The Egyptian Dawgs are Barking

(St. Louis, MO) – There are two dominant teams in the Missouri Valley Conference and the other eight teams are fighting for the scraps behind Wichita State and Illinois State. The best of that bunch right now is Southern Illinois. The Salukis (14-11, 7-5) have won three straight and stand alone in third place.

SIU is fourth in the Valley in points allowed during conference games (69.5 points per game) behind Illinois State, Wichita State and traditional power Northern Iowa. They’ve only allowed as many as 70 points in one, non-overtime game the entire league season.

Head coach Barry Hinson has bragged on this team all season long and they are rounding into the type of team he envisioned. Defensively they are growing and offensively, they are starting to make the shots Hinson expected them to make all along.

The 14-year veteran of MVC coaching says his team is just getting better.

 

 

SIU is doing the little things. They lead the league in offensive rebounding and tied for first in steals. Gaining those extra possessions, which is the buzz statistic of college basketball right now, is the very thing, in which they are excelling.

Senior Sean O’Brien may not be named the player of the year in the Valley, but he is arguably the ‘most valuable player’ in the MVC. O’Brien’s ability to score (13.4 ppg), rebound (he’s second in the league with an 8.5 average), shoot (.512 %), pass  and handle the ball, make him a difficult match up. At 6’7 he often brings the ball up the floor on offense and he is an adept passer. O’Brien may be the most Larry Bird-like player to never win the Larry Bird Trophy (player of the year) in Valley history.

Northern Iowa head coach Ben Jacobson says you can’t single cover him, and you can’t double team O’Brien either.

 

 

Hinson is seeing increased production from forward Thik Bol. The junior transfer is second in MVC in blocked shots, but is also becoming a threat to score. The reigning ‘Newcomer of the Week’ (see our ‘players of the week story) is averaging 13 points per game during the current three game win streak.

Senior leadership at the back court is a huge advantage for a successful team, and Mike Rodriguez is providing that. The 5’10 Boston native leads the Egyptian Dawgs in scoring and assists. SIU is built for success.

The next eight days will test Hinson’s squad. Wednesday they travel to Northern Iowa to battle the surging Panthers (they’ve won six of their last seven games). After hosting Evansville Saturday, the Salukis entertain Wichita State on February 15. Eight days from now, we’ll know a lot more about these barking dogs.

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