Southern Illinoise University Athletics
Saturday, January 14
Evansville, IN
1 PM
Southern Illinois University
at
Evansville
Men's Basketball travels to Evansville on Saturday
01/13/2017 | 12:36:00 | Men's Basketball
CARBONDALE, Ill. — Southern Illinois (10-8, 3-2) plays at Evansville (10-8, 1-4) on Saturday at 1 p.m. The telecast will be cleared live on FOX Sports Midwest, FOX Sports Indiana and FOX Sports Kansas City (combined 5.8 million homes), Comcast SportsNet Chicago (4.9 million homes), ESPN3 (outside the states of Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri and Nebraska), DirecTV (FOX Sports Midwest – Channel 671; Comcast SportsNet Chicago – Channel 665), Dish Network (FOX Sports Midwest – Channel 418; Comcast SportsNet Chicago – Channel 429) and AT&T U-verse (FOX Sports Midwest -- Channels 748 and 1748; Comcast SportsNet Chicago – Channels 740 and 1740).Â
Series vs. Evansville
The Salukis are 1-5 all-time at the Ford Center, which opened in 2011. The lone win came in 2014. In that game, Anthony Beane led SIU with 22 points, while Desmar Jackson added 15 points and five steals. Evansville's D.J. Ballentine, the league's leading scorer, was held to just two points. Evansville has won the last four meetings overall between the schools, completing home-and-away sweeps each of the last two seasons.
Three seniors step up during three-game win streak
During SIU's recent three-game winning streak, a different senior stepped up in each game to lead SIU to victory.
•In the win over Drake, G Leo Vincent made a season-high five 3-pointers.
•In the win over Indiana State, F Sean O'Brien had a career-high 28 points, plus 14 rebounds.
•In the win at Missouri State, G Mike Rodriguez had an MVC career-high 22 points on 7-of-8 shooting from the field.
  Â
Sean O'Brien churns out double-doubles
F Sean O'Brien (6-7, 215, Sr.) has six double-doubles on the season and 15 in his career. The last Saluki player to have more than six double-doubles in a season was G Jeff Early, who had eight in 2013. O'Brien is the 45th player in school history to reach 1,000 points in his career. He currently stands 36th in scoring at SIU with 1,075 points. O'Brien is also 13th in career rebounds (676) at SIU. A preseason Second-Team All-MVC pick, O'Brien has 107 career starts, including 84-straight. He is ninth in career starts.Â
Measuring Mike Rodriguez impact on Saluki offense
How big of an impact has PG Mike Rodriguez (5-10, 165, Sr.) had on SIU's offense? Consider these stats.
•He has either scored (65) or recorded an assist (81) on 32 percent of SIU's field goals.Â
•By comparison, All-Conference G Anthony Beane either scored or recorded an assist on 32 percent of SIU's field goals last year.
•His 2.03 assist-TO ratio currently stands as the fifth-best single-season mark in school history. Bryan Mullins (3.26 in 2009) holds the school record.
Rodriguez 13th in nation in free throw attemptsÂ
Rodriguez ranks 13th in the nation in free throw attempts and 19th in free throws made (91-of-123). He has accounted for 33 percent of the team's made free throws (91/275) and 32 percent of free throw attempts (123/385). Thirty-nine percent of Rodriguez' points have come from the free throw line.Â
Armon Fletcher returns
Armon Fletcher (6-4, 190, So.), SIU's leading scorer (13.7 points) missed three games with a sprained foot, but came out firing on Wednesday versus Illinois State. He made a 3-pointer to open the game and scored 12 points. He is shooting a team-best .381 from outside the arc. Fletcher also leads the club and ranks fourth in the MVC in steals (1.8).
Thik Bol 42nd in nation, 2nd in MVC in blocked shots
F Thik Bol (6-8, 205, Jr.) ranks second in the MVC (behind Missouri State's Obediah Church) and 42nd in the nation in blocked shots per game (2.06). His 36 blocks are seven more than Sean O'Brien's team-leading total of 29 last year. Bol had a career-high six blocks versus Mount St. Mary's.Â
Dawg Bites
•O'Brien is averaging a double-double (15.8 points, 10.2 rebounds) in conference play.
•In SIU's wins, O'Brien averages 15.2 points. In the losses, he averages 8.8 points.
•In SIU's 10 wins, it is +5.2 on the boards. In the eight losses, it is -7.0.
•The Salukis average 76 points per game at home, compared to 64 points on the road.
