CARBONDALE, Ill. — Southern Illinois resumes conference play on Wednesday night when it travels to Loyola for a 7 p.m. game that will be broadcast live on ESPN3. The Salukis swept three games from the Ramblers last season and are 7-2 versus Loyola since the school joined the league in 2014. Loyola head coach Porter Moser is 2-15 lifetime against SIU between his stops at Loyola and Illinois State. SIU G Armon Fletcher is a career 54 percent shooter in five games against Loyola, including 7-of-13 from 3-point.
Tyler Smithpeters on four-game hot streak
G Tyler Smithpeters (6-4, 203, Sr.) is 10-for-20 from 3-point range in the last four games. For the first time in his career, he scored double figures in three-straight games. A 24-year-old senior who has played in 112 career games, he ranks No. 15 all-time at SIU in 3-pointers with 121. A medical redshirt last season, he is a career .378 shooter from 3-point.
Comeback Kids
Southern Illinois trailed by as many as 14 points before rallying to beat Illinois State, 74-70, on Saturday. It was the program’s biggest comeback since rallying from 18 points down to beat Sam Houston State on Nov. 21, 2015. It marked the second double-digit comeback against the Redbirds in the last two years. The Salukis overcame a 12-point deficit to beat Illinois State on Jan. 12, 2016.
Armon Fletcher increases output after move to “hybrid forward”
Since the Salukis switched to a four-guard offense on Dec. 13 and put G Armon Fletcher (6-5, 207, Jr.) at the “hybrid forward” position, his offensive numbers have shot up.
Position GP PPG RPG FG% 3FG%
Guard 7 11.9 4.7 .460 .296
Hyrbrid 11 16.4 5.7 .521 .385
Fletcher had a career night at Valparaiso on Jan. 6 with 32 points and 14 rebounds. He became the first Saluki player to score 30+ points since Anthony Beane had 31 versus Drake on Feb. 13, 2016.
Kavion Pippen leads team in field goal percentage, blocked shots
Juco transfer C Kavion Pippen (6-10, 240, Jr.) leads the team in field goal percentage (.526) and blocked shots (29). Pippen has scored in double figures in all but five games this season. The nephew of NBA legend Scottie Pippen was named MVC Newcomer of the Week on Nov. 12 and again on Dec. 4. He had a career-high 24-point outing versus Jackson State.
Sean Lloyd Jr. does it all
G Sean Lloyd Jr. (6-5, 210, Jr.) impacts the game in many ways. He is second in scoring (12.3), first in minutes (33.4), first in 3-point shooting (.400), third in assists (2.4), first in steals (1.4) and typically guards the opponent’s top scorer. Lloyd is the nephew of two-time MVC player-of-the-year Lewis Lloyd, who played two seasons at Drake (1980-81) and seven years in the NBA. Another uncle, Daryl Lloyd, also played at Drake and led the team in scoring in 1985 with 17.9 points per game.
Aaron Cook steps up on offense
G Aaron Cook (6-2, 185, So.) has made dramatic improvement in his offensive game as a sophomore.
2016-17 2017-18
Scoring 3.0 PPG 9.2 PPG
FG Percentage .333 .459
3FG Percentage .185 .390
Marcus Bartley for three
After missing the first six games of the season with a broken wrist, Saint Louis transfer G Marcus Bartley (6-5, 193, Jr.) has emerged as a 3-point shooting threat, converting 18-of-50 (.360). He made four treys to key SIU’s win at Northern Iowa. Bartley also has 49 assists and 30 turnovers.
Dawg Bites
•SIU is shooting .345 from 3-point this year. If that holds up, it will be the team’s best percentage since the 2010 team converted .362.
•The Salukis are 23-15 when Tyler Smithpeters makes multiple 3-pointers in a game, including 6-3 this season.
•Barry Hinson (259) needs three wins to pass Gregg Marshall (261) for fourth all-time among MVC coaches.
•The Salukis are 10-1 when they hold an opponent under 70 points and 1-7 when an opponent scores 70 or more.
•SIU has gone 101-consecutive games with at least one 3-point field goal and 1,009-consecutive games with at least one free throw (dating back to 1986).
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