Kentucky High-Lights Salukis’ Schedule

Editor: The following is part of a press release from salukis.com.

(Carbondale, IL) – The Southern Illinois men’s basketball program announced one of the strongest non-conference schedules in school history today. The Salukis open the season at Kentucky on November 9.

SIU will play at least three non-conference games against teams that finished the previous season in the top-26 in the RPI, tying a school high set in 2001-02. If the Salukis face Nevada, which finished No. 13 in the RPI, in the Las Vegas Holiday Invitational, the 2018-19 team will be the first SIU team to schedule four top-30 RPI non-conference games.

“We have six seniors back from our best conference finish in 11 years. Based on that, we made the decision more than a year ago to make a non-conference schedule that would not only prepare us to win a conference championship, but also put us in position for an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament,” SIU head coach Barry Hinson said.

The Salukis open the season with the program’s first-ever game against Kentucky. The Wildcats are ranked No. 1 in Gary Parrish’s early offseason top-25 on CBS Sports, and the game could mark the first time since Larry Bird was at Indiana State that Southern Illinois has faced the nation’s No. 1-ranked team.

SIU’s home opener is November 12 vs. Buffalo, which finished last year at No. 26 in the RPI and beat Arizona by 21 points in the NCAA Tournament. The Bulls are the seventh-best non-conference opponent to play at SIU Arena, based on previous season RPI. The Salukis play the defending Mid-American Conference champions again in New York on December 15.

Southern’s home schedule also features December games against Murray State and Saint Louis. The Racers are coming off a 26-win season and advanced to the NCAA Tournament; they finished the year ranked No. 51 in the RPI.

The Salukis travel to Las Vegas for a Thanksgiving Day game against UMass before facing either Nevada or Tulsa. The Wolf Pack are expected to be ranked in the preseason top-10 after returning its top five scorers from last season’s 29-win Sweet Sixteen team.

SIU stays on the road for a game against Colorado State as part of the MVC-Mountain West Challenge. Other road games during the non-conference slate include games at SIU Edwardsville and Southeast Missouri. The final non-conference game of the season is against Winthrop in SIU Arena.