Wednesday, December 4
Carbondale, Ill.
7 p.m.
Southern Illinois University
vs
Norfolk State
Photo by: T.H. Weber
Norfolk State visits Banterra Center on Wednesday
12/03/2019 | 11:48:00 | Men's Basketball
CARBONDALE, Ill. - Norfolk State visits the SIU men's basketball team on Wednesday night at Banterra Center. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. and the game will be streamed nationally on ESPN+. The Salukis and Spartans are meeting for the first time.
Norfolk State (3-6) at SIU (3-5)
Watch » ESPN+ with Connor Onion, Mike Trude, and John Miller
Listen » Saluki Sports Network with Mike ReisÂ
Live Stats » Sidearm Sports
Social Media » @SIU_Basketball
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PRESS CONFERENCE TRANSCRIPT
Below is a partial transcript of today's Bryan Mullins press conference. To watch the full press conference, click here.
Opening statement... "I first want to thank all our fans who came to St. Louis on Sunday. It was great to see all the maroon in the building. It meant a lot to our guys to hear the fans cheer. To get that type of applause on a road game, I definitely think it helped our team perform on Sunday. We obviously didn't get the result we wanted. St. Louis is a special area for us. It's where Arch Madness is held, and we hope to have another good crowd there in a couple months."
On Norfolk State... "It's going to be another tough matchup. They're a great program. Coach Jones has done a great job. I think they have been in the postseason seven of the last eight years. They were in the NIT last year and won at Alabama. They have been extremely competitive in every game this year. They're tough to scout because they use a lot of actions; they're very well coached; and they do a lot of things defensively, too. They press; they do zone; they run-and-jump; they trap the post; they trap ball screens. They're going to throw a lot of things at you, and I think that's why they have been so competitive with Ole Miss, Northwestern, and Bradley."
On SIU growing as a team... "We have to continue to get better. Yesterday, we had another good practice. Today will be a big practice for us. I believe the more experience our guys get, the more we will continue to improve throughout the year. What I love about coaching these guys is their focus every single day. They have not let up in terms of their work ethic. We had guys in the gym again this morning shooting. We had guys last night shooting. If we continue to focus on improving each day, the results will come."
On Marcus Domask... "I challenged him to be consistent. He had a really good game against North Carolina Central. I wanted him to put back-to-back consistent games together. Obviously, he did that. He takes what the defense gives him; he doesn't force too many shots. I think I said it after the game -- he can pass, shoot and dribble; he's a basketball player with a good feel for the game. He's an extremely hard worker, and he will have opportunities every single game to be successful."
On Harwin Francois... "He has helped us a lot in different games. My challenge to Harwin is always to impact the game in other ways than just shooting. He can be a very good defender. He can be a very good rebounder for us. He has to have that mindset every single game. He's capable of doing that. That's why we loved him. That's what I recruited him out of junior college. He competed on every single possession. If he can do that consistently, he's going to help us even more than he is right now."
On Barret Benson... "Our guards have to look for him, and Barret has to want the ball every possession. He can't take possessions off because he's having a great year in terms of scoring the ball and being efficient when he does get the ball. He did a good job on Sunday at Saint Louis of running the floor. He got three run-outs for baskets. That was impressive. I'm challenging him to do that every single time. He might not get a layup every single time, but it puts pressure on the defense if he's sprinting the floor every single trip."
For a complete set of game notes in PDF format, click here.
Norfolk State (3-6) at SIU (3-5)
Watch » ESPN+ with Connor Onion, Mike Trude, and John Miller
Listen » Saluki Sports Network with Mike ReisÂ
Live Stats » Sidearm Sports
Social Media » @SIU_Basketball
Â
OPENING TIP
- SIU hosts Norfolk State at 7 p.m. on Wednesday night at Banterra Center. The game will be streamed nationally on ESPN+.Â
- Norfolk State won the MEAC regular season title last year, going 14-2 in conference play. The went on to beat Alabama in the NIT.Â
- SIU freshman forward Marcus Domask was named the MVC Newcomer of the Week on Monday. Domask averaged 19.5 points on 59% shooting over two games last week.Â
- Domask leads all MVC freshmen in scoring and assists. Domask is one of only five freshmen nationally averaging at least 14.0 points, 4.0 rebounds, and 3.0 assists.
