Wednesday, February 21, 2018 7:00 p.m.
SIU Arena, Carbondale, Ill.
Having clinched at least a tie for the MVC regular season crown with their 76-66 win at Evansville on Sunday, the Ramblers head back south on Saturday for a chance to win the crown outright against the Salukis in Carbondale. SIU has had an improbable season, overcoming several injuries and still challenging for a share of the conference title with two games to go. Only four Salukis have appeared in every game this year, and only six have appeared in as many as 23 of SIU’s 29 games. As if the heavy minutes by seven core players wasn’t tiring enough, SIU has gone to overtime in three of their last four games.
Coach Hinson has kept SIU winning with smoke, mirrors, baling wire, and electrical tape. The Salukis enjoy a nice home court advantage at SIU Arena, where they’re 13-2 on the season, 7-1 in home conference games, and winners of seven in a row. Somehow, Hinson has managed the team’s minutes like a wizard, even despite it being necessary for players to endure 43-minute games due to overtime periods. Sean Lloyd leads the league in total minutes played (1004) and ranks third in minutes per game (34.6). Armon Fletcher ranks 9th in the league in mpg. Wednesday night will be senior night, as the Salukis will honor Tyler Smithpeters and others.
SIU starts Armon Fletcher, Sean Lloyd, Aaron Cook, and Marcus Bartley as guards, and Kavion Pippen, a 6’10” center. Fletcher and Lloyd are two tough and experienced 6’5” junior guards who average 14.4 and 12.4 points per game respectively. Cook is a 6’2” sophomore guard who averages 10.3 points and passes well; he’s second on the team in assists and steals. Marcus Bartley, a 6’5” junior point guard, averages only 6.5 points per game, but leads the team in assists and shoots reasonably well from three-point land. Pippen is a good rim protector (38 blocks) who can score (12.5 points per game) and rebound (5.9 per game).
Six-four senior guard Tyler Smithpeters plays starters’ minutes off the bench, and averages 7.7 points per game—primarily from outside the arc, but he also snags 4.2 rebounds per game. Jonathan Wiley, a 6’7” forward, has recently returned from injury to add depth to the bench. Rudy Stradnieks (a 6’9” senior forward), and 6’5” freshman forward Brendon Gooch get 5 or 10 minutes off the bench.
In their Jan. 17 matchup in Chicago, Loyola beat the Salukis 79-65 behind 25 points from Donte Ingram and 18 from Cam Krutwig. Sean Lloyd had 21 points to lead the Salukis. Loyola had a 16-5 run to end the first half with a 12-point lead, and then shot 61% in the second half to earn the win. It was not the prettiest game, as both teams had 20 turnovers, and the two teams combined for 47 shots from the free throw line. That win by Loyola broke a 3-game losing streak against the Salukis; SIU leads the all-time series against the Ramblers 7-5.
Loyola is 6-2 in road conference games for the year, and like with most things this year, it’s the best road performance in decades. In 2006-07, Loyola lost its first three conference road games before winning five in a row on the road, capped by a win at #15 Butler. To match this year’s conference road win total, you have to go back to 1984-85, when the Ramblers were 6-1 (losing only at Xavier).
Loyola game notes: http://www.loyolaramblers.com/documents … df?id=5871
SIU game notes: Pending
TV/Streaming video: ESPN3 / http://www.espn.com/watch/_/id/3273584/ … basketball
Stats: http://www.sidearmstats.com/siu/mbball/
Vegas odds: Pending
