him score and do not let him catch and he will accept that challenge and I like that."

Do you feel like you've adjusted to the new rules and keeping people off the foul line?

"I don't know about the adjustment part, but I don't agree with them. I'm sick of it. I think the officials are ruining the game. I don't have any problem saying that. I think they're absolutely ruining the game of basketball. I don't want to go to a free throw contest. I have visited with two sets of officials that have come up to me and said we're sorry. They're apologizing to me because of a mandate from above. Apologizing because they don't know how to call a game. When an official enters the ball game now they are looking to call fouls instead of calling the game. I believe that. I stand by that."