Southern Illinoise University Athletics
Men's Basketball hosts Bradley on Wednesday
02/16/2016 | 12:00:00 | Men's Basketball
CARBONDALE, Ill. - Southern Illinois (20-7, 9-5) hosts Bradley (4-23, 2-12) on Wednesday at 7 p.m. at SIU Arena. Fans who ordered MVC Tournament tickets can pick them up Wednesday from noon through halftime of the game. From noon to 6, tickets will be available at the SIU Arena ticket window. From 6 to halftime, they will be at the will call table in the east lobby.
| Bradley (4-23, 2-12) at Southern Illinois (20-7, 9-5) | |
| Date | Wednesday, Feb. 17, 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 Tuesday before practice
How is this team different from the final four games last year compared to the final four games this year?
"At this time last year all we were talking about was the Valley tournament and the chance everyone has going into the season. This year is a completely different story. We're in the thick of the race. We're in the thick of the seeding. The postseason is on our minds and on our horizons. That says a lot about how far these guys have come, and specifically how far this program has come. If you look back to 2007, that's the last time we won 20 games. I think that says a lot."
What do you tell Armon Fletcher when he gets in the game?
"We want Armon to be more aggressive. There are just times you want to say Armon, will you just get after it? When you do that you say oh, he's a freshman. The same speech I could have with Armon I could have with Austin (Weiher) as well. Both of those young men have an opportunity to be very good basketball players. Not only in this league and this school, but also as college basketball players in general."
Do you feel more confident now going into the final four games?
"I certainly feel more confident. I think our team is more relaxed. I'll take a majority of the blame for how we played against Loyola because we were so slow and stagnant. I felt like we were paralyzed a little bit. I came down to the conclusion that we had mental and physical fatigue on both sides of it. Now, will that pay off? It has so far with two-straight games. Now, will it pay off for tomorrow night? I hope so. We'll certainly figure out if it's paying off on the road the following two games. I do think our kids are more relaxed and I do think they're more confident than they were going into the Loyola game."
What are you doing so Bradley doesn't catch you?
"It's not like we're not preparing for Bradley, but we're trying to get better at what we do. Our biggest concern right now is just this next game. We felt like, even during the four-game skid, our sights got out of whack. We were talking about bigger numbers and this and that. In conclusion, what we've done is focus on next game and next game only. Let's concentrate on what we do. The thing that we want to do against Bradley is get off to a great start and then get off to another great start in the second half. When we played Bradley the last time we played good for about 30 minutes and we really played bad basketball the last 10 minutes. It was a double-digit lead that almost got to single digits. I was very upset at how we played against them the last time."
How have their young players improved?
Obviously, they're scoring better. They had two back-to-back games on the road in which they scored 71 and 70 points. Obviously, they're playing with a lot more confidence, too. When you play a team that lacks confidence, you don't want to give them confidence. You want to do your very best to take them out of that realm. That's why I thought Drake was so difficult. I agree with my father, he said all along Drake is going to beat somebody. I don't know when it's going to happen, but they're going to beat somebody. I think they're pretty good."
Luuk Van Bree and Donte Thomas have gotten better. What have you seen from them?
"Donte has been a lot more aggressive. I think the better player of all of them is Ronnie Suggs. He's leading them in steals. He's doing a good job rebounding. He leads them in points scored. Van Bree is shooting really well from the perimeter. He's shooting 39 percent. We've only got one guy on our team that's shooting better than that kid."
How has Dwayne Lautier-Ogunleye, their point guard, improved?
"I think one of the things that he's done is distributed the ball extremely well. You can see his assist numbers are up high. The last time we played them they weren't quite that high. I do think he's gotten a lot better. When his distribution numbers go up it's because those guys are scoring. That makes him look a lot better as well."
