Salukis open Arch Madness vs. Northern Iowa

The No. 3-seed Southern Illinois men's basketball team faces No. 6-seed Northern Iowa in the quarterfinal round of the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament. The Salukis and Panthers will tip off at 8:30 p.m. at the Enterprise Center. The game will be televised on the MVC TV Network.

#3 Southern Illinois (17-14, 10-8 MVC) vs. UNI (14-17, 9-9 MVC) || Friday, March 8 || 8:30 p.m. || St. Louis, Mo. (Enterprise Center)

Tickets » Ticketmaster.com (students can receive $10 tickets with ID at the Enterprise Center)
TV » MVC TV Network with John Rooney, Rich Zvosec and Tom Ackerman
Listen » Saluki Sports Network with Mike Reis and Rick Shipley (Stream available through TuneIn)
Stats » Via MVC
Game Notes » Southern Illinois (PDF)
Press Conferences » Hinson | Lloyd | Fletcher | at Enterprise Center
TV Info » The game will be televised on Fox Sports Midwest, Fox Sports Kansas City, Fox Sports Indiana, and NBC Sports Chicago. Inside the MVC's four-state footprint (Illinois, Iowa, Indiana, and Missouri), the game can be streamed on Fox Sports Go. Outside the league's footprint, the game can be streamed on WatchESPN.

THE RUNDOWN

Southern Illinois travels to St. Louis, Mo., for the 2019 Missouri Valley Conference Tournament. SIU is the No. 3 seed in the 10-team tournament and faces No. 6-seed Northern Iowa at 8:30 p.m. on Friday night at Enterprise Center.
SIU's three-game winning streak is the longest in the MVC going into Arch Madness. In addition to the streak, SIU has won four of its last five, five of its last seven, and seven of its last 10 games.
SIU's four-year senior class (Armon Fletcher, Sean Lloyd, Rudy Stradnieks) is the only class in the MVC to finish in the top-four of the MVC standings each of the last four years.
Salukis in the MVC individual rankings (all games)...
- 1st - Kavion Pippen in blocks (1.94)
- 2nd - Kavion Pippen in FG% (.566)
- 2nd - Eric McGill in steals (1.62)
- 3rd - Aaron Cook in assists (3.7)
- 4th - Cook in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.49:1)
Salukis in the MVC team rankings (all games)...
- 1st in blocks (4.0)
- 1st in 3-point FG% (.377)
- 2nd in FG% defense (.428)
- 2nd in assists (13.8)
- 2nd in offensive rebounding (9.06)
- 2nd in fewest fouls (14.9)
- 3rd in rebounding margin (+1.1)
- 3rd in scoring margin (+1.7)
- 3rd in steals (6.7)

TOURNAMENT PREVIEW

SIU is the #3 seed in the 2019 MVC Tournament. The single-elimination tournament culminates in Sunday's 1 p.m. championship game, with the winner being granted an automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament.
SIU has won the tournament five times (1977, 93, 94, 95, 06) and finished runner-up five times. SIU's most recent MVC Tournament championship was in 2006, and most recent title game appearance was in 2007.
SIU's five tournament titles are tied with Northern Iowa for most in the MVC.
SIU has advanced to the semifinals in three of the last five years (2014, 17, 18).
SIU head coach Barry Hinson has won 15 MVC Tournament games, which ranks fourth all-time in MVC history. UNI head coach Ben Jacobson is fifth all-time with 13 wins.
SIU has a .500 or better record against every MVC school in the MVC Tournament except Indiana State.
Sean Lloyd Jr. enters the tournamet four points shy of 1,000 for his career. He will join Armon Fletcher as active career 1,000-point scorers. Lloyd will be the 47th Saluki to become a 1,000-point scorer.
Three Salukis earned All-MVC honors at the conclusion of the regular season. Armon Fletcher was named second-team All-MVC. Kavion Pippen was named third-team All-MVC and MVC All-Defensive team. Sean Lloyd Jr. was named to the MVC All-Defensive team for a second-straight year.
In MVC games, Fletcher was the league's second-leading scorer (17.8 ppg). He scored 34 in a game twice against MVC opponents, which was the most by any MVC player this year.
With a win, SIU would...
Advance to the MVC semifinals for a third-straight year
Win four-straight games for the first time since a five-game winning streak in late November and early December.

