SIU takes on D2 Missouri S&T on Friday in the home opener.
Meet the Miners
Missouri S&T is coached by Bill Walker, a former player that took the job in 2019. They've improved from 10-36 in his first 2 years to 11-17 in his 3rd year, 16-12 in his 4th year, and 15-12 in his 5th year.
The Miners were picked 10th of 15 teams in the Great Lakes Valley Conference. They played an exhibition at Tulsa on October 29th and lost 75-70 in overtime.
One of their top returning players is 6-9 Junior Andrew Young. Young averaged 10 PPG and 6.4 RPG last season and was 3rd in the GLVC in blocked shots. In their exhibition loss at Tulsa, Young led the Miners with 17 points, 15 rebounds, and 4 blocks.
Another key returning player for the Miners is 6-2 Senior Lovell Williams. Williams was 2nd on the Miners in scoring last year averaging 12.6 points per game and led the team in assists with 120.
One familiar name on Missouri S&T is 6-1 Junior Blaise Beauchamp. Beauchamp spent 2 seasons at Evansville where he averaged 8.2 points per game. He didn't play in their exhibition against Tulsa so not sure if there's an injury there.
Links:
SIU Game Notes
Missouri S&T Game Notes
The fact that they took Tulsa to overtime is intriguing. Obviously, not a complete pushover. We are going up against another very strong post player who took it to Tulsa. It will be interesting to see how our bigs do against another quality post player.
