Nothing steers NFL teams quite like quarterbacks. It’s possible, not probable, to win in spite of them. It’s preferable, not easy, to land the best of them. They are, more than anyone else, the ones who shape the football landscape, week in and week out.

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We’re now a week into the NFL playoffs, and the field of teams remaining in the mix for the Super Bowl is down to eight. By the end of this weekend we’ll have narrowed it further, with just two teams in the AFC and two in the NFC vying for the represent their respective conferences on the biggest stage in football.

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CHAMPAIGN — Trayce Jackson-Davis scored a season-high 35 points, and Indiana earned its first regular-season win over Illinois since 2019 with an 80-65 victory Thursday night.

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Spring training starts in less than a month. Every major free agent is signed. Almost all of the second- and third-tier ones have jobs, too. It’s almost like Major League Baseball free agency doesn’t need to bleed into the beginning of a new season.

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What the Cardinals have made obvious with their comments about their prized prospects they want to see, the organization made official Tuesday by announcing their non-roster invitees.

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I’d like to start things off today by apologizing to the NFL. When they decided to change the name of “Wild Card Weekend” to “Super Wild Card Weekend,” I thought it was going to be the biggest marketing failure since Crystal Clear Pepsi, but I was wrong, because the football we got over the weekend was Super Wild.

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CARBONDALE, IL – Marcus Domask did all he needed to and more to help the Southern Illinois men’s basketball team protect its homecourt with a 78-70 victory over Evansville Tuesday night at Banterra Center. The senior tied a career-high finishing with 32 points, five rebounds, and four assists as Southern improved to 15-5 on the season and 7-2 in the Missouri Valley Conference.

“I’m obviously happy to get the win,” head coach Bryan Mullins said after the game. “We didn’t play our best tonight – give a ton of credit to Evansville. I thought they played extremely hard and played really good basketball.”

The Salukis were dominant over the first 15 minutes of the game, leading by 20 points with 5:44 left in the first half. Evansville did not give in though as the Aces were able to close out the first half with a 13-5 run to cut the SIU lead to 12 points heading into the locker room.

“For us, I thought our offense dictated our defense a little bit for maybe one of the first times this year,” Mullins added. “In the second half, we just didn’t play well enough on either side of the ball with too many turnovers offensively, then defensively too many uncontested shots.”

The Purple Aces would continue to keep things interesting in the second half forcing SIU into 13 turnovers over the final 20 minutes – with Southern finishing the game with 18 total. The Aces would turn those Saluki miscues into 19 points over the course of the game.

Evansville (4-16, 0-9 MVC) ran with a smaller lineup in the second half, forcing Southern’s big men to guard the perimeter which in turn allowed UE to knock down six triples in the second half to stay within striking distance.

It was Domask who would power SIU to the win, scoring 20 of his 32 points in the second half. The Waupun, Wisconsin native went 8-for-10 from the field and a perfect 3-for-3 from behind the arc in the second half of play.

Facing his old team, Jawuan Newton put in 11 points and grabbed five rebounds while Troy D’Amico joined Domask and Newton in double figures with a 4-for-4 performance from the field for 10 points to go with three rebounds.

The Salukis won the battle in the paint 44-26 and assisted on 17 of their 30 field goals.

Marvin Coleman led the Purple Aces with 25 points on 9-for-13 shooting to go with a team-high nine rebounds. Kenny Strawbridge added 12 points for UE.

UP NEXT
The Salukis hit the road this weekend with a trip to Springfield to take on Missouri State Saturday. Tip is set for 1 p.m. with the game airing on ESPN3.

FOLLOW THE SALUKIS
Keep up with all the latest news and information on the Salukis by following the team on Twitter at @SIU_Basketball, on Instagram at @SIU_Basketball, and on Facebook at Facebook.com/SalukiAthletics. Fans can also download the “Salukis” Mobile App on the App Store or Google Play Store.

Tom Brady won’t be making another Super Bowl run this season, after he and the Buccaneers practically crawled to the finish line of a 31-14 loss to the Cowboys on Monday night. The defeat was the second-most lopsided in Brady’s 23-year career as an NFL quarterback, and marked just the fourth time the longtime Patriots star went one-and-done in the tournament. Now what?

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After a Super Wild Card Weekend that certainly lived up to its name, the divisional round is finally set.

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CARBONDALE, Ill. – Southern Illinois men’s basketball plays host to in-state rival Illinois State Saturday night. Tipoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. at Banterra Center. Tickets for the game start at just $7 in Section 113. Use the Promo Code “SEVEN” to purchase tickets HERE.

