Tuesday, November 5
Carbondale, Ill.
7 p.m.
Southern Illinois University
vs
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Illinois Wesleyan
Salukis open 2019-20 season on Tuesday vs. Illinois Wesleyan
11/03/2019 | 5:10:00 | Men's Basketball
CARBONDALE, Ill. - The 2019-20 Southern Illinois men's basketball season officially opens on Tuesday night with a 7 p.m. game against Illinois Wesleyan at Banterra Center. SIU is celebrating first responders by offering free admission to all first responders and $10 tickets to family members who come with them. Additionally, a 'Dino Dash' will take place at halftime, featuring SIU faculty and staff.Â
FOLLOW THE GAME
Watch » ESPN3 with Connor Onion, Mike Trude and Jon Miller
Listen » Saluki Sports Network with Mike Reis
Live Stats » Via Sidearm Sports
Social Media » @SIU_Basketball
BRYAN MULLINS ERA BEGINS
SIU alum Bryan Mullins was named the program's 14th head coach on March 20, 2019, and Tuesday's game vs. Illinois Wesleyan will be his official debut. Mullins was a two-time MVC Defensive Player of the Year during his Hall of Fame career at SIU. He starred on SIU's 2007 Sweet Sixteen team that finished the year ranked No. 11 nationally. He came to SIU from Loyola, where he was the associate head coach on Loyola's 2018 Final Four team.Â
SIU coaching debut quick notes...
SIU returns just four players from last year and has 10 newcomers. Two of the returners -- Aaron Cook and Eric McGill -- make up an exciting and athletic backcourt. Cook and McGill combined to average 20 points, 8 rebounds, 6 assists and 3 steals per game last year. Individually, they were each in the top-three of the MVC in steals last year. Cook's 119 career steals are 29 more than anyone else in the MVC. The Salukis have 10 newcomers on the team this year, including graduate transfers Barret Benson and Ronnie Suggs Jr. Freshman Marcus Domask earned 2019 Wisconsin Mr. Basketball and scored 17 points in the exhibition win. The Salukis were picked last in the MVC's preseason poll.
ABOUT THE OPPONENT
Illinois Wesleyan is a Division III program from Bloomington, Ill. Perennially a strong program, the Titans have only two losing seasons in the last 30 years. They are coming off an 18-9 season in 2018-19 and are picked third in their conference heading into this year, behind two teams that are nationally ranked in Division III. Offensively, IWU averaged 82.1 points per game last year and shot 48.2 percent from the field.Â
SIU DEFENSE SHINES IN EXHIBITION
SIU won its exhibition game on October 22 against Division II Minnesota State 56-41. SIU's defense limited a high-scoring Mavericks team to 26.6 percent shooting from the field. Minnesota State, which was picked to win its league this year, had averaged 80 points per game last year. Although the game won't go in the record books because it was an exhibition, two stats illustrate how dominant SIU's defensive effort was:
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FOLLOW THE GAME
Watch » ESPN3 with Connor Onion, Mike Trude and Jon Miller
Listen » Saluki Sports Network with Mike Reis
Live Stats » Via Sidearm Sports
Social Media » @SIU_Basketball
BRYAN MULLINS ERA BEGINS
SIU alum Bryan Mullins was named the program's 14th head coach on March 20, 2019, and Tuesday's game vs. Illinois Wesleyan will be his official debut. Mullins was a two-time MVC Defensive Player of the Year during his Hall of Fame career at SIU. He starred on SIU's 2007 Sweet Sixteen team that finished the year ranked No. 11 nationally. He came to SIU from Loyola, where he was the associate head coach on Loyola's 2018 Final Four team.Â
SIU coaching debut quick notes...
- SIU's previous 13 coaches combined to go 8-5 in their debut games.
- Three of SIU's last four coaches actually debuted on the road. Chris Lowery was the only SIU coach since Rich Herrin to start his head coaching career at Banterra Center. Lowery debuted against Augustana, which is in the same conference as Illinois Wesleyan.Â
- Bryan Mullins (age 32) is the latest in a long line of SIU's excellent track record for hiring young head coaches: William McAndrew (26), Harry Gallatin (31), Chris Lowery (32), and Matt Painter (33) all made their coaching debuts at SIU before they turned 35.Â
SIU returns just four players from last year and has 10 newcomers. Two of the returners -- Aaron Cook and Eric McGill -- make up an exciting and athletic backcourt. Cook and McGill combined to average 20 points, 8 rebounds, 6 assists and 3 steals per game last year. Individually, they were each in the top-three of the MVC in steals last year. Cook's 119 career steals are 29 more than anyone else in the MVC. The Salukis have 10 newcomers on the team this year, including graduate transfers Barret Benson and Ronnie Suggs Jr. Freshman Marcus Domask earned 2019 Wisconsin Mr. Basketball and scored 17 points in the exhibition win. The Salukis were picked last in the MVC's preseason poll.
ABOUT THE OPPONENT
Illinois Wesleyan is a Division III program from Bloomington, Ill. Perennially a strong program, the Titans have only two losing seasons in the last 30 years. They are coming off an 18-9 season in 2018-19 and are picked third in their conference heading into this year, behind two teams that are nationally ranked in Division III. Offensively, IWU averaged 82.1 points per game last year and shot 48.2 percent from the field.Â
SIU DEFENSE SHINES IN EXHIBITION
SIU won its exhibition game on October 22 against Division II Minnesota State 56-41. SIU's defense limited a high-scoring Mavericks team to 26.6 percent shooting from the field. Minnesota State, which was picked to win its league this year, had averaged 80 points per game last year. Although the game won't go in the record books because it was an exhibition, two stats illustrate how dominant SIU's defensive effort was:
- Minnesota State hadn't scored 41 or fewer points since the 1980-81 season
- SIU hadn't held an opponent to 41 or fewer points since 2008
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Players Mentioned
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