Men's Basketball plays at Drake on Tuesday in battle for second place

SOUTHERN ILLINOIS (14-9, 6-4) at DRAKE (12-11, 6-4)
Jan. 30, 2018 • 7 p.m. CT
Des Moines, Iowa • Drake Knapp Center (7,152)
SIU leads, 57-33 (H: 33-11, A: 21-22, N: 2-1)

DES MOINES, Iowa — Southern Illinois plays at Drake on Tuesday night in a game between two of the three teams in the Missouri Valley Conference that are currently tied for second place. The game will be broadcast live on ESPN3. SIU, Drake and Bradley are all tied with 6-4 records, two games behind league-leading Loyola.

The Salukis are 57-33 all-time against Drake, including a 21-22 mark in Des Moines. SIU head coach Barry Hinson is 20-9 lifetime against the Bulldogs, including a 5-5 record at SIU.

In the first meeting between the teams on Dec. 31 in Carbondale, Drake led the entire game and by as many as 16 points before holding off a late Saluki rally to win, 70-67. Reed Timmer had 20 points and five assists to lead Drake,while Armon Fletcher had 15 points and Marcus Bartley and Seann Lloyd added 13 each.

Saluki offense fires on all cylinders at Missouri State
In Saturday's 79-77 win at Missouri State, the Salukis shot 64 percent from the field, including 8-of-13 from 3-point range. In the first half, SIU converted 17-of-23 field goals (73.9), which was the second-best shooting half during the Barry Hinson era at SIU and 11th-best all-time.

Aaron Cook records career-high
   G Aaron Cook (6-2, 185, So.) scored a career-high 25 points on Wednesday versus Indiana State. He had scored only 27 points in the previous five games combined.
   Cook has made significant improvement in his offensive game as a sophomore.
   2016-17   2017-18
Scoring   3.0 PPG   9.9 PPG
FG Percentage   .333   .479
3FG Percentage   .185   .400

Sean Lloyd Jr. does it all
  G Sean Lloyd Jr. (6-5, 210, Jr.) impacts the game in many ways. He is second in scoring (12.4), first in minutes (34.0), second in 3-point shooting (.400), third in assists (2.1), first in steals (1.4) and typically guards the opponent's top scorer. Lloyd is the nephew of two-time MVC player-of-the-year Lewis Lloyd, who played two seasons at Drake (1980-81) and seven years in the NBA. Another uncle, Daryl Lloyd, also played at Drake and led the team in scoring in 1985 with 17.9 points per game.

Armon Fletcher increases output after move to "hybrid forward"
   Since the Salukis switched to a four-guard offense on Dec. 13 and put G Armon Fletcher (6-5, 207, Jr.) at the "hybrid forward" position, his offensive numbers have shot up.
Position   GP   PPG   RPG   FG%   3FG%
Guard   7   11.9   4.7   .460   .296
Hyrbrid   15   15.8   5.9   .539   .400
   Fletcher had a career night at Valparaiso on Jan. 6 with 32 points and 14 rebounds. He became the first Saluki player to score 30+ points since Anthony Beane had 31 versus Drake on Feb. 13, 2016. He also made the game-winning basket at Missouri State with six seconds left.

Kavion Pippen second in scoring among MVC newcomers
   Juco transfer C Kavion Pippen (6-10, 240, Jr.) ranks second in scoring (11.7) among MVC newcomers, trailing only Illinois State's Milik Yarbrough (16.9). Pippen leads the team in field goal percentage (.530) and blocked shots (31), and has scored in double figures in 15 games this season.
   The nephew of NBA legend Scottie Pippen was named MVC Newcomer of the Week on Nov. 12 and again on Dec. 4. He had a career-high 24-point outing versus Jackson State.

Dawg Bites
•The last time SIU had a four-game winning streak was Jan. 12-24 of 2016.
•The Salukis have shot 50 percent or better in four-consecutive halves.
•Barry Hinson (262) passed Gregg Marshall (261) on Saturday for fourth all-time among league coaches in wins.
•With a lifetime record of 298-232, Hinson needs two more wins to reach the 300-win plateau in his career.
•The Salukis attempted a season-high 31 free throws in Wednesday's win over Indiana State.
•With four 3-pointers at MSU, Tyler Smithpeters improved to 16-for-29 (.552) lifetime from 3-point range against the Bears.
•11 of Armon Fletcher's 25 steals this season have come in the last five games.
•The Salukis are 11-1 when they hold an opponent under 70 points
and 3-8 when an opponent scores 70 or more.
•SIU has gone 105-consecutive games with at least one 3-point field goal.

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