First test for the Salukis this season. Murray St. is currently #97 in KenPom. The Racers had a bad loss to Middle Tennessee on the road but won back to back against Illinois St. and OVC preseason co-favorite Austin Peay. KenPom has Murray State winning 71-66.
Murray State's best player is 6'5 Junior guard Tevin Brown. Brown averaged 17.9 PPG last season and this season is currently the Racers leader in points per game (16.0), assists per game (4.8), rebounds per game (7.0), and steals per game (1.8).
Given the Salukis' struggles at rebounding so far this year, you should watch out for 6'10 Junior forward KJ Williams who is currently 153rd in the country in offensive rebounding %. As a team, the Racers are currently 57th in the country in offensive rebounding %.
6'2 Sophomore guard Chico Carter has been really involved so far this year in Murray State's offense as he leads the team in percentage of possessions and percentage of shots taken. Small sample size but Carter is 6-11 from 3 this year which is 82nd in the country.
Betting:
Murray State favored by 5 (BetMGM)
Links:
Mike Reis Saluki Flashback from 12/9/1989 SIU 3 OT win vs Murray St
Rodney Watson radio interview with Assistant Coach Pat Monaghan
Mike Reis interview with Murray State Head Coach Matt McMahon
Bryan Mullins Press Conference 12/10/20
The Racer Nation Message Board
Southern Illinoisan article on Dalton Banks
Saluki Athletics offering fan cutouts for the Banterra Center
F the fan cut outs, we need the swim team!
The advancement and diffusion of knowledge is the only guardian of true liberty.
James Madison
Thanks for the game notes @salukiworld.
Your first sentenced made me laugh though, since it took a prayer and OT run to get past SEMO.
But I get your point, Murray is the first quality opponent and will definitely be a tough game for the dawgs.
We don't match up well with Murray. They're 2 bigs up front are 6 ft10-245 lbs and 6 ft8-255 lbs. How do we keep them off the boards? Hard to drive on too. Plus their super guard Brown is hard to contain. Maybe AD can shoot 3's and pull his man out from underneath. Going to be a tough one.
We don't match up well with Murray. They're 2 bigs up front are 6 ft10-245 lbs and 6 ft8-255 lbs. How do we keep them off the boards? Hard to drive on too. Plus their super guard Brown is hard to contain. Maybe AD can shoot 3's and pull his man out from underneath. Going to be a tough one.
Not the same Murray State team obviously but last year when we played at Murray and were having similar rebounding problems, Murray out-rebounded the Salukis 42-30 and KJ Williams had a 13 point/10 rebound double-double.
Thanks for the game notes @salukiworld.
Your first sentenced made me laugh though, since it took a prayer and OT run to get past SEMO.
But I get your point, Murray is the first quality opponent and will definitely be a tough game for the dawgs.
Yeah definitely meant test in the grand scheme of things 🤣. Beating SEMO doesn’t move the needle at all but beating Murray State would increase my expectations for this team for sure
Funny thing. SEMO might be as good as Murray
I didn't know Keller was out for the season
I didn't know Keller was out for the season
They said during the broadcast that Keller was out with an injury. I don't see anywhere saying he's out for the year though
Funny thing. SEMO might be as good as Murray
I concur. This game will be about our defense. I am not worried about our offense.
The advancement and diffusion of knowledge is the only guardian of true liberty.
James Madison
Murray State is favored by 5 on BetMGM:
Some audio for your listening pleasure:
Rodney Watson radio interview with Assistant Coach Pat Monaghan
Mike Reis interview with Murray State Head Coach Matt McMahon
https://soundcloud.com/mikereis-siu/coach-matt-mcmahon-saluki-radio-interview
Funny thing. SEMO might be as good as Murray
I concur. This game will be about our defense. I am not worried about our offense.
Murray State is a top 100 Kenpom Team and SEMO is 332 (out of 357). They're not even in the same ballpark IMO. I've watched both teams and Murray State is for real. SEMO would be lucky to win 5 games in the MVC. If SIU can find a way to stay close to Murray State, or even win, it would be a BIG win.
Funny thing. SEMO might be as good as Murray
I concur. This game will be about our defense. I am not worried about our offense.
Murray State is a top 100 Kenpom Team and SEMO is 332 (out of 357). They're not even in the same ballpark IMO. I've watched both teams and Murray State is for real. SEMO would be lucky to win 5 games in the MVC. If SIU can find a way to stay close to Murray State, or even win, it would be a BIG win.
Murray probably is better than SEMO, but the gap isn't nearly as wide as Kenpom predicts. They tend to give no respect to mid/low major teams (preseason rankings) with a lot of new players early in the season. I suspect that in March, Murray will be in the 100-200 range, and SEMO will easily be better than 300. My estimation is they end up in the 200-250 range.
On a side note, wasn't it Kenpom that predicted SIU to finish below Evansville in the MVC for this season? If so, would you believe that?
