SIUSalukis.com GAME 20 • Jan. 18, 2017 • 7 p.m. CT SOUTHERN ILLINOIS (11-8, 4-2) at DRAKE (5-12, 3-3) Des Moines, Iowa • Drake Knapp Center (7,152) SIU leads, 57-31 (H: 33-10, A: 21-21, N: 2-1) Men’s Basketball Contact: Tom Weber ([email protected]) • O: (618) 453-7235 • C: (618) 528-1111 Series vs. Drake including 85-straight. He is ninth in How to follow the game The Salukis have won the last four career starts. Watch: ESPN3, Larry Morgan meetings and five of the last seven versus Listen: Saluki Radio Network, Flagship: 105.1 FM Drake. Last year, they swept the season Sean Lloyd steps up in starting Carbondale (Mike Reis, Greg Starrick) series, winning by 15 at home and by role Live Stats: http://stats.statbroadcast.com five in Des Moines. In the win at SIU G Sean Lloyd (6-5, 215, So.) has Arena on Jan. 1, the Salukis held Drake started five-straight games and seven MVC Standings scoreless for more than seven-straight of the last nine. As a starter, he is Through Jan. 15 Conf. All RPI NSOS Illinois State 6-0 14-4 27 56 minutes. G Leo Vincent made a season- averaging 8.7 points, 3.6 rebounds and Wichita State 5-1 15-4 83 267 high 5-of-8 shots from 3-point. 30.0 minutes. He’s coming off a 14-point Southern Illinois 4-2 11-8 127 95 outing at Evansville, which matched his Loyola 3-3 13-6 136 311 Measuring Mike Rodriguez impact career high. Missouri State 3-3 12-7 167 296 Bradley 3-3 9-10 213 182 on Saluki offense Drake 3-3 5-13 323 294 How big of an impact has PG Mike Armon Fletcher returns Evansville 1-5 11-8 207 168 Rodriguez (5-10, 165, Sr.) had on SIU’s Armon Fletcher (6-4, 190, So.), Indiana State 1-5 7-11 185 41 Northern Iowa 1-5 6-11 204 31 offense? Consider these stats. SIU’s leading scorer (13.3 points) missed •He has either scored (69) or recorded three games with a sprained foot, but Southern Illinois Schedule an assist (85) on 32 percent of SIU’s field came out firing last Wednesday versus Date Day Opponent TV Result/CT goals. Illinois State. He made a 3-pointer to Nov. 11 Fri. Wright State E3 L 81-85 •By comparison, All-Conference G open the game and scored 12 points. He Golden Gopher Invitational (Nov. 14, 16) Anthony Beane either scored or recorded is shooting a team-best .379 from outside Nov. 14 Mon. at Arkansas SEC+ L 65-90 an assist on 32 percent of SIU’s field the arc. Fletcher also leads the club and Nov. 16 Wed. Mo. Southern State E3 W 85-64 goals last year. ranks fourth in the MVC in steals (1.8). Nov. 18 Fri. at SIUE FSM W 101-83 Golden Gopher Invitational (Nov. 21, 25) •His 1.97 assist-TO ratio currently stands Thik Bol 33rd in nation, 2nd in Nov. 21 Mon. Mount St. Mary’s E3 W 73-63 as the sixth-best single-season mark in Nov. 25 Fri. at Minnesota BTN+ L 45-57 school history. Bryan Mullins (3.26 in MVC in blocked shots Nov. 29 Tues. Murray State E3 WOT 88-84 2009) holds the school record. F Thik Bol (6-8, 205, Jr.) ranks Dec. 3 Sat. Texas Southern E3 W 74-70 second in the MVC (behind Missouri Dec. 7 Wed. at Louisville RSN L 51-74 Salukis getting to the FT line State’s Obediah Church) and 42nd in the Dec. 10 Sat. Sam Houston State E3 L 73-79 Through six Valley games this season, nation in blocked shots per game (2.21). Dec. 14 Wed. Saint Louis E3 W 70-55 the Salukis have a huge advantage in His 42 blocks have already eclipsed Sean Dec. 19 Mon. at UNLV MWN L 61-68 Dec. 22 Thu. UT Martin E3 W 78-70 free throws made (+32) and attempts O’Brien’s team-leading total of 29 last Dec. 29 Thur. at Bradley E3 L 51-60 (+30), for an average of more than six year. Bol had a career-high six blocks Jan. 1 Sun. Drake E3 W 83-69 per game. versus Mount St. Mary’s and Evansville. Jan. 4 Wed. Indiana State E3 WOT 80-74 On the season, Mike Rodriguez ranks Jan. 7 Sat. at Missouri State CBSSN W 75-67 10th in the nation in free throw attempts Dawg Bites Jan. 11 Wed. Illinois State E3 L 53-60 and 16th in free throws made (100-of- •In MVC-only games, there are two Jan. 14 Sat. at Evansville MVC W 73-61 136). He has accounted for 34 percent defensive categories where the Salukis Jan. 18 Wed. at Drake E3 7 PM of the team’s made free throws and 33 lead the league — blocked shots (5.2) Jan. 21 Sat. Northern Iowa E3 7 PM Jan. 24 Tue. at Wichita State CBSSN 6 PM percent of free throw attempts. Forty and steals (8.3) Jan. 28 Sat. Missouri State MVC 7 PM percent of Rodriguez’ points have come •In SIU’s 11 wins, it is +4.9 on the Feb. 1 Wed. Bradley E3 7 PM from the free throw line. boards. In the eight losses, it is -7.0. Feb. 4 Sat. at Loyola MVC 1 PM •The Salukis average 76 points per game Feb. 8 Wed. at Northern Iowa E3 7 PM Sean O’Brien churns out double- at home, compared to 65 points on the Feb. 11 Sat. Evansville MVC 3 PM doubles road. Feb. 15 Wed. Wichita State MVC 6 PM F Sean O’Brien (6-7, 215, Sr.) has six •SIU is 10-1 when it has an advantage in Feb. 19 Sun. at Indiana State EU/3 3 PM double-doubles on the season and 15 in points in the paint, and 6-1 when it wins Feb. 22 Wed. at Illinois State MVC 6 PM Feb. 25 Sat. Loyola TBA TBA his career. The last Saluki player to have the rebounding battle. State Farm MVC Tournament, St. Louis, Mo. more than six double-doubles in a season •Armon Fletcher has made 17-straight Mar. 2 Thur. Play-In MVC TBA was G Jeff Early, who had eight in 2013. FTs in a streak that started versus Texas Mar. 3 Fri. Quarterfinals MVC TBA O’Brien is the 45th player in school Southern on Dec. 3. Mar. 4 Sat. Semifinals CBSSN TBA history to reach 1,000 points in his •O’Brien and Bol combine to account for Mar. 5 Sun. Championship CBS 1 PM career. He currently stands 36th in 46 percent of SIU’s rebounding total. E3: ESPN3 • BTN+: Big Ten Network Plus scoring at SIU with 1,078 points. O’Brien •SIU shoots .503 from inside the 3-point SEC+: SEC Network Plus • FSM: Fox Sports Midwest is also 13th in career rebounds (680) arc, compared to .315 outside the arc. RSN: ACC Regional Sports Network • EU: ESPNU MWN: Mountain West Network at SIU. A preseason Second-Team All- •SIU’s non-conference SOS ranks 95th in MVC: MVC TV Network • CBSSN: CBS Sports Network MVC pick, O’Brien has 108 career starts, the nation. Last year, it was 325th. 1 NCAA TOURNAMENT IN 1977, 93, 94, 95, 02, 03, 04, 05, 06, 07 SIUSalukis.com Senior leadership Game Matchups Southern Illinois in NCAA Rankings Southern Illinois (11-8, 4-2) The Salukis’ senior class Out of 351 Teams (thru 1/15) Rank Actual Projected Starters PPG RPG MPG (Sean O’Brien, Leo Vincent, Mike RPI 127 0.525 33 F Sean O’Brien, 6-7, 215, Sr. 11.8 8.1 31.1 Rodriguez, Tyler Smithpeters) Scoring Offense 232 71.6 40 C Thik Bol, 6-8, 200, Jr. 9.2 7.4 28.4 has the most returning career Scoring Defense 135 70.2 1 G Mike Rodriguez, 5-10, 165, Sr. 13.3 2.4 31.7 Scoring Margin 192 1.4 13 G Sean Lloyd, 6-5, 215, So. 6.8 2.6 22.6 points and rebounds of any Field-Goal Percentage 171 44.4 22 G Armon Fletcher, 6-4, 190, So. 13.3 4.3 31.0 school in the Missouri Valley Field-Goal Percentage Defense 246 44.8 Key Reserves Conference. In fact, 25 percent of Three-Point Field Goals Per Game 312 5.6 Three-Point Field-Goal Percentage 300 31.5 5 G Leo Vincent, 6-1, 192, Sr. 8.4 1.8 26.3 the returning scoring in the MVC Three Pt FG Defense 337 40.1 10 G Aaron Cook, 6-1, 175, Fr. 3.5 1.1 11.9 comes from SIU’s four seniors. Free-Throw Percentage 111 71.7 15 F Austin Weiher, 6-8, 210, So. 3.2 1.0 8.7 Rebound Margin 219 -0.2 24 C Rudy Stradnieks, 6-9, 240, So. 2.5 1.6 8.6 Seniors PTS REB SIU 4 1,875 699 Assists Per Game 262 12.4 0 F Jonathan Wiley, 6-6, 200, Jr. 2.3 1.9 8.7 Assist Turnover Ratio 229 0.95 Illinois State 3 1,761 516 Blocked Shots Per Game 94 4.2 Drake (5-13, 3-3) Loyola 2 1,123 333 Steals Per Game 79 7.2 Projected Starters PPG RPG MPG Evansville 5 1,056 473 Turnovers Per Game 138 13.0 2 F Billy Wampler, 6-6, 200, So.