Illinois State guard Osiris Eldridge dropped 27 points on the Salukis to lead the Redbirds to a 57-49 victory, clinching the #2 seed in the Valley tournament.
Eldridge was the only Illinois State player to score double figures, but he was all the Redbirds needed as the Salukis shot blanks most of the night. The Saluki defense failed to contain Eldridge, allowing him to work both sides of the baseline and fire open shots from the perimeter, and he made them pay.
When the dust settled on Senior Night at SIU Arena, the Saluki seniors were tagged with the second home MVC loss of their SIU careers. While it was a disappointing way to go out, a 30-2 career record at home in conference play is nothing to be ashamed of.
The Salukis (17-13, 11-7) will have the #3 seed in the Valley tournament and face UNI on Friday night. You can view the complete bracket here. Illinois State will take the #2 seed and will play the winner of the Missouri State/Evansville play-in game.
While this loss may be emotionally difficult for the Salukis, there is almost no difference between a #2 and #3 seed in the Valley Tournament. Missouri State is actually a hotter team than UNI right now, having won 4 of their last 5 including a win over Drake. Of course Mo State would have to beat Evansville to get to Illinois State and would also have to deal with fatigue from playing on back-to-back nights.
Both Illinois State and SIU may have dodged a bullet by avoiding Drake, Creighton, and Bradley on their half of the bracket. Drake is the #1 seed for a reason. Creighton and Bradley are both scorching hot and played a 111-110 double overtime game Saturday night that Creighton was able to win in order to secure the #4 seed. Their reward? ... A Friday night rematch with Bradley.
Check back later next week for a tournament preview and we'll be coming at you live from STL next weekend. In the meantime, tune into the Sunday Sports Review at 10am on 91.1 FM in Carbondale or listen online for more coverage of the Salukis' attempt to keep their NCAA Tournament streak alive.
