Southern Illinoise University Athletics
Men's Basketball travels to Illinois State on Wednesday
02/24/2015 | 12:00:00 | Men's Basketball
CARBONDALE, Ill. - The Southern Illinois University men's basketball team plays at Illinois State on Wednesday at 7:05 CT. The Salukis (10-19, 3-13) are searching for their first conference road win of the season. The Redbirds (17-11, 9-7) have won the last seven meetings between the schools at Redbird Arena.
| Southern Illinois (10-19, 3-13) at Illinois State (17-11, 9-7) | |
| Date | Wednesday, Feb. 25, 2015 |
| Time | 7:05 p.m. CT |
| Location | Normal, Ill. • Redbird Arena (10,200) |
| Game Notes | Southern Illinois  |
| Radio | Saluki Sports Network |
| TV | ESPN3, Scott Warmann and David Kaplan |
| Streaming Video | ESPN3 |
| Streaming Audio | Stretch Internet |
| Live Stats | Stat broadcast |
| Social Media | @SIU_Basketball |
Jordan Caroline among top 10 freshman scorers at SIU
F Jordan Caroline (6-7, 235, Fr.) has 280 points on the year and ranks 8th all-time in scoring by a freshman at SIU. He trails Anthony Beane's 2013 freshman total by just three points. Caroline is fifth in rebounding among freshmen all-time at SIU with 191. The son of former Illini and NFL linebacker Simeon Rice ranks third in scoring (9.7) and second in rebounding (6.5) among MVC freshmen this year.
7-footer Deng Leek blocked four shots at Indiana State
Juco transfer Deng Leek (7-0, 230, Jr.) made his first basket in conference play on Saturday at Indiana State. He also had a career-high four blocked shots. He is the program's first 7-footer since Kobby Acquah in 2007. Other than Leek, the only two scholarship 7-footers in school history are Shane Wells (1995-96) and Marcelo da Silva (1991-94).
Beane among school, league scoring leaders
G Anthony Beane (6-2, 190, Jr.) is the 44th player in school history to reach the 1,000-point plateau and now has 1,239 -- placing him 24th all-time at SIU. He also ranks 18th all-time in career 3-pointers (110). Among active MVC players, Beane ranks third behind Northern Iowa's Seth Tuttle (1,655) and Evansville's DJ Balentine (1,575). UNI's Deon Mitchell (1,137) and Wichita State's Ron Baker (1,066) are the MVC's other 1,000-point scorers. Beane is second in the MVC in scoring (16.2) this year behind Balentine. Nine times he has topped the 20-point mark this season (20 times in his career).
Saluki Notes/Trends
•The Salukis are locked in to a Thursday night appearance at the MVC Tournament and will be an 8-10 seed.
•The last season in which the Salukis did not win a conference road game was 1983.
•SIU has an 11-11 record in the month of February under Barry Hinson.
•In 12 seasons in the MVC, Hinson is 56-34 (.622) in February conference-only games.
•In MVC games, SIU is first in limiting opponents' offensive rebounds. The Salukis allow an offensive board only 22.38 percent of the time after a miss.
•Anthony Beane takes 31.1 percent of the team's shots when he is on the court, second only in the league to Evansville's D.J. Balentine, who takes 33.8 percent.
•In his last 15 February games, Beane is averaging 20.6 points. He has been named the MVC Player of the Week four times in his career -- all coming in the month of February.
•SIU's bench has been outscored in eight-straight games, and by an average margin of 19.9 points in the last seven.
•The Salukis are 0-7 in games decided by five points or less, 1-9 when they are out-rebounded in a game, and 0-13 when trailing at halftime.
Freshmen making an impact
Freshmen F Jordan Caroline (6-7, 235, Fr.) and G Deion Lavender (6-2, 190, Fr.) are the team's second and third-leading scorers in conference-only games, averaging 9.9 and 9.0 points per game, respectively. Caroline recorded back-to-back double-doubles against Loyola and Evansville (Feb. 11, 14), tallying 27 points and 26 rebounds combined. In his last six games, Lavender is averaging 13.5 points. He is 12-of-30 (.400) from 3-point in that span.
Series versus Illinois State
SIU has won six of the last 11 meetings overall, but all of those victories came at home. The Redbirds have won the last seven meetings between the schools at Redbird Arena. The Salukis won in Carbondale on Feb. 7, behind a 23-point outing by Anthony Beane. SIU led by as many as 18 points, but ISU rallied to take the lead with less than two minutes remaining. Southern scored the game's final six points, as Illinois State committed four turnovers in its last six possessions.
Salukis hot from 3-point
As a team, the Salukis are 55-of-139 (.396) from 3-point range in the last nine games. Tyler Smithpeters is 15-for-32 (.469), Anthony Beane is 18-for-44 (.409) and Deion Lavender is 14-for-36 (.389) during that span.
