The Salukis are back home for 5 in a row at home starting with Illinois State on Saturday.
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Meeting the Redbirds as a team:
Prior to the season, one of Illinois State's key players Senior Keith Fisher opted out of the season. The Redbirds come into this series 5-14 overall and 2-11 in the Missouri Valley and have lost 6 straight games since their home win against Bradley on January 20th, by far their best win of the season.
One thing the Redbirds do really well is shooting from long distance. Illinois State is 48th in the country in 3 point shooting % (36.9%) and they're 53rd in the country in percentage of points coming from the 3 (53% of their points). Since Missouri Valley Conference play has begun, the Redbirds are 3rd in the conference in 3 point shooting % (37%) On the defensive end, the Redbirds are 128th in the country in block % and 121st in the country in 3 point % against.
What the Redbirds don't do well starts with free throw shooting. The Redbirds are 339th in the country in free throw shooting (61.7%) and the actual percentage of point distribution they get from the free throw line is the 4th worst in Division 1 basketball with just 13% of their total points coming from there. On the defensive end, teams are able to get to the rim and score on Illinois State as the Redbirds are 307th in the country in 2 point FG % against (54.6%). Hoping this is an opportunity for guys like Lance Jones and Kyler Filewich to get to the rim and score. The Redbirds are also 307th in the country in turnover % against so they're not getting many turnovers on the defensive end. Like Bradley, the Redbirds tend to grind out possessions on the defensive end. Illinois State is 330th in the country in average possession length against with opponents averaging 18.2 seconds per possession when ISU is on defense.
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Meeting the Redbirds players:
Illinois State's leading scorer is 6'1 Sophomore D.J. Horne, averaging 14.9 PPG. Horne gets up the most shots on the Redbirds with 28.4% of the shots taken when he's on the floor, which is 158th in the country. Horne has been really good from 3 this year averaging 45.2% (47-104) from behind the arc, 73rd in the country. Since conference play has begun, Horne is 4th in the Missouri Valley in 3 point shooting going 36-73 (49.3%)
The Redbirds leading rebounder is 6'10 JUCO transfer Junior Dusan Mahorcic, averaging 7.4 rebounds per game (3rd highest in the Missouri Valley). Mahorcic is 66th in the country in offensive rebounding percentage and 192nd in the country in defensive rebounding percentage. Since Missouri Valley Conference play has started, Mahrocic is 2nd in the conference in free throw rate and 7th in the conference in fouls drawn per 40 minutes. Mahrocic was a teammate with Anthony D'Avanzo at Lewis 2 years ago.
6'5 Sophomore Antonio Reeves is the Redbirds 2nd leading scorer with 13.3 points per game. Reeves seemed to get off to a slow start to the season but as the season as gone on and since Missouri Valley Conference play has started, Reeves seems to be getting going. Reeves has scored double digits in 9 of his last 11 games including 47 total points in the Redbirds' two games against Drake 2 weeks ago.
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Last Season:
On January 4th, 2020; the Salukis beat the Redbirds 67-55 at the Banterra Center. Marcus Domask was the Salukis leading scorer with 16. This was the first Missouri Valley Conference win as head coach for Bryan Mullins.
On January 25, 2020; the Salukis went to Bloomington and beat the Redbirds 58-55 to win their first true road game of the year. Marcus Domask led the Salukis in scoring with 19 points including a game winning layup with 29 seconds left. Illinois State's Zach Copeland led the Redbirds in scoring with 24.
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Past Illinois State/SIU Meetings on YouTube:
1999:
2/7 SIU 69 Illinois State 63 (Away)
2003:
3/3 SIU 78 Illinois State 62 (Road)
3/8 SIU 75 Illinois State 63 (MVC Tournament Quarterfinals)
2005:
2/16 SIU 66 Illinois State 59 (Road)
2006:
1/28 SIU 65 Illinois State 52 (Road)
2020:
1/25 SIU 58 Illinois State 55 (Road)
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Links:
Bryan Mullins Press Conference 2/12
Mike Reis interview with Kyler Filewich:
https://siusalukis.com/watch/?Archive=5472&type=Archive
SIU is 4.5 point favorites on BetMGM
Without Domask, I see yet another split here but I would NOT be surprised if we split. The only outcome that would surprise me is if ISU sweeps us. In other words, I expect a minimum of 1 win and hoping for 2.
Without Domask, I see yet another split here but I would NOT be surprised if we split. The only outcome that would surprise me is if ISU sweeps us. In other words, I expect a minimum of 1 win and hoping for 2.
An ISU sweep in Carbondale even without Domask would be a huge cause for concern. I'm guessing split too.
If we want any chance to avoid Thursday at this point, and that is looking extremely bleak, then we need to sweep ISU. We really need to win the next 5 since we end the season with 2 at Loyola:
ISU Red
ISU Red
MSU
Valpo
Valpo
@ Loyola
@ Loyola
Winning 5 gets us to 8-8 heading into Loyola.
If we want any chance to avoid Thursday at this point, and that is looking extremely bleak, then we need to sweep ISU. We really need to win the next 5 since we end the season with 2 at Loyola:
ISU Red
ISU Red
MSU
Valpo
Valpo
@ Loyola
@ Loyola
Winning 5 gets us to 8-8 heading into Loyola.
I'd definitely like to sweep ISU and Valpo at a minimum!
If we want any chance to avoid Thursday at this point, and that is looking extremely bleak, then we need to sweep ISU. We really need to win the next 5 since we end the season with 2 at Loyola:
ISU Red
ISU Red
MSU
Valpo
Valpo
@ Loyola
@ Loyola
Winning 5 gets us to 8-8 heading into Loyola.
Unless Domask comes back, and even then, there is very little chance this team can beat Missouri State. Not this year and quite possibly not next with Prim coming back.
I think this game will give us insight as to where we’re at as a team. Without Domask I still think we’re a better team. I’m keying on the Filewich-Mahorcic match up. Then looking to see how our sophomores match up to Horne/Reeves for the Redbirds. Great chance for Lance Jones to make his mark as a premier Valley sophomore.
I think this game will give us insight as to where we’re at as a team. Without Domask I still think we’re a better team. I’m keying on the Filewich-Mahorcic match up. Then looking to see how our sophomores match up to Horne/Reeves for the Redbirds. Great chance for Lance Jones to make his mark as a premier Valley sophomore.
I agree. We continue to see flashes of Jones at his best. When he further improves (bc he has definitely already) his consistency, his decision making when driving, etc the entire league will have their hands full. I believe there are very few players in the league that can guard him one on one. In fact, I feel like the only player that can keep him down from time to time is himself. The day is coming where he is simply too much to handle for the other team. I hope that day starts today !!!
Game time, bitches....let's go!!!!
Is it me or is the court audio much higher than the announcer audio?
I think I've seen Harvey miss the last 10 fall away or turn around jumpers. Does this staff not look at analytics? If you're shooting ZERO %, why do you keep shooting those shots?
Is it me or is the court audio much higher than the announcer audio?
I was just coming here to post the same thing. It is awful.
Game time, bitches....let's go!!!!
Someone should have told the players in black it was starting.
