Sunday, January 18, 2015 5:00 p.m.
SIU Arena, Carbondale, Ill.


Last season the Ramblers were swept by Southern Illinois in two close games, in large part thanks to Desmar Jackson scoring 31 points in Chicago and 20 in SIU's OT victory in Carbondale. A lot of observers thought that with the impressive emergence of Anthony Beane midway through last season and the graduation of Jackson—whom many thought to be too much of a ball hog—the Salukis wouldn’t miss a beat. But watch out what you wish for, because Jackson’s versatility and athleticism on both ends of the ball have been hard for them to replace.

The Salukis enter their contest with the Ramblers at 7-11 on the season, despite having one of the weakest non-con schedules in the league. Among their six Division I wins, all have RPIs at 290 or worse, and three of the teams have only one win on the season. They’ve now lost 7 in a row, but three of the four home losses in that streak were by four points or fewer.

The Salukis have recently juggled their lineup, but they’re likely to start 6’7” freshman forward Jordan Caroline, 6’6” sophomore forward Sean O’Brien, 6’7” sophomore forward Bola Olaniyan, 6’2” freshman guard Deion Lavender, and 6’2” junior guard Anthony Beane. Guards Jalen Pendleton and Tyler Smithpeters began the season in the starting lineup, but are now the first two off the bench. Freshman guard K.C. Goodwin, at 5’11”, has quick hands and offers a lot of energy off the bench. The Salukis have some size in 6’8” junior center Ibby Djimde and 7’0” junior Deng Leek, but they’re very sparsely used and prone to turnovers.

Anthony Beane was one of the best stories last season as he emerged with a vengeance to propel SIU to a 9-9 conference record. He earned 2nd team MVC honors and three player of the week awards last February, and was named to the honorable mention preseason team this year. But after a great start to the season, his production has trailed off significantly. He’s averaging only 7.5 ppg in the past four games after beginning the season averaging 18.6 in the first 14 games. His field goal and three point percentages and rebounding average are down significantly from last season. The same is true for Smithpeters, who was one of the top shooters in the league at 40.6% from three last season, but only 35.7% with reduced attempts this year.

The Salukis have struggled in other areas as well. They’re tied for 346th out of 351 teams in the nation in assists. Since conference play began they have more than twice as many turnovers as assists, and they’re shooting less than 21% from behind the arc. Loyola’s Devon Turk has two more made three pointers through five conference games than the entire Saluki team. The outside shooting threat was a hallmark of the Salukis last season, and their struggles this year are tied closely to their lack of success from long range-- in 16 of their 18 games this year, the Salukis have lost when they shot a lower percentage than their opponent from distance.

The Salukis are still dangerous at home. Although they’re only 3-4 against D1 teams at home, their losses have been mostly very close, and they’ve outscored opponents on average by more than 3 points a game. The Salukis led their last home opponent, Indiana State, by 11 at halftime, and they closed a 16-point second half lead by Missouri State to one possession in the final minute. Loyola should be able to win with above average effort and execution, but as the Ramblers were reminded in their last game, no team in the league can ever be taken lightly.

Loyola game notes: http://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/loy ... 116aaa.pdf

Southern Illinois game notes: http://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/loy ... a_silu.pdf

TV/Streaming video: ESPN3 (http://espn.go.com/watchespn/index/_/id ... n-Illinois)

Vegas odds: Ramblers by 2.5

This game scares me. We are not as good as we looked in the first half against Wichita State nor as bad as we looked the entire game against Drake. That is what you get with freshmen-inconsistency. While we have depth, we have not yet put it together for a sustained period of time. PM is smart for working in the freshmen and also limiting their minutes. To me the big danger is the freshmen hitting the wall the last ten games of the season as this is their first real sustained campaign.
I recorded and watched the Shockers play SIU at home the same night we were playing Drake. The Shocks started out 9 to 2 and then blitzed to a 19-6 lead but then the Salukis found their sea legs and the Shockers could not shake them.
It will be interesting to catch the game on the computer on Sunday. I hope we are ready and that we play like we did in Vegas which was very impressive.

After watching how we squandered leads against SIU last year Id really love a convincing win. Sadly I dont have a good feeling about this game after the Drake game, hopefully Montel is ready to go near 100%.

I hope our local correspondent from this neck of the woods (01grad) can give us a first-hand account of the proceedings.

It's the least he can do after bailing from the WSU game for some lame reason involving not wanting to get killed in an ice storm.

I plan on being down there. Sprint cell service there has improved some since my law school days, so I hope to provide on the scene reports.

Don't worry about us not blowing out SIU the other night. We played our new guys more minutes than usual. Carter played about 25 minutes while Wessel and VanVleet both barely over 20. We mixed and matched a lot on Wednesday to try to get more experience for the young guys who we will need down the road. Marshall doesn't try to run up the score on most opponents, I think he may make a couple of exceptions if given the opportunity, but SIU and Hinson wouldn't be on that short list.

SIU did not look that good. Beane isn't the same player from last year. Lavender didn't look horrible. Caroline could end up being decent. O'Brien and Smithpeters both have potential. But this is not a team that has a lot going for it right now. You guys definitely have more talent and barring the unexpected, should win fairly comfortably.

_________________
The Roundhouse

I think it's a mistake to ever predict that this team will win comfortably. Every game, if not every possession, is a battle. They outlast their opponents. It might even be a total humiliation at the end as happened against Texas Tech, but it takes a lot of hard work to get there. This is pure blue collar basketball. I love it, but I don't count any chickens.

I think the Ramblers will bounce back from a poor performance at home against Drake and will be reenergized against SIU in Carbondale. They have been good on the road all year and it will continue. SIU will suffer the same post-WSU-game letdown that we did.

Vegas hasn't posted a point spread yet. I figure the Ramblers will be favored by 2 points or so.

I say Ramblers by 9.

Would love to get this one after the close losses last year. Jackson was a monster--other than Cleanthony Early I'd say the best player I saw in person all year. Let's see how they do without him.

Go Ramblers!

_________________
Founder and Chairman, Swaggy T Fan Club*

*Swaggy T Fan Club is not associated with Loyola University Chicago or Devon "Swaggy T" Turk; it is not owned or operated by employees or representatives of the entities mentioned.

Definitely enjoying the whole Valley experience a lot more than the Horizon League. Much better competition and rivalry. Give Porter some credit for upgrading the roster as we are on the right track but a year away from being a top four. I just hope we make a top six this year.
Only two bad things about the Valley. The road trips are not as close as the Horizon and also the crappy Wednesday Saturday/Sunday format. It was nice to be able to plan a two road game trip like CSU/YSU but definitely a better caliber of competition. Really like having the Shockers in the league.