Salukis host Arkansas Pine Bluff Saturday night

The Southern Illinois men's basketball team will host Arkansas Pine Bluff at SIU Arena on 7 p.m. on Saturday, November 17. The Soul Phonics will play live music in the Charles Helleny Pavilion from 5-6:30 p.m. for early-arriving fans.

Arkansas Pine Bluff (0-2) vs. (RV) Southern Illinois (0-2) || Carbondale, Ill. (SIU Arena) || Saturday, November 17 || 7 p.m.

Tickets » SIUSalukis.com/tickets or call 877-SALUKIS
Watch » ESPN3 with Darren Kinnard and Mike Trude
Listen » Saluki Sports Network with Connor Onion and Cindy Stein (Stream available through TuneIn)
Stats » SIUSalukis.com/MBB/LiveStats
Game Notes » Southern Illinois (PDF)

Coach Hinson Quotable

"We're about to find out who can stop guys because (Pine Bluff guard Martaveous) McKnight can play. He's averaging 35 points; he's shooting 50 percent from the 3 and 91 percent from the free-throw line. We're going to figure out how good we are defensively on Saturday night against McKnight, for sure."
"Right now, we know for a fact we're not going to play Armon (Fletcher) or Eric (McGill) on Saturday. They've been removed from the game for Saturday and most likely will be removed from the game on Monday. We do not know about the first-round game in Vegas. The conundrum is, if we play these guys, then we lose them for conference. We're just going to have to take our medicine while we're at it. I'm not going to put these guys at jeopardy, nor am I going to put the club in jeopardy, of keeping these guys out of conference play. Both of these young men are in jeopardy of not playing the entire season, if we don't do what the medical staff tells us to do. We're going to follow them to the T."
Watch full press conference on YouTube

THE RUNDOWN

Southern Illinois hosts Arkansas-Pine Bluff on Saturday night at SIU Arena.
The Salukis received one vote in the AP top-25 and are ranked No. 9 in the mid-major top-25.
SIU is receiving votes in the national top-25 for the first time since Nov. 16, 2009.
The Soul Phonics will play a pre-game live concert at SIU Arena, starting at 5 p.m.
SIU opened the season with back-to-back games against ranked teams for the first time in school history. The Salukis dropped close games with No. 2 Kentucky and No. 25 Buffalo.
SIU held No. 25 Buffalo to 62 points, matching the best defensive performance against Buffalo in the last three seasons.
UB last scored fewer than 62 on March 1, 2016 (vs. Miami (OH) - 59 points). Buffalo averaged 85 points per game last season.
The Salukis finished second in the Missouri Valley Conference in 2017-18, the program's highest finish since winning the league in 2007.
Southern Illinois was picked third in the preseason MVC poll. Seniors Armon Fletcher (First Team) and Kavion Pippen (Second Team) were named preseason All-MVC.
Southern's top-four scorers from last year return in 2018-19: Armon Fletcher (14.1 ppg), Sean Lloyd (12.1 ppg), Kavion Pippen (12.1 ppg) and Aaron Cook (9.8 ppg).

GAME PREVIEW

Southern Illinois and Arkansas Pine Bluff are meeting for the first time in men's basketball.
Each of SIU's first four opponents this year (including Howard on Monday) are playing SIU for the first time.
Pine Bluff guard Martaveous McKnight the reigning SWAC Player of the Year. He is averaging 35 points per game and is coming off a 41-point performance against Colorado State. McKnight has scored 55 percent of Pine Bluff's points in two games this season.
UAPB is returning eight starters off a team that advanced to the SWAC championship last year before falling to Texas Southern.
SIU is playing a SWAC opponent for only the seventh time in program history. The Salukis are 4-2 against the SWAC, most recently beating Texas Southern and Jackson State.
Defensively, SIU has started the season strong, holding No. 2 Kentucky and No. 25 Buffalo to a combined 39.7 percent from the field and 28.6 percent from the 3-point line.
Southern's defense has held down the opponents best player in each game. UK's Reid Travis, a preseason All-American, scored six points. Buffalo's CJ Massinburg, who was coming off a 43-point game at No. 13 West Virginia, scored just seven against SIU and did not score in the second half.
SIU junior guard Aaron Cook had a game-high 18 points at No. 2 Kentucky.
Facing preseason All-American Reid Travis, SIU center Kavion Pippen had 16 points and 7 rebounds while holding Travis to 6 points and 5 boards.

LANCE JONES

The Southern Illinois men's basketball program announced the signing of Lance Jones to a National Letter of Intent on Wednesday morning. Jones, a combo guard from Evanston, Ill., will be a freshman at SIU in 2019-20.
Jones (6-2, 190) led Evanston Township High School to a third-place finish at the Illinois Class 4A state tournament. He averaged 15.5 points and led them to a 27-6 record. Jones earned a spot as an All-State and All-Conference selection.
Head coach Barry Hinson on Lance Jones: "Lance not only has great basketball skill, but also great character. He will represent our basketball program, our region, and our university in a first-class manner."
Assistant coach Justin Walker on Lance Jones: "He's a dynamic combo guard. He's versatile; he's already strong enough to play college basketball and can create his own shot. He gets after it on the defensive end and can pick up 94 feet. He has been listed as a top-10 player in the state of Illinois. We're excited to see what he can do here."

Up next: The Salukis have a quick turnaround and host Howard at 7 p.m. on Monday, November 19. Special $10 tickets are available for that game by calling 877-SALUKIS or by visiting SIUSalukis.com/tickets. Monday's game is also the Brown Dawg's Kids Club game--members of the Kids Club receive free admission. Learn more by visiting SIUSalukis.com/kidsclub.

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Aaron Cook Jr.

Armon Fletcher

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