Saluki Men’s Basketball hosts North Carolina A&T in Military Appreciation game on Tuesday

By Tom Weber 

CARBONDALE, IL — Southern Illinois hosts North Carolina A&T on Tuesday night in the program’s annual Military Appreciation game. Veterans and active duty military will receive free admission. The Salukis will wear special jerseys to honor America and a group of Wounded Warriors will be recognized at halftime. In addition, Brown Dawg’s Kids Club members receive free admission to the game by wearing their membership pass, and will have the opportunity to form the pregame tunnel for the team prior to the game. Holiday ticket pricing remains in effect with Dawg Pound section seats available for $10.

The game marks the first meeting between the Salukis and the Aggies, and is just the third time in school history SIU has played a member of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference. The first meeting took place on Nov. 27, 1988 when SIU lost to South Carolina State, 90-88, at the San Juan Shootout. It happened the day after Southern upset No. 11 ranked Villanova. The only other meeting with a MEAC opponent took place on Nov. 15, 2015 when SIU beat Florida A&M at SIU Arena, 81-51. Anthony Beane led all scorers with 20 points as the Salukis ended the game on a 19-3 run. Barry Hinson is 4-0 lifetime versus MEAC opponents. At Missouri State, he posted a 3-0 mark with wins over Bethune-Cookman, Coppin State and Delaware State.

Head coach Barry Hinson met with the media after Monday’s practice.

What’s the injury status after yesterday’s game?

I have not heard the x-rays on Marcus (Bartley) or Kavion (Pippen). You heard the radio show today — Eric McGill is out for an undetermined amount of time. It is an injury that we are very concerned about. His (left) hand swelled up the size of a grapefruit this morning. We can’t tell much until we get the swelling down, but he’s not going to play for quite some time.

Is it a fractured bone?

We don’t know. I don’t think it’s good news, guys. I’m tired of doing this. I’m tired of coming in here every day telling you injury reports every day. I’m almost numb to it now.

Can you talk about what it means not to have Eric for an undetermined amount of time?

I don’t know what it means, I really don’t. I think you can see on my face and the way I’m answering this question, I’m just numb. I’m to the point — what more can go wrong? What more adversity does this team have to go through? I don’t want our guys to see that. I think what this means is our rotation gets a little tighter. If we have sickness or another injury to a guard, it causes issues. I think we can get through this right now, but that’s the great thing about having a really good bench with lots of depth, you don’t have to worry about those events. Now we do.

I don’t want to paint a picture that all is lost here. You just get to a point where, I’m really crushed because of what it does to these kids. It’s just heartbreaking to see these things go on with our kids. We had three guys walk off the floor last night holding their wrist and their hands. It just gets to the point of — what more? I hurt for those guys. We’ll get over it as a team and we’ll be fine. I just hurt for those guys.

Have you been surprised by how they’ve bought in to the defensive side of the small lineup?

I’m not surprised when they buy in. This group of young men, they really want to do what we ask them to do. I really like these guys. They’re a pleasure to coach every day. This size lineup — I think we’ll be able to do that in the Valley a little bit because most people are like us. Mid-major basketball is kind of the hybrid-spot type deal. Very rarely do you run into a lot of size and athleticism. Last year there were only two teams in the league that were like that — Wichita State and Illinois State. If we get Thik (Bol) back, we’re still going to be able to put size out on the floor.

Can you compare North Carolina A&T to anybody you’ve played already?

I think they’re a faster version probably of Jackson State. I think they like to press. They’re all about getting up and down the floor. This game tomorrow night — if you’re a fan, you’re going to walk in and see a really fast-paced game. I think it’s got a chance to be a very entertaining game. I hope it’s an entertaining game. If you were going to a movie, it would be an action-thriller. I think that’s the type of game we’re looking at tomorrow night.

How do you defend big man Femi Olujobi, who has perimeter skills?

Kavion is going to draw the responsibility early on. It will be Kavion’s responsibility as well as all of ours. I don’t care who you are, at this level of Division I basketball, if you’re averaging a double-double, you’re pretty good. He’s capable of going in and getting 25 or 30 a night and double-figure rebounds. He’s certainly caught our eye.

Is it more a focus of trying to stop him or trying to stop others from going off?

I think it’s a combination of both. Any time you have the target or bullseye of being the best player, certainly you’re going to get everybody’s ire. I think that’s a big deal to us. We’re going to pay attention to him, but you’re right, they’ve got four guys averaging double figures. It’s not like it’s all about him. It’s like Lamar — they had four guys averaging double figures, but we knew (Nick) Garth and (Colton) Weisbrod were the keys, but we knew we also had to guard the other guys.