This IS Rivalry Week. This IS College Basketball. SIU vs Creighton is the MVC's version of Yankees-Red Sox. Bitter rivals duking it out for the top spot. It doesn't get any better than this.
ESPN has begun to take notice. SIU is in the middle of a stretch where it plays on ESPN three weeks in a row. I don't have any official information on this but I would be willing to say that this is the first time it has ever happened.
Saturday's game will feature two teams who are presently locks for the NCAA Tournament. I'm also going to go out on a limb here and say the winner of this game will win the MVC title. If SIU wins they will have a 1 game lead with 3 games to play. The Salukis would also hold a tiebreaker advantage over Creighton if they finished with identical records. SIU still has to go on the road to Mo State and Indiana State (not easy) and they finish the MVC schedule at home against an Evansville squad that has already beat us this year. Nobody said it was going to be easy.
Creighton just about took one on the chin at home against Evansville on Wednesday night. They used a 25-4 run to overcome a 14 point halftime deficit to beat the Purple Aces. One thing that Creighton does is pass the ball well. They had 23 assists on 26 baskets on Wednesday night. It was the usual suspects getting it done for the Bluejays as Nate Funk put down 19 points and 7 dimes.
The Salukis are hot, winning 6 straight games and sitting at #20 in the poll. Creighton has won 5 in a row and can take a step towards a national ranking with a win on Saturday. Southern could push their ranking up around 15 and leapfrog over teams like Duke, USC, and Oklahoma State.
We all know that SIU does a great job at limiting possessions and making their possessions count on offense. As it turns out, Creighton is pretty good in that department as well. They are second in the Valley in points per possession as illustrated in this chart.
The number one key to this game for SIU will be the play of #3 Jamaal Tatum. JT left Wednesday's game against Bradley because of a touch of the flu combined with a deep thigh bruise. I dont have any inside information on JT's condition and I am not a medical professional but I will tell you one thing- Jamaal Tatum will play on Saturday. JT could have bird flu and still play in this game. Jamaal has had some serious ups and downs in his four years here but he has done a lot of growing up and is a better man because of all he has been through. Tatum is a senior, and playing through injury to lead us to victory could be the defining moment of his SIU career.If you're going to the game WEAR MAROON. If you don't have a ticket tune into ESPN2 at 5pm CST. If you want to talk SIU basketball and interact with other fans head over to SalukiTalk.com for some lively discussion. Listen to the Sunday Sports Review on 91.1 FM at 10AM for a recap of the action. Official Salukihoops projection- SIU over Creighton 66-64.
