Sometimes ignorance is bliss, and SIU?s men?s basketball team is banking on a little bit of that tonight at Drake.
The Salukis have dropped nine of their last 10 meetings against the Bulldogs, including a three-point loss at home earlier this year, when they made only
12-of-28 free throws.
SIU was outrebounded by eight in that game behind freshman forwards Bola Olaniyan and Sean O?Brien, but have since outboarded its last three opponents by a combined 25 rebounds. Olaniyan had as many offensive rebounds (seven) as Loyola did as a team in Saturday?s 81-76 overtime win, and might know just enough to duplicate those numbers tonight at the Knapp Center in Des Moines.
?I think, sometimes, the youthfulness, you?re not smart enough to figure something out. They?re just out there playing,? SIU coach Barry Hinson said. ?They know they?re playing because they?re doing what the staff asks them to do.
And they?re playing hard. We?ve said all along that we?re going to play the guys that play hard, and do what we have
to do.?
One thing the Salukis (8-15, 4-6 Missouri Valley Conference) have to do is beat Drake (12-10, 3-7 MVC) off the boards. SIU is 7-3 when it outrebounds its opponent, and 1-12 when it does not. The Bulldogs haven?t lost a game this season when they outrebound their opponent.
SIU?s other priority is keeping guards Richard Carter and Jordan Daniels out of the paint. Carter and Daniels combined for six of Drake?s 11 assists in its 57-54 win over the Salukis at SIU Arena on Jan. 22. One of them went to forward Aaron Hawley, who drilled his career-high fifth 3-pointer of the game in the final minute to put the Bulldogs up to stay.
Hawley scored a game-high 19 points.
Drake is 2-3 at home against Valley opponents this season, with wins over Evansville to start the conference portion of its schedule and Missouri State last week.
SIU is 1-3 away from SIU Arena in league play, with its only win at Loyola. With eight league games left, and the Salukis in a real race to possibly finish in the top six of the standings, they hope to find a way to extend their first winning streak since late December. SIU beat Indiana State and Loyola at home to pick up its first back-to-back wins of the season since topping Ball State and SIU-Edwardsville.
The Salukis have dropped nine of their last 10 meetings against the Bulldogs, including a three-point loss at home earlier this year, when they made only
12-of-28 free throws.
SIU was outrebounded by eight in that game behind freshman forwards Bola Olaniyan and Sean O?Brien, but have since outboarded its last three opponents by a combined 25 rebounds. Olaniyan had as many offensive rebounds (seven) as Loyola did as a team in Saturday?s 81-76 overtime win, and might know just enough to duplicate those numbers tonight at the Knapp Center in Des Moines.
?I think, sometimes, the youthfulness, you?re not smart enough to figure something out. They?re just out there playing,? SIU coach Barry Hinson said. ?They know they?re playing because they?re doing what the staff asks them to do.
And they?re playing hard. We?ve said all along that we?re going to play the guys that play hard, and do what we have
to do.?
One thing the Salukis (8-15, 4-6 Missouri Valley Conference) have to do is beat Drake (12-10, 3-7 MVC) off the boards. SIU is 7-3 when it outrebounds its opponent, and 1-12 when it does not. The Bulldogs haven?t lost a game this season when they outrebound their opponent.
SIU?s other priority is keeping guards Richard Carter and Jordan Daniels out of the paint. Carter and Daniels combined for six of Drake?s 11 assists in its 57-54 win over the Salukis at SIU Arena on Jan. 22. One of them went to forward Aaron Hawley, who drilled his career-high fifth 3-pointer of the game in the final minute to put the Bulldogs up to stay.
Hawley scored a game-high 19 points.
Drake is 2-3 at home against Valley opponents this season, with wins over Evansville to start the conference portion of its schedule and Missouri State last week.
SIU is 1-3 away from SIU Arena in league play, with its only win at Loyola. With eight league games left, and the Salukis in a real race to possibly finish in the top six of the standings, they hope to find a way to extend their first winning streak since late December. SIU beat Indiana State and Loyola at home to pick up its first back-to-back wins of the season since topping Ball State and SIU-Edwardsville.
