Tuesday, November 9
Little Rock, Ark.
5 PM
Southern Illinois University
at
Little Rock
Men's Basketball opens season at Little Rock on Tuesday
11/08/2021 | 8:30:00 | Men's Basketball
CARBONDALE, Ill. — Southern Illinois opens its 2021-22 season on the road with a trip to Little Rock, a member of the Sun Belt Conference, on Tuesday at 5 p.m. The game will be televised on ESPN+.
SIU is 1-1 all-time against Little Rock, with each team winning its home game. The Trojans won in Little Rock on Dec. 7, 2004, 70-53. SIU won in Carbondale on Dec. 22, 2005, 67-42. Now-SIU head coach Bryan Mullins
was a freshman point guard for the Salukis that season and had 5 points, 2 assists, 4 steals and no turnovers against Little Rock.
The Salukis return 97 percent of their scoring from last year's team. The team's top-eight scorers return, and seven players return who started 10+ games last season. On top of that, SIU adds J.D. Muila, who missed last season with an injury (was #24-ranked JuCo player in the nation in 2019-20); Ben Coupet, who averaged double-figures each of the last two seasons for Little Rock; and three freshmen who were all ranked as top-10 players in their states last season.
SIU was picked fifth in the MVC preseason poll. Domask (Second Team) and Lance Jones (Third Team) were named to the preseason All-MVC teams. Jones averaged 13.4 ppg last year and led the MVC in 3-point field goal percentage. SIU was the ninth-youngest team in the nation last season according to KenPom. More than 90 percent of SIU's scoring last year came from freshmen and sophomores.
Season Openers
The Salukis are 74-33 all-time in season openers ... SIU has won each of its last two season openers and is 4-2 in its last six season openers, dating back to 2015-16 ... SIU is opening on the road for the second-straight year (won in OT at SEMO in last year's opener) and is opening on the road for the fourth time in the last five seasons (at Wintrop in 2017-18 [W], at #2 Kentucky in 2018-19 [L], and at SEMO in 2020-21 [W]) ... SIU head coach Bryan Mullins is 12-0 in season openers (4-0 as a player at SIU, 6-0 on staff at Loyola, and 2-0 as head coach at SIU).
Dawg Bites
SIU is in its 108th season of basketball ... SIU went 7-0 when it out-rebounded its opponent last season (14-2 in Mullins era) ... SIU has six players with 500+ career points (Coupet, D'Avanzo, Domask, Harvey, Jones, Verplancken).
Head Coach Bryan Mullins' Weekly Press Conference – 11/8/21
Opening Statement:
"I'm excited. It's the start of college basketball – what an exciting time of the year. Our guys have worked extremely hard and we have a tough, tough challenge ahead of us on Tuesday night playing Arkansas-Little Rock. They won the league [Sun Belt] two years ago, obviously last year was a tough season for everyone. Coach [Darrell] Walker is a very good coach – they play a winning style of basketball. They can really guard you, they have great length and athleticism. Offensively, they get the shots they want. It's going to be fun and going to be a challenge for us. The hardest thing in college basketball is to win on the road, our guys are looking forward to the challenge and the opportunity and I'm looking forward to coaching them and watching them compete Tuesday night."
Update on senior Ben Coupet Jr. and junior Trent Brown:
"They're doing pretty good. Both have been able to practice yesterday [Sunday], so they should be able to practice today as well. We're hoping they will be available for the game Tuesday night as long as everything goes smooth at today's practice."
On this squad's strengths and weaknesses:
"Our biggest strength is hopefully our connectedness on both sides of the ball, playing as a team, being unselfish, helping each other on defense, making that extra pass on offense.
I've said since the start of the summer was 'can we control, what we can control', and can we be consistent in those areas that win games in terms of rebounds and defense, taking care of the ball and do it for 40 minutes. In terms of the exhibition game, I think we played well the first half compared to the second half. When you go on the road, you have to play winning basketball, you have to have great shot selection, you have to block out every single possession while making great post passes. All those little things add up, in terms of toughness and winning basketball, we need to consistently be at a high level if we want to be a championship team this year."
On Motivation:
"Our guys are pretty motivated themselves. Eight of our 13 players have won high school state championships, most of them are the winningest players in their high school's history. JD [Muila] played in the National Junior College Tournament. So I don't really have to motivate them, when all they want to do is win and win together. I have to continue to develop them, get them better – show them what it takes to win on a daily basis, that's all the little things we've been doing."
