Salukis welcome NC Central to Banterra Center on Tuesday night

CARBONDALE, Ill. - The SIU men's basketball program hosts NC Central at Banterra Center on Tuesday night. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. The Salukis and Eagles are meeting for the first time in men's basketball. NC Central is the preseason favorites in the MEAC, coming off its third consecutive trip to the NCAA Tournament.

SIU (2-4) vs. NC Central (2-4)

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OPENING TIP

SIU hosts NC Central on Tuesday night at Banterra Center. Tipoff is 7 p.m. and the game will be streamed nationally on ESPN+.
SIU and NC Central have never played before. The Salukis are 3-1 all-time against current members of the MEAC. NC Central has made each of the past three NCAA Tournaments and were picked to win its league again in the preseason poll this year.
The Salukis will be without senior guard Aaron Cook Jr., who broke his hand during last Tuesday's game at Murray State. Cook is expected to miss 4-6 weeks. Cook was leading SIU in scoring (15.0 ppg), steals (3.2) and assists (3.3). At the time of his injury, Cook ranked second in the nation in steals. Cook's streak of 63 consecutive starts -- which was the longest active streak in the MVC -- will be snapped on Tuesday.
Freshman guard Trent Brown has not committed a turnover against a Division I opponent yet this season. According to KenPom, only 13 players nationally have not committed a turnover against a Division I opponent, and only three of those are freshman. Brown has played 99 minutes vs. DI without a turnover, the most minutes of any of the three freshmen with a 0.0 turnover rate.
Aaron Cook had 7 steals against Oakland (11/10/19), the most in the nation in 2019-20. Cook became the 4th player in SIU history with 7+ steals in a game, and first since Mullins did it in 2006.
SIU has excelled in three areas:
- Fewest turnovers per game (11.2 - 39th nationally - 2nd in MVC)
- 3-point FG% defense (.275 - 57th nationally - 2nd in MVC)
- Fewest fouls per game (14.0 - 31st nationally - 3rd in MVC)
SIU leads the Missouri Valley Conference in field goal percentage defense (.394). The Salukis held three-straight opponents under 40% shooting to open the season, marking the first time SIU did that to open a season since 1989-90.

Selected quotes from SIU head coach Bryan Mullins' Monday press conference...

Opening statement: "We're excited about Tuesday night's game vs. NC Central. Coach (LaVelle) Moton has done an unbelievable job with the program. Obviously, they have been to the NCAA Tournament a bunch of times. They have an extremely old team; they have all third, fourth, and fifth-year players. They're very well coached. It will be a challenge for us. We have had a great week of practice since Murray State. Obviously, losing Aaron Cook for the next month or so, guys have really stepped up in practice. There has been great energy. Sekou (Dembele) and Karrington (Davis) are getting more reps. It will be by-committee, in terms of making up for AC. Everyone has to pitch in, and we'll be ready to go tomorrow night."
On where the team is at: "I think we're getting better every single day. Our goal is to be playing our best basketball in February and March. That's still our goal. It's a lot of new guys that don't have Division I experience that are playing meaningful minutes for us. The more practices we can get with them, and the more games we can play as a group, as a unit, the better we will be, especially come Valley time. With AC out, it presents a bigger challenge, but it also gives guys an opportunity to get better for when AC does come back; we can be a deeper team."
On the week off between games: "The first couple days were about ourselves, getting ourselves better offensively and defensively. These last couple days were about NC Central: the game plan, the scout, and putting it into practice, getting our guys focused on what we need to do Tuesday night to be successful."
On what he's looking for vs. NC Central: "High energy and great focus. I want to see them locked in defensively, guarding as a unit. We want ball movement to be crisp on the offensive end, taking good shots and sprinting back. Transition defense is going to be a big factor. NC Central plays extremely fast. If we can keep them out of transition, we will put ourselves in position to have success Tuesday."

To view the entire Coach Mullins press conference, click here.

To view a complete version of game notes in PDF format, click here.