Turning the corner- SIU at Creighton

After losing on the road to Evansville it would be hard to predict a victory for SIU tonight. One thing that this years team has shown- expect the unexpected. Things looked grim heading into the Missouri State game and the Salukis blew the Bears out of the water.

Today’s game will be played in Omaha where the Bluejays are 8-0 this season. Not only do they own an undefeated record at home they also average over 15,000 fans per game. Its going to be packed, loud, and rowdy in Nebraska tonight.

Creighton features their two usual suspects Anthony Tolliver and Nate Funk. These two guys are cruising towards all-conference first team selections. The X factor might be Senior guard Nick Porter who has averaged double figures in six of his last eight games and also averages over five boards a night. Tolliver and Funk will probably get theirs, but to pull off the win Southern needs to hold everyone else down and keep the Bluejays under 60 points.

Southern is averaging 63.8 points a game and they will need every last bit of that to have a chance to win. After losing to Evansville our conference mark fell to 5-3, but a win on the road against Creighton would allow SIU to turn the corner in the conference season. Creighton sits in first place at 6-2 coming into this game so pulling them back down to the pack would put SIU in the drivers seat for a conference title.

The Salukis have won an impressive six straight games in this series. Lets hope they can push it to seven. Look for Southern to again try to limit possessions and play a game in the 50’s. SIU needs to get offensive support for Jamaal Tatum, who has been great, but cannot do it all. Matt Shaw, Tony Young, and Randal Falker will need to get into double digits. If the bench can come through and provide a scoring spark while the starters are resting, the Salukis might able to turn the corner tonight in Omaha.