•SIU is 9-1 when it has an advantage in points in the paint, and 5-1 when it wins the rebounding battle.
•Armon Fletcher has made 17-straight FTs in a streak that started versus Texas Southern on Dec. 3.
Series vs. Evansville
The Salukis are 1-5 all-time at the Ford Center, which opened in 2011. The lone win came in 2014. In that game, Anthony Beane led SIU with 22 points, while Desmar Jackson added 15 points and five steals. Evansville's D.J. Ballentine, the league's leading scorer, was held to just two points. Evansville has won the last four meetings overall between the schools, completing home-and-away sweeps each of the last two seasons.
Three seniors step up during three-game win streak
During SIU's recent three-game winning streak, a different senior stepped up in each game to lead SIU to victory.
•In the win over Drake, G Leo Vincent made a season-high five 3-pointers.
•In the win over Indiana State, F Sean O'Brien had a career-high 28 points, plus 14 rebounds.
•In the win at Missouri State, G Mike Rodriguez had an MVC career-high 22 points on 7-of-8 shooting from the field.
  Â
Sean O'Brien churns out double-doubles
F Sean O'Brien (6-7, 215, Sr.) has six double-doubles on the season and 15 in his career. The last Saluki player to have more than six double-doubles in a season was G Jeff Early, who had eight in 2013. O'Brien is the 45th player in school history to reach 1,000 points in his career. He currently stands 36th in scoring at SIU with 1,075 points. O'Brien is also 13th in career rebounds (676) at SIU. A preseason Second-Team All-MVC pick, O'Brien has 107 career starts, including 84-straight. He is ninth in career starts.Â
Measuring Mike Rodriguez impact on Saluki offense
How big of an impact has PG Mike Rodriguez (5-10, 165, Sr.) had on SIU's offense? Consider these stats.
•He has either scored (65) or recorded an assist (81) on 32 percent of SIU's field goals.Â
•By comparison, All-Conference G Anthony Beane either scored or recorded an assist on 32 percent of SIU's field goals last year.
•His 2.03 assist-TO ratio currently stands as the fifth-best single-season mark in school history. Bryan Mullins (3.26 in 2009) holds the school record.
Rodriguez 13th in nation in free throw attemptsÂ
Rodriguez ranks 13th in the nation in free throw attempts and 19th in free throws made (91-of-123). He has accounted for 33 percent of the team's made free throws (91/275) and 32 percent of free throw attempts (123/385). Thirty-nine percent of Rodriguez' points have come from the free throw line.Â
Armon Fletcher returns
Armon Fletcher (6-4, 190, So.), SIU's leading scorer (13.7 points) missed three games with a sprained foot, but came out firing on Wednesday versus Illinois State. He made a 3-pointer to open the game and scored 12 points. He is shooting a team-best .381 from outside the arc. Fletcher also leads the club and ranks fourth in the MVC in steals (1.8).
Thik Bol 42nd in nation, 2nd in MVC in blocked shots
F Thik Bol (6-8, 205, Jr.) ranks second in the MVC (behind Missouri State's Obediah Church) and 42nd in the nation in blocked shots per game (2.06). His 36 blocks are seven more than Sean O'Brien's team-leading total of 29 last year. Bol had a career-high six blocks versus Mount St. Mary's.Â
Dawg Bites
•O'Brien is averaging a double-double (15.8 points, 10.2 rebounds) in conference play.
•In SIU's wins, O'Brien averages 15.2 points. In the losses, he averages 8.8 points.
•In SIU's 10 wins, it is +5.2 on the boards. In the eight losses, it is -7.0.
•The Salukis average 76 points per game at home, compared to 64 points on the road.
•SIU is 9-1 when it has an advantage in points in the paint, and 5-1 when it wins the rebounding battle.
•Armon Fletcher has made 17-straight FTs in a streak that started versus Texas Southern on Dec. 3.
Players Mentioned
G
/ Men's Basketball
G
/ Men's Basketball
F
/ Men's Basketball
G
/ Men's Basketball
G
/ Men's Basketball4.1.26 | One on One with AD Tim Leonard - WBB/MBB Review
Wednesday, April 01
Saluki Baseball Radio Broadcast - Game 3 Utah Tech
Monday, March 30
Saluki Radio Baseball Broadcast - Game 2 vs Utah Tech
Sunday, March 29
Saluki Baseball Radio Broadcast - Game 1 vs Utah Tech
Saturday, March 28