GAME 29
Missouri State Bears (21-7, 13-3 MVC)
at
Southern Illinois Salukis (12-16, 5-11 MVC)
_______________________________________________Wednesday, Feb. 23, 2011 (7:05 p.m., Central)
SIU Arena, Carbondale, Ill.
TV - KY3 (Ned Reynolds, Kelby Stuckey)
RADIO - MSU Radio Network (KTXR and www.RadioSpringfield.com)_______________________________________________ The Game:
Missouri State (21-7, 13-3 MVC) returns to Missouri Valley Conference play on Wednesday night when the Bears take on Southern Illinois at 7:05 p.m.
 MSU is looking for a school-record 14th conference win of the season and will also be striving for its seventh conference road win, which would also be a Bears' record. Tied with Wichita State atop the MVC standings with two games to play, Missouri State is guaranteed a No. 1 or No. 2 seed in next week's MVC Tournament in St. Louis (March 3-6).
 Cuonzo Martin's troops will be trying to put an 80-67 loss to Valparaiso in Saturday's Sears BracketBusters game behind them headed into the final week of the regular season. The Bears struggled throughout the first half at Valpo and fell behind 38-23 at the break before outscoring the Crusaders in the second half and shooting 49 percent from the field in the second stanza. Kyle Weems (Jr., F, Topeka, Kan.) led MSU with 17 points, while Jermaine Mallett (Sr., G, Jackson, Miss.) added 14 points and 9 boards. Weems set a team season high with 21 field goal attempts, while Mallett notched a career high 6 offensive rebounds.
 Southern Illinois (12-16, 5-11) has wins over Wichita State and Green Bay in its last four contests and is 8-7 at home this year.
The Coach:
Missouri State head coach Cuonzo Martin (Purdue, 2000) is 56-39 (.589) in his third season at MSU and overall. He is 24-28 (.462) in Missouri Valley Conference games, including an 17-9 league record at JQH Arena (7-2 last season and 7-1 this season) and 7-19 mark in MVC road games (6-2 this season). Martin is 2-3 against Southern Illinois, 10-13 in February, 16-9 on Wednesdays and 12-26 on the road. His squads are 0-2 all-time at SIU Arena.
 Originally from East St. Louis, Ill., he spent eight seasons as an assistant coach and associate head coach at Purdue (2000-08) where he was a standout player for coach Gene Keady from 1991-95. Martin, 39, became MSU's 16th head basketball coach on April 1, 2008.
The Opponent:
Seventh-year head coach Chris Lowery (Southern Illinois, 1995) started the 2010-11 season with a pair of starters and eight lettermen back from a 15-15 club that finished 6-12 (9th) in the MVC a year ago. The Salukis are 8-7 at SIU Arena this year and have won their most-recent home game, 61-60, over Green Bay Saturday.
 The Salukis' top performer is newcomer Mamadou Seck who averages 10.7 points and 7.8 rebounds per contest. He is second in the MVC in rebounding and sixth in field goal percentage. Carlton Fay scores a team-best 13.8 points per game with 31 three-pointers and is 100-for-117 (.855) at the foul line. Fellow returnee Gene Teague averages 8.6 points and 5.3 rebounds.
The Series:
The series between the Bears and Salukis dates back to 1957 with Southern Illinois holding a 38-28 all-time lead. MSU has won the last two meetings in the series, but is just 6-21 all-time in Carbondale.
Quick Links:
- 2010-11 Media Guide
- Missouri State Tickets
- Listen Live
- Live Stats
- SIU Ticketing
- Game Notes 29
