No. 8 – Southern Illinois Salukis
Coach Nagy points out his team has defeated five, top-100 teams, including Belmont, UNI and Illinois State. While their 10-10 league record is scewed towards the bottom of the league, they are playing a better brand of basketball. SIU is 5-1 against teams nine – through 11 and 5-9 against teams with winning records.
During their six most recent wins, they are allowing an average of under 61 points per game. Twelve games ago Nagy asked his team what they wanted to be ‘known for’. Collectively, they determined they wanted to be a good defensive team. Since that decision the Salukis have allowed more than 70 points just twice.
While SIU and Thursday’s opponent (Drake) seem to be headed in opposite directions, Nagy warns against complacency. The Bulldogs have lost nine straight, but Nagy says ‘momentum’ isn’t necessarily real.
“I know they’re struggling, but this is new life for everybody,” said Nagy. “There’s just a conventional wisdom, if you’re playing well at the right time (you’ll succeed). But I’ve had teams that weren’t playing well and gone to the tournament and played great. (I’ve had) teams that were playing great, that went in the tournament and laid an egg.”
Leading scorer Quel’Ron House scores nearly 15 points per game, and the multi-faceted Rolyns Aligbe is a physical rebounder and elite defender. During this current run of success, Drew Steffe’s offensive game has caught fire and the 6’5 wing is averaging 12 points per contest.
The task is more difficult for SIU than for either Northern Iowa or Valparaiso, but all three of these teams are playing well and have a growing belief that they could stun the MVC world and create a little Arch Madness.