- While Domask leads all MVC freshmen in assists per game (3.1), teammate Lance Jones ranks second among MVC freshmen at 2.0 assists per game.
- SIU senior center Barret Benson is shooting 67.2% from the field, which leads the MVC and ranks 12th in the nation. Benson is shooting 73% from 2-point range (38-of-52).Â
- As a team, SIU leads the MVC in field goal percentage defense (39.5%). SIU has held all eight opponents it has faced this year under 50% from the field and four of the eight opponents under 40% from the field. The Salukis are also limiting opponents to 28.4% from the 3-point line, which is third in the MVC and #59 nationally.Â
- SIU ranks second in the MVC (behind UNI) in fewest fouls and fewest turnovers per game. SIU is giving up just 11.5 turnovers per game, which ranks #34 nationally (of 353). SIU ranks even higher in fewest fouls (14.3 per game) at #27 nationally.Â
- Marcus Domask, SIU (3.1 apg)
- Lance Jones, SIU (2.0 apg)
- Paxson Wojcik, Loyola (1.4 apg)
PRESS CONFERENCE TRANSCRIPT
Below is a partial transcript of today's Bryan Mullins press conference. To watch the full press conference, click here.
Opening statement... "I first want to thank all our fans who came to St. Louis on Sunday. It was great to see all the maroon in the building. It meant a lot to our guys to hear the fans cheer. To get that type of applause on a road game, I definitely think it helped our team perform on Sunday. We obviously didn't get the result we wanted. St. Louis is a special area for us. It's where Arch Madness is held, and we hope to have another good crowd there in a couple months."
On Norfolk State... "It's going to be another tough matchup. They're a great program. Coach Jones has done a great job. I think they have been in the postseason seven of the last eight years. They were in the NIT last year and won at Alabama. They have been extremely competitive in every game this year. They're tough to scout because they use a lot of actions; they're very well coached; and they do a lot of things defensively, too. They press; they do zone; they run-and-jump; they trap the post; they trap ball screens. They're going to throw a lot of things at you, and I think that's why they have been so competitive with Ole Miss, Northwestern, and Bradley."
On SIU growing as a team... "We have to continue to get better. Yesterday, we had another good practice. Today will be a big practice for us. I believe the more experience our guys get, the more we will continue to improve throughout the year. What I love about coaching these guys is their focus every single day. They have not let up in terms of their work ethic. We had guys in the gym again this morning shooting. We had guys last night shooting. If we continue to focus on improving each day, the results will come."
On Marcus Domask... "I challenged him to be consistent. He had a really good game against North Carolina Central. I wanted him to put back-to-back consistent games together. Obviously, he did that. He takes what the defense gives him; he doesn't force too many shots. I think I said it after the game -- he can pass, shoot and dribble; he's a basketball player with a good feel for the game. He's an extremely hard worker, and he will have opportunities every single game to be successful."
On Harwin Francois... "He has helped us a lot in different games. My challenge to Harwin is always to impact the game in other ways than just shooting. He can be a very good defender. He can be a very good rebounder for us. He has to have that mindset every single game. He's capable of doing that. That's why we loved him. That's what I recruited him out of junior college. He competed on every single possession. If he can do that consistently, he's going to help us even more than he is right now."
On Barret Benson... "Our guards have to look for him, and Barret has to want the ball every possession. He can't take possessions off because he's having a great year in terms of scoring the ball and being efficient when he does get the ball. He did a good job on Sunday at Saint Louis of running the floor. He got three run-outs for baskets. That was impressive. I'm challenging him to do that every single time. He might not get a layup every single time, but it puts pressure on the defense if he's sprinting the floor every single trip."
For a complete set of game notes in PDF format, click here.
Players Mentioned
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/ Men's Basketball
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