SIU is 1-1 all-time against Little Rock, with each team winning its home game. The Trojans won in Little Rock on Dec. 7, 2004, 70-53. SIU won in Carbondale on Dec. 22, 2005, 67-42. Now-SIU head coach Bryan Mullins
was a freshman point guard for the Salukis that season and had 5 points, 2 assists, 4 steals and no turnovers against Little Rock.
The Salukis return 97 percent of their scoring from last year's team. The team's top-eight scorers return, and seven players return who started 10+ games last season. On top of that, SIU adds J.D. Muila, who missed last season with an injury (was #24-ranked JuCo player in the nation in 2019-20); Ben Coupet, who averaged double-figures each of the last two seasons for Little Rock; and three freshmen who were all ranked as top-10 players in their states last season.
SIU was picked fifth in the MVC preseason poll. Domask (Second Team) and Lance Jones (Third Team) were named to the preseason All-MVC teams. Jones averaged 13.4 ppg last year and led the MVC in 3-point field goal percentage. SIU was the ninth-youngest team in the nation last season according to KenPom. More than 90 percent of SIU's scoring last year came from freshmen and sophomores.
Season Openers
The Salukis are 74-33 all-time in season openers ... SIU has won each of its last two season openers and is 4-2 in its last six season openers, dating back to 2015-16 ... SIU is opening on the road for the second-straight year (won in OT at SEMO in last year's opener) and is opening on the road for the fourth time in the last five seasons (at Wintrop in 2017-18 [W], at #2 Kentucky in 2018-19 [L], and at SEMO in 2020-21 [W]) ... SIU head coach Bryan Mullins is 12-0 in season openers (4-0 as a player at SIU, 6-0 on staff at Loyola, and 2-0 as head coach at SIU).
Dawg Bites
SIU is in its 108th season of basketball ... SIU went 7-0 when it out-rebounded its opponent last season (14-2 in Mullins era) ... SIU has six players with 500+ career points (Coupet, D'Avanzo, Domask, Harvey, Jones, Verplancken).
Head Coach Bryan Mullins' Weekly Press Conference – 11/8/21
Opening Statement:
"I'm excited. It's the start of college basketball – what an exciting time of the year. Our guys have worked extremely hard and we have a tough, tough challenge ahead of us on Tuesday night playing Arkansas-Little Rock. They won the league [Sun Belt] two years ago, obviously last year was a tough season for everyone. Coach [Darrell] Walker is a very good coach – they play a winning style of basketball. They can really guard you, they have great length and athleticism. Offensively, they get the shots they want. It's going to be fun and going to be a challenge for us. The hardest thing in college basketball is to win on the road, our guys are looking forward to the challenge and the opportunity and I'm looking forward to coaching them and watching them compete Tuesday night."
Update on senior Ben Coupet Jr. and junior Trent Brown:
"They're doing pretty good. Both have been able to practice yesterday [Sunday], so they should be able to practice today as well. We're hoping they will be available for the game Tuesday night as long as everything goes smooth at today's practice."
On this squad's strengths and weaknesses:
"Our biggest strength is hopefully our connectedness on both sides of the ball, playing as a team, being unselfish, helping each other on defense, making that extra pass on offense.
I've said since the start of the summer was 'can we control, what we can control', and can we be consistent in those areas that win games in terms of rebounds and defense, taking care of the ball and do it for 40 minutes. In terms of the exhibition game, I think we played well the first half compared to the second half. When you go on the road, you have to play winning basketball, you have to have great shot selection, you have to block out every single possession while making great post passes. All those little things add up, in terms of toughness and winning basketball, we need to consistently be at a high level if we want to be a championship team this year."
On Motivation:
"Our guys are pretty motivated themselves. Eight of our 13 players have won high school state championships, most of them are the winningest players in their high school's history. JD [Muila] played in the National Junior College Tournament. So I don't really have to motivate them, when all they want to do is win and win together. I have to continue to develop them, get them better – show them what it takes to win on a daily basis, that's all the little things we've been doing."
Players Mentioned
G
/ Men's Basketball
G
/ Men's Basketball
G
/ Men's Basketball
10.12.25 | Saluki Radio Postgame #1 North Dakota State - DJ Williams
Sunday, October 12
10.12.25 | Saluki Radio Postgame #1 North Dakota State - Nick Hill
Sunday, October 12
Saluki Football Radio Broadcast - #1 NDSU
Sunday, October 12
10.10.25 | Davion Sykes with Rodney Watson
Friday, October 10