SIU plays at home for the first time in over a month against 2-6 Northern Iowa.
The Panthers started the season with an MTE in Sioux Falls, South Dakota and came out of it 0-3 and without last year's Larry Bird Player of the Year, A.J. Green for the rest of the season and they've continued to struggle since. Northern Iowa has been one of the worst defensive teams in the country this season. The Panthers are 308th in the country in effective FG % against, 271st in the country in 3 point % against and 296% in the country in 2 point % against. They're also bottom 10 in the country in turnover % against.
Northern Iowa's best player this season has been 6'9 Junior Austin Phyfe. Phyfe leads the team in rebounds per game (7.0) and is 5th in the Missouri Valley in that stat. Phyfe is 90th in the country in effective field goal % and 82nd in the country in defensive rebounding %. Phyfe has really improved since conference play started and is getting the majority of the load for the Panthers. He's 4th in the MVC in effective field goal % and 7th in the MVC in true shooting % in conference games.
5'11 Freshman Bowen Born has improved since the season began. Born is currently 169th in the country in 3 point % and he's 5th in the Missouri Valley in 3 point % in conference games (15-32).
Last Season:
On January 22nd, 2020; SIU beat Northern Iowa 68-66 in Carbondale led by 20 points from Lance Jones and 11 off the bench from Trent Brown.
On February 23rd, 2020; Northern Iowa beat SIU 64-52 in Cedar Falls. Austin Phyfe led the Panthers with 17 points and 18 rebounds. It was truly a game of runs as SIU led 34-26 at halftime led by a 20-0 run in the first half but Northern Iowa answered back with a 38-18 2nd half.
TV info:
Fox Sports Midwest, NBC Sports Chicago*, Fox Sports Kansas City, Fox Sports Indiana, Fox Sports Go, and ESPN3 (ESPN3 will be blacked out in MVC's four-state footprint of Illinois, Missouri, Iowa and Indiana)
*Due to Chicago Bulls basketball, the game will clear NBC Sports Chicago Plus with clearances including Comcast/Xfinity ch. 201 in the Chicago area/South Bend, Ind., & on Comcast/Xfinity ch. 285 in the Peoria, Springfield, Rockford and Champaign, Ill., markets, along with being made available in DIRECTV, DISH Network, AT&T U-verse, RCN, and WOW! homes among others.
Links:
Mike Reis interview with UNI coach Ben Jacobson
It is shame no crowds allowed this team could use a boost from a home crowd also I believe being such a young team they would benefit and feed of crowd participation whether on the road or at home older teams seem to be more business like and there fore don't need the emotion of the crowd
Betting odds basically have this game even. Northern Iowa favored by 1.5
Any news on Domask?
Deleting the previous response because it was pure speculation
it might be a few weeks at least
Deleting the previous response because it was pure speculation
it might be a few weeks at least
It's probably for the best either way. SIU is headed for Thursday barring something crazy. Losing Domask sucks but this is a good opportunity for guys like Jones, Harvey, Filewich, etc to get some huge experience much-like losing Aaron Cook last year was big for Lance Jones' development towards the end of last season. I think it would be great to get Domask back at some point this season though because I think a good showing at Arch Madness can carry over to next year like Drake had after getting out of Thursday last year.
Excited to see Filewich vs Phyfe. It will be a good test to see how he’s developed against one of the top bigs in the Valley. Also I think that’s the key to the game. If he gets in foul trouble early not sure who we can throw at Phyfe.
I know as great was watching that 7 game win streak to start the season, the 5 game losing streak sucks just as bad and the reality of where we can finish in league takes on a whole nother perspective. Now with the absence of Domask and the complications associated with Covid, this has for me basically become a "looking forward to next year" season, hopefully one with crowds, cheerleaders, the SIU Pep band and--bless his heart cuz I love to hear him go Saluki crazy--announcer Steve Falat. Win or lose, I will continue to watch every Saluki game until final buzzer, root for my Dawgs and pin my hopes on seeing something really crazy happen in March. There are so many fun guys to root for, each with their own interesting back story, but through it all, I hope we can come together as a team, play Floor Burn U style of basketball, never give up because each game provides teach opportunities, especially the ones we lose. And according to Sport Talk's Mike Murphy, the Dawgs are gonna get a sweep of the Huskies this weekend. Go Dawgs!
What you said 😀 I always feel you take what you are handed and make the most of it. Every adversity also means opportunity. I look forward each game to see how the players grow, who steps up to the opportunity provided, and how things develop going forward. I was impressed, but not surprised, by the effort again ISU in both games. Impressed with the play after three weeks and only one practice and the great effort put forth. Not surprised because of who the coach and the staff are. I have trust and faith in Brian and his staff that they can keep the attitude positive and that the effort will be there. And you are right that there are a lot of young players to cheer and watch grow. I look forward to that continuing and that results will show.
I do hope that like a coach I worked with once said when we hit a losing streak that we find the solution from that great oriental philosopher Win Won Soon and am sure we will!
Deleting the previous response because it was pure speculation
it might be a few weeks at least
It's probably for the best either way. SIU is headed for Thursday barring something crazy. Losing Domask sucks but this is a good opportunity for guys like Jones, Harvey, Filewich, etc to get some huge experience much-like losing Aaron Cook last year was big for Lance Jones' development towards the end of last season. I think it would be great to get Domask back at some point this season though because I think a good showing at Arch Madness can carry over to next year like Drake had after getting out of Thursday last year.
Exactly, SIU is not ready to compete this year in the MVC, after Drake weekend that's obvious, time to start playing some of these guys meaningful minutes, I like Mullins, and I know he is trying to win now, but he plays some players way to many minutes in my opinion which means nothing, I know, lol. Next season is his season. I still think they can win some games this year, Hopefully today,
Next year SIU is projecting very nicely talent-wise, depth-wise etc. but if Loyola, Drake and Mo State bring back all their core pieces ... whoa. I'm not confident the Salukis can legitimately compete for next seasons MVC crown either. 😳
--Insert something witty here--
So is game blacked out everywhere including MVC?
Game is carried on several upper 600 channels on Directv, 665, 671 for sure.
