By Tom Weber
CARBONDALE, IL — The Southern Illinois men’s basketball team returns to action Tuesday night when it plays at Bradley in a game televised live on ESPN3 at 7 p.m. Bradley holds a 47-45 edge in the all-time series. However, SIU has dominated the series since 2002 by a 24-12 margin, including an 8-8 mark at Carver Arena. The Salukis have won four of the last five meetings between the schools and the average margin of victory in the four wins was +16.0 points. Head coach Barry Hinson is 16-12 lifetime against the Braves, including 5-5 during his tenure at SIU.
G Armon Fletcher coming off career night
G Armon Fletcher (6-5, 207, Jr.) had a career night at Valparaiso on Jan. 6 with 32 points and 14 rebounds. He became the first Saluki player to score 30+ points since Anthony Beane had 31 versus Drake on Feb. 13, 2016. The Salukis switched to a four-guard lineup on Dec. 13 versus Jackson State, moving Fletcher to the “hybrid-four” and inserting guard Aaron Cook into starting lineup in place of forward Jonathan Wiley. Since the change, Fletcher has averaged 15.8 points, 5.9 rebounds and shot 50 percent from the field.
Dawg Bites
•In his last five games, Armon Fletcher is 19-of-22 (.864) from the free throw line.
•SIU is shooting .349 from 3-point this year. If that holds up, it will be the team’s best percentage since the 2010 team converted .362.
•The Salukis are 22-14 during Tyler Smithpeters‘ career when he has made two or more 3-pointers in a game, including 5-2 this season.
•If Smithpeters reaches double figures in scoring at Bradley, it will mark the first time in his career he’s reached double figures in three-straight games.
•Austin Weiher played a season-high eight minutes at Valparaiso.
•Barry Hinson (258) needs four wins to pass Gregg Marshall (261) for fourth all-time among MVC coaches.
•The Salukis have been out-rebounded in five of their last six games and by an average of -5.3 in that span.
•SIU has gone 99-consecutive games with at least one 3-point field goal and 1,007-consecutive games with at least one free throw (dating back to 1986).
The magic number is 70
The Salukis are 10-0 when they hold an opponent under 70 points and 0-7 when an opponent scores 70 or more.
Sean Lloyd Jr. emerges as leader
G Sean Lloyd Jr. (6-5, 210, Jr.) has emerged as the team leader. At 33.4 minutes per game, he averages five more minutes than any teammate. He typically guards the opponent’s top scorer. Lloyd is the nephew of two-time MVC player-of-the-year Lewis Lloyd, who played two seasons at Drake (1980-81) and seven years in the NBA. Another uncle, Daryl Lloyd, also played at Drake and led the team in scoring in 1985 with 17.9 points per game.
Kavion Pippen leads team in field goal percentage, blocked shots
Juco transfer C Kavion Pippen (6-10, 240, Jr.) leads the team in field goal percentage (.539) and blocked shots (29). Pippen has scored in double figures in all but five games this season. The nephew of NBA legend Scottie Pippen was named MVC Newcomer of the Week on Nov. 12 and again on Dec. 4. He had a career-high 24-point outing versus Jackson State.
Marcus Bartley for three
After missing the first six games of the season with a broken wrist, Saint Louis transfer G Marcus Bartley (6-5, 193, Jr.) has emerged as a 3-point shooting threat, converting 17-of-43 (.395). He made four treys to key SIU’s win at Northern Iowa. Bartley also has 38 assists and 22 turnovers.
Salukis among Top 100 in two defensive categories
The Salukis rank No. 81 in scoring defense (68.0) and No. 87 in 3-point field goal percentage defense (.325) among the nation’s 351 Division I teams.
Injury Report
Thik Bol (knee), Eric McGill (left hand) and Jonathan Wiley (knee) are out for the season. Here is a list of games missed by Saluki players this season due to injury…
F Thik Bol 17 games
G Marcus Bartley 7 games
G Eric McGill 7 games
F Jonathan Wiley 2 games
G Armon Fletcher 1 game
C Rudy Stradnieks 1 game
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