ACADEMIC EXCELLENCE

All six SIU seniors have either graduated or are on track to graduate this year. Including this year's seniors, 18-straight SIU players who have exhausted their eligibility at SIU will have also earned a degree, dating back to 2014.
The Salukis set a program record for team GPA during the 2017-18 season.
SIU senior guard Marcus Bartley was named an Academic All-American in 2018. He graduated in May 2018 with a perfect 4.0 GPA and maintains a perfect 4.0 GPA in his M.B.A. program.
Among efforts to increase the program's APR standing, Hinson brought back several former players, who earned their degrees in the Hinson era. Some of those players include: John Freeman, Carlton Fay, Matt Shaw, and Justin Bocot.

SHUTDOWN SEAN LLOYD

Sean Lloyd was named to the MVC All-Defensive team for a second-straight year. Some of examples of his work this year on the opposing team's best guard...
- Buffalo's CJ Massinburg - Overall stats: 18.7 ppg, 49.7 FG% // Against Lloyd: 10.5 ppg, 45.0 FG%
- Saint Louis's Javon Bess - Overall stats: 15.6 ppg, 39.5 FG% // Against Lloyd: 3 points, 1-for-10 FG
- Arkansas Pine Bluff's Martaveous McKnight - Overall stats: 20.3 ppg, 43.9 FG% // Against Lloyd: 11 points, 4-for-17 FG
- Illinois State's Milik Yarbrough - Overall stats: 16.8 ppg, 47.5 FG% // Against Lloyd: 11.5 ppg, 9-of-27 (33.3 FG%), 4.5 TO
- Loyola's Marques Townes - Overall stats: 15.9 ppg, 48.8 FG% // Against Lloyd: 11.0 ppg, 10-for-25 (40.0 FG%), 3.5 TO
Hinson on Lloyd: "If he's not defensive player of the year, I'll be upset. I think he takes everyone's best player and makes them have a hard night. In order to score points against Sean Lloyd, you have to shoot a lot of shots. Ask the guys he's been guarding."

SECOND HALF SALUKIS

SIU is outscoring opponents by 158 points in the second half this year.
SIU is averaging 38 points in the second half in MVC play, the most by any MVC team in either half during league play.
The Salukis overcame a 16-point halftime deficit to beat Northern Iowa (Jan. 23) and a 10-point halftime deficit to beat Bradley (February 2).
Southern Illinois trailed Missouri State by 13 and Illinois State by 16 and rallied to take the lead in each game, but ultimately fell.
In 18 MVC games, the Salukis outscored opponents by 82 points in the second half. SIU outscored its opponent in the second half in 12 of its 18 league games. Six times, SIU outscored an MVC opponent by 9+ points in the second half.

MILESTONE MOMENTS

SIU's veteran Salukis have hit milestones this year...

Armon Fletcher scored his 1,000th career point earlier this year at SIU Edwardsville. Edwardsville is Fletcher's hometown.
Sean Lloyd Jr. enters the MVC Tournament with 996 career points, four shy of becoming the program's 47th 1,000-point scorer.
Fletcher, Aaron Cook, and Sean Lloyd Jr. have all reached 100 career steals this year.
Thik Bol became the sixth player in program history with 100 career blocked shots, and Kavion Pippen became the seventh.
Head coach Barry Hinson became the fourth coach in Missouri Valley Conference history to win 150 league games as a head coach, joining Henry Iba, Eddie Hickey, and Dana Altman.

LOCK DOWN

SIU's current field goal percentage defense (.428) would be the lowest for the program since the 2007-08 (.424). The Salukis rank second in the MVC in field goal defense.
SIU held UNI to 31.5 percent shooting on Jan. 5, marking SIU's best defensive effort against an MVC team since Feb. 25, 2009 at Drake.
SIU has held Buffalo (62) to its lowest point totals this season. SIU allowed just 71 points to Kentucky, which was the Wildcats lowest total in non-conference play.
SIU held No. 25 Buffalo to 62 points on November 12, 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.
SIU's defense was remarkably impressive in two games against the high-powered and nationally ranked Buffalo Bulls, holding UB to 67 points per game, which is 20 points under their average against everyone else.
SIU held Buffalo, Arkansas Pine Bluff and Howard all under 40 percent shooting. The last time SIU held three-straight opponents under 40 percent shooting was Dec. 6-14, 2014. (Before that: Dec. 11-19, 2011).

For a complete set of game notes in PDF format, click here.

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Players Mentioned

Marcus Bartley

Thik Bol

Aaron Cook Jr.

Armon Fletcher

Sean Lloyd Jr.

Eric McGill

Kavion Pippen

Rudy Stradnieks

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