LOUISVILLE, Ky. – The SIU men’s basketball program will open the 2020-21 season on November 25 at Louisville. The Salukis follow that up with two more games at the KFC Yum! Center: November 27 against Prairie View A&M and November 29 against Winthrop. Game times and television designations will be announced at a later date.
The challenging field pits Southern Illinois against three teams that combined to go 67-30 (.691) last season. Louisville (24-7) finished second in the ACC; Prairie View A&M (19-13) won the SWAC; and Winthrop (24-10) won the Big South.
SIU will play Louisville for the third time in the last five years (2016, 17) and Winthrop for the third time in the last four years (2017, 18). Southern Illinois has never faced Prairie View A&M.
SIU was picked fifth in the MVC preseason poll after finishing 16-16 overall and 10-8 last season in the league. The Salukis are led by sophomore forward Marcus Domask, who earned the MVC’s Freshman and Newcomer of the Year awards last season. Lance Jones (9.3 ppg) is also back from last year on an SIU team that lost about 58% of its scoring and 66% of its rebounding production from a year ago. The group is led by second-year head coach Bryan Mullins, who was the runner-up for the MVC Coach of the Year and was named to ESPN’s 40 under 40, recognizing the nation’s best coaches under 40 years old.
In all, nine teams will be in Louisville for the event, which will feature 18 games over 10 days.
There will be two practice courts available for teams within the bubble, including the practice court in the KFC Yum! Center and a full court that will be installed during the event in the Grand Ballroom of the Galt House Hotel. Teams may also use the court in the controlled Planet Fitness Kueber Center, UofL’s campus practice facility, during the event. A weight room will also be temporarily set up in the Galt House for the teams.
The hotel is connected by an elevated walkway directly into the arena. With the exception of a possible bus trip for practice in the Planet Fitness Kueber Center, teams will not have to leave the dual facilities of the Galt House Hotel or KFC Yum! Center during their stay in Louisville. Teams will eat their meals in the Galt House and all teams will be staying in the East side of the Galt House, which features all suite rooms. Testing protocols will be in place for all participating teams and health protocols established by the ACC will be in place.
The first two games in Louisville are part of the Wade Houston Tipoff Classic, a multi-team event (MTE). The namesake for the event was one of the first three African American basketball players to sign with Louisville, a group which included Houston, Sam Smith and Eddie Whitehead. SIU and Louisville played once during Houston’s time at Louisville: a 59-57 SIU win in 1964. The Salukis and Cardinals played two memorable games the year following Houston’s graduation, pitting a Walt Frazier-led SIU team against a Wes Unseld-led Louisville club. The teams split two games in 1966-67: SIU dropped a double-overtime 70-66 heartbreaker at Louisville but avenged that loss later in the season with a 53-50 win at SIU.
This release first found on siusalukis.com