Southern Illinoise University Athletics
Men's Basketball plays at North Texas on Saturday
12/04/2015 | 12:00:00 | Men's Basketball
By Tom Weber
SIUSalukis.com
DENTON, Texas - Southern Illinois (7-1) plays at North Texas (2-5) on Saturday night in a non-conference matchup in the Lone Star state. The Salukis are off to their best start since 2006, while the Mean Green have lost five in a row and are looking for their first win over a Division I opponent this season.
| Southern Illinois (7-1) at North Texas (2-5) | |
| Date | Saturday, Dec. 5, 2015 |
| Time | 5 p.m. CT |
| Location | Denton, Texas, The Super Pit (10,500) |
| Game Notes | Southern Illinois  |
| Radio | Saluki Sports Network |
| Watch | CBS All-Access |
| Live Audio | CBS All-Access |
| Live Stats | |
| Social Media | @SIU_Basketball |
Series vs. North Texas
The Salukis and Mean Green have met only once before, with UNT claiming an 86-80 overtime victory nearly 40 years ago on Dec. 13, 1975 at the Creighton Classic. Paul Lambert was Southern's head coach that season.
The two teams will meet again next Saturday in Carbondale. The last time the Salukis played a non-conference opponent twice within a one-week span was in 1940 when they played Mexico City YMCA on consecutive days.
Sean O'Brien with three-straight double-doubles
F Sean O'Brien (6-7, 215, Jr.) has posted double-doubles in points and rebounds in three-straight games. The last Saluki player to accomplish that feat was Randal Falker, who had four in a row from Jan. 28 to Feb. 7 in 2006.
O'Brien was named to the All-Tournament team at the Corpus Christi Coastal Challenge after he had a career-high 25 points against UTEP, and 18 points and 10 rebounds against Portland. O'Brien is averaging 14.6 points, almost double last year's 7.4 average. He is shooting 51 percent from the field, compared to 44 percent a year ago.
Anthony Beane by the numbers
All-Conference G Anthony Beane (6-2, 178, Sr.) has 1,459 career points -- placing him 12th all-time at SIU.
•He ranks 39th in the nation in scoring (19.9).
•He needs 45 points to pass Sterling Mahan for 11th place at SIU.
•He has topped the 30-point mark twice this season. The last Saluki to have multiple 30-point games was Troy Hudson who had three in 1996-97.
•He has reached double figures in scoring 74 times in his career, reached 20+ points 25 times, and reached 30+ points three times.
•He has taken 30.1 percent of SIU's shots while he is on the floor.
•He is averaging 4.9 rebounds per game, compared to his 2.6 rebounding average last year.
Dawg Bites
•The 7-1 start matches SIU's best since going 7-1 in 2006. An 8-1 start would equal the best since 2001.
•SIU's 27 attempts from 3-point range vs. SEMO were the most in the Hinson era and most since attempting 27 vs. Creighton on Feb. 23, 2010.
•The Salukis have a positive assist to turnover ratio of +0.6 assists per game. The last season Southern was in positive territory was the 2009-10 campaign.
•Through eight games, SIU has had a player foul-out five times. Last season, SIU had a player foul out just seven times.
Mike Rodriguez 26th in nation in assist-turnover ratio
Juco transfer PG Mike Rodriguez (5-10, 160, Jr.) anks 26th in nation in assist-to-turnover ratio (4.38). Rodriguez leads the team with 35 assists and only eight turnovers. He is also the team's third-leading scorer (10.8 ppg).
Here are the beneficiaries of his ball distribution: Beane (9), Olaniyan (5), Smithpeters (5), O'Brien (4), Vincent (4), Fletcher (3), Weiher (3), Djimde (1), Stradnieks (1). Of SIU's field goals this season, 49 percent of them have included assists. Last year, the percentage of baskets with assists was only 40 percent.
Salukis winning the close ones
Last year, the Salukis were 0-7 in games decided by five points or less. This year they are 4-1. Three times they have rallied from second-half deficits to win. They trailed Air Force by 15 points, before rallying to win, 77-75. They trailed Sam Houston State by 18 points, before winning, 86-81, in OT. They trailed Portland by three points before winning, 80-79.
Effect of the new rules
The NCAA's effort to increase scoring by cutting the shot clock to 30 seconds, and tightly officiating the game, is working in SIU's games. The Salukis are scoring 19 more points per game and attempting 10 more shots per contest.
Per Game 2014-15/2015-16
SIU Scoring 59.6 /79.1
SIU FGA 49.3 /59.8
SIU Fouls Committed 18.3 /24.4
Opponent Scoring 61.9 /70.5
Opponent FGA 47.1/ 53.9
Opponent Fouls 18.0 /22.6
Backup guards make impact off the bench
Juco transfer G Leo Vincent (6-1, 179, Jr.) and redshirt freshman G Armon Fletcher (6-4, 182, Fr.) have provided scoring punch off the bench for the Salukis. In five of SIU's eight games, one or the other has scored in double figures. Together they average 13.5 points.
