Wednesday, February 23
Carbondale, Ill.
7 PM
Southern Illinois University
vs
Illinois State
Men's Basketball hosts Redbirds on Senior Night on Wednesday
02/22/2022 | 10:07:00 | Men's Basketball
CARBONDALE, Ill. — Southern Illinois hosts Illinois State on Wednesday at 7 p.m. in the program's annual Senior Night game at Banterra Center.
The Salukis (15-13, 8-8) have won three-straight games and four of their last six. They will honor seniors Anthony D'Avanzo, Ben Coupet Jr., Will Keller and Sekou Dembele in a short ceremony that begins at 6:43 p.m.
SIU is the likely No. 6 seed at Arch Madness (March 3-6 in St. Louis). The Salukis could still finish tied for fifth by winning their final two games, combined with two Bradley losses. The seeding tiebreaker would then be determined by NET rankings (currently BU: 96, SIU: 138) on the morning of Sunday, Feb. 27.
Bryan Mullins on the seniors
On Anthony D'Avanzo:
"He was great for us last year. He's battled a lot of injuries since last summer and fall, but he's been an awesome teammate. He's going to leave here with his MBA and has a bright future ahead of him."
On Ben Coupet Jr.:
"Coupet's made a big impact on our program in the short time he's been here. He's been a great teammate as well, a gym rat, he's really helped us a lot this season."
On Will Keller:
"Will's a walk-on here who's been with me from Day One, and he's everything I could ask for from someone who's a part of this program and represents it extremely well in the classroom, in the community and on the court."
On Sekou Dembele:
"He's obvioulsy had a tough career in terms of injuries, but has been part of this program and just makes you better when he's around."
Know Before You Go
The Salukis (15-13, 8-8) have won three-straight games and four of their last six. They will honor seniors Anthony D'Avanzo, Ben Coupet Jr., Will Keller and Sekou Dembele in a short ceremony that begins at 6:43 p.m.
SIU is the likely No. 6 seed at Arch Madness (March 3-6 in St. Louis). The Salukis could still finish tied for fifth by winning their final two games, combined with two Bradley losses. The seeding tiebreaker would then be determined by NET rankings (currently BU: 96, SIU: 138) on the morning of Sunday, Feb. 27.
Bryan Mullins on the seniors
On Anthony D'Avanzo:
"He was great for us last year. He's battled a lot of injuries since last summer and fall, but he's been an awesome teammate. He's going to leave here with his MBA and has a bright future ahead of him."
On Ben Coupet Jr.:
"Coupet's made a big impact on our program in the short time he's been here. He's been a great teammate as well, a gym rat, he's really helped us a lot this season."
On Will Keller:
"Will's a walk-on here who's been with me from Day One, and he's everything I could ask for from someone who's a part of this program and represents it extremely well in the classroom, in the community and on the court."
On Sekou Dembele:
"He's obvioulsy had a tough career in terms of injuries, but has been part of this program and just makes you better when he's around."
Know Before You Go
- Everyone on campus is required to wear face masks in shared indoor spaces. Please do your part to protect the health and safety of the Saluki community.
- If you are experiencing COVID symptoms, stay home (except to get tested) so you don't spread the virus to others if you are positive.
- During the first half at Indiana State, both Lance Jones (1,015) and Marcus Domask (1,010) surpassed 1,000 career points. They finished with 24 and 21 points, respectively, in the win.
- SIU holds two wins over Top 100 teams in the most recent NET ratings — Colorado (79) and Bradley (96).
- SIU has held 25 of 28 opponents under 70 points. Only Missouri State (81), Bradley (70) and Indiana State (72) have reached 70 points against Southern.
- No opponent has reached 70 points at Banterra Center this season. The last season that happened was 2006-07.
- SIU is allowing just 56.8 points per game at the Banterra Center.
- SIU has held 15 opponents to 60 or fewer points.
- The Salukis lead the MVC in both total (59,840) and average (4,274) attendance.
- Kyler Filewich is 20-of-32 (.625) from the field in the last seven games. He is fifth in the MVC in field goal percentage (.553) on the season.
- Ben Coupet Jr. (.405) is sixth in the MVC in 3-point shooting percentage.
- The Salukis are 8-1 when they score 70+ points, with the only loss coming at Missouri State.
- The Salukis allow 60.9 points per game, which leads the MVC and ranks 14th nationally.
- SIU leads the MVC in 3-point field goal percentage defense (31.8).
- Scored 20+ points eight times this season, including the last two games, and a streak of four-straight games (Dec. 28-Jan. 15) earlier this year.
- Had a streak of 133-consecutive minutes played without committing a turnover, from Jan. 25 to Feb. 5.
- Is fifth in the league in assists (3.8).
- Is third in the conference in minutes played (35.43).
- Made 32-straight FTs during a nine-game stretch (11/22-12/28) — the second-longest streak in SIU history.
- Stands at 1,010 career points in 70 games.
- Had a career-high 31 points at Illinois State on Feb. 5.
- Leads the league in steals average (2.00).
- Has scored double figures in all but four games.
- Missed the Evansville and Maryville games with a foot injury.
- Stands at 1,015 career points in 83 games.
- At Indiana State last Saturday, had all 16 of points in the second half, including four threes.
- Is 19-for-35 (.543) from 3-point in the last nine games.
- Was SIU's top scorer during the month of December, averaging 15.9 points in seven games.
- Recorded double figures in all seven December games, including a career-high 27 at Tulsa.
Players Mentioned
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