Southern Illinoise University Athletics
Men's Basketball hosts Evansville on Thursday night
01/27/2016 | 12:00:00 | Men's Basketball
CARBONDALE, Ill. - Southern Illinois (18-3, 7-1) hosts Evansville (17-4, 6-2) on Thursday at 7 p.m. in a battle between the second and third-place teams in the Missouri Valley Conference. SIU has won four-straight games and 10 of its last 11, while Evansville has won 10 of its last 12 contests.
Coaches vs. Cancer The Coaches vs. Cancer program empowers coaches, their teams, and communities to join the fight against cancer by participating in awareness efforts, advocacy programs, and fundraising activities. The Saluki Coaching staff will be wearing sneakers to support awareness, and some Saluki players will wear pink shoes.
Roll Banners The first 500 fans in the doors will receive a special State Farm rollabana! Rollabanas will be distributed in both lobbies. Fans — be sure to flash them and wave them high to cheer on the team and to be featured on the video board.
| Evansville (17-4, 6-2) Southern Illinois (18-3, 7-1) | |
| Date | Thursday, Jan. 28, 2016 |
| Time | 7 p.m. CT |
| Location | Carbondale, Ill. • SIU Arena (8,284) |
| Game Notes | Southern Illinois  |
| Radio | Saluki Sports Network |
| Watch | ESPN3 |
| Live Audio | CBS All-Access |
| Live Stats | Stat Broadcast |
| Social Media | @SIU_Basketball |
Head coach Barry Hinson met with the media on Wednesday before practice.
Does this game feel more significant since Evansville is coming off of a loss?
"No, I think we have reached the point of our season where we understand the importance of every game. I've been in this league a long time. I've seen years where at the half point of the season, people want to give the trophy to such and such and it is completely opposite of what you thought it was going into it. The byproduct is that even with how well we have played, we still have half a season and one more game to go. We have to continue to play well. We are still behind Wichita State. I know that we are in second and that is hunky dory and all that, but you are just a couple games away from being in fifth or sixth. We just have to keep our nose to the grindstone. The one thing that I have been impressed with our players is that we continually talk about getting better and I do think that we are getting better. I've seen our guys get better defensively and offensively. I still don't think that we have reached our pinnacle of success yet. I do think that we have a lot of things to improve on and get better at. You don't want to play your best basketball now. You want to play your best basketball as the season gets to its entirety."
Is foul trouble for your bigs the most important thing heading into this game?
"I think when we are talking about foul trouble we are only referring to one person. Somebody asked me the other day that if two fouls were committed early by either one of the big men, which one do you think it would be. I said that it was an odds-on favorite by the Las Vegas line that it would be Bola (Olaniyan). The thing about us and one of things that happened at Missouri State was that Deng (Leek) and Ibby (Djimde) made great contributions. It is just a byproduct of the game right now. At least we are not looking up like we were two or three years ago and when we got into foul trouble, we didn't have anybody to run in there. I can remember one game where we had Desmar (Jackson) playing the five. We have five guys that can play the pivot position for us and that has certainly made it a lot better for us. Obviously, we are better when Bola is in the game on the rebounding edge, but hopefully we can keep him out of foul trouble."
How do you guard D.J. Balentine and Egidijus Mockevicius?
"I think it is difficult if you guard just those two guys because Balentine is the nation's leading scorer and the kid gets 20 points a game. Let's talk about a guy named Adam Wing on the perimeter. The kid is shooting 68 percent from the three-point line. He doesn't shoot a lot, but 68 percent is still pretty good. You just have to guard everybody and do the best job that you can do. The thing that makes Balentine so good is that he has assists. He really plays off of Mockevicius."
How do you make Balentine work for his points?
"We aren't going to show him anything or do anything that he hasn't already seen. He has seen it all. The thing that bothers me about him is that he baits guys into getting fouls. He flops into them and does that. I hate playing against guys like that, but i'd like to have one on my ballclub. He is so good at the end of a shot clock, shot faking to get a guy into the air and then jumping into them. That is why he gets a lot of free-throws."
Are you expecting to see a lot of different defensive looks from Marty Simmons?
"Marty has never had a ton of different looks. He is pretty simple when it comes to defense. I would expect to see man and zone. Right now our guys are playing really well offensively. We saw eight different defenses against Missouri State. It was just an amazing amount of defenses that were thrown at us. I am more comfortable with our guys because they are accepting their role. We try to work in practice and try to simulate what everyone is going to do to us. We know that they are going to face guard Anthony (Beane). They face guarded Anthony at Missouri State because he was their priority and five other guys got double figure points. That has made it a lot easier for us."
Have you ever faced someone as good as Mockevicius as a rebounder?
"No. His stats speak for themselves. He leads the nation in rebounding. He has so much girth and size. He just really cleans-up the boards. It will be a great matchup, not only for Bola but our big guys collectively. It will be interesting to see how we respond to the challenge."
How has Mike Rodriguez had to adjust to Valley play?
"He has had to adjust to people getting into his shorts a little more and treating him a little bit different. I don't think that Mike Rodriguez has played his best basketball yet. I think he is becoming more and more comfortable. You take (Monté) Morris against Kansas. He had nine assists, zero turnovers, and 20 points. I don't know if Michael can go get 20 points, but I think he has the chance. For us to be good, I don't think he has to do that. I don't think we have had a game yet where Mike comes out and has a seven and one or eight and one game. I think that is coming and I think that is getting ready to happen."