PROMOTIONS
• Free tuition raffle for the Dawg Pound; Saluki Legacy Raffle – More information HERE.
• Halftime cheer performance by Christ the King – Jesuit College Prep from Chicago.
• Purchase tickets for as little as $7 by using promo code “SEVEN” HERE.

THE BROADCAST
• The game will be available nationally on ESPN3 with Mike Trude (play-by-play) and Dominic Hoscher (analyst) calling the action.
• The radio broadcast can be heard on the Saluki Radio Network with SIU Hall of Famer Mike Reis (play-by-play) and Rodney Watson (analyst) on the call.

QUICK HITS
• The Salukis take on Illinois State for the first time this season on Saturday night. SIU travels to Illinois State in its final game in the month of January.
• Southern Illinois is off to its best start under head coach Bryan Mullins in four seasons at 13-5 and 5-2 in The Valley.
• The Salukis currently sit tied for second place in the MVC at 5-2 after knocking off then-undefeated Indiana State Wednesday night in Terre Haute. SIU rallied from a 15-point deficit to hand the Sycamores their first loss in the MVC this season.
• SIU is 7-1 at Banterra Center — winning its last five games at home.
• Since forward Clarence Rupert entered the starting lineup, SIU is 8-1.
• The Salukis check in at No. 24 in the latest CollegeInsider.com men’s basketball mid-major poll.

A DYNAMIC DUO
• Marcus Domask (18th-1,369) and Lance Jones (25th-1,311) each rank in the top-25 in program history in points scored. The duo also ranks in the top 20 in career assists.
• Marcus Domask has scored in double-digits in 16 of 18 games this season to lead SIU. He has scored 20 or more in five games and his 16.9 points per game rank fifth in the MVC.
• Marcus Domask and Lance Jones combined to score the final 20 points in a win on the road against Murray State. Against Drake, Domask scored the final 15 points of the game to defeat DU.
• Lance Jones leads the Salukis with 37 3-pointers this season. The senior has made 172 threes over his career to rank eighth in program history.

IT STARTS ON DEFENSE
• Southern Illinois has held conference opponents to just 58.3 points per game and four of its seven Valley foes to under 57 points. The Salukis held Belmont to 45 points and preseason favorite Drake to 49 points.
• Southern put the clamps on Drake’s Tucker DeVries and Roman Penn. The Salukis gave up just 11 points to DeVries on 4-for-13 shooting while holding Penn to 1-for-15 from the floor and two points.
• SIU’s 60.4 points allowed per game is second in the MVC and 20th nationally.
• The Salukis are holding opponents to just 30.5 percent from behind the arc — ranking third in the MVC and 62nd nationally.
• SIU’s 7.7 steals per game is third in the MVC. Lance Jones leads the team with 1.8 steals per game and has recorded multiple steals in 11 games this season including a career-high six coming at UE.
• Against the League’s top-scoring offense (79.7), SIU held Indiana State to just 61 points on the road.

THE MATCHUP
• Southern Illinois plays host to one of its oldest rivals Saturday when Illinois State comes to town for the 164th meeting between the two programs. The Salukis lead the all-time series with Illinois State, 85-78, winning the last three matchups and six of the last seven games. Overall, SIU is 52-20 at home against Illinois State, 26-50 on the road, 7-8 on neutral courts, and 5-5 when matched up in the MVC Tournament. Head coach Bryan Mullins is 5-1 in his coaching career against the Redbirds with the lone loss coming in 2020 at home.

• Illinois State enters Saturday’s game at 8-10 overall and 3-4 in the Missouri Valley Conference. The Redbirds are riding a two-game winning streak in League play after defeating Evansville on the road and knocking off Missouri State at home in overtime.

• Under first-year head coach Ryan Pedon, Illinois State features a balanced scoring attack through 18 games with four players averaging nine points or more. Kendall Lewis leads the charge for ILS with 11.2 points and 6.8 rebounds per game while Darius Buford averages 11 points, 3.8 rebounds while leading the team with 43 assists. As a team, Illinois State is averaging 66.9 points per game, shooting 42.7 percent from the field, and 33.2 percent from behind the arc. ILS is also outrebounding opponents by an average of 2.4 per game which ranks fourth-best in the MVC.

FOLLOW THE SALUKIS
Keep up with all the latest news and information on the Salukis by following the team on Twitter at @SIU_Basketball, on Instagram at @SIU_Basketball, and on Facebook at Facebook.com/SalukiAthletics. Fans can also download the “Salukis” Mobile App on the App Store or Google Play Store.