When Oklahoma State faces Southern Illinois in Carbondale, Ill., on Tuesday night for its first true road game of the year, it will mark the first time a school from a Power 5 conference has visited the Banterra Center in 15 years.
And if this game goes like that one did, the Cowboys will face a long ride back to Stillwater. They were also the last Power 5 team to visit Carbondale, doing so for an NIT game in 2008, and the Salukis emerged with a 69-53 win.
Oklahoma State (3-4) has talent but hasn’t been able to use it to its greatest extent yet. The Cowboys’ 79-65 home loss on Thursday against No. 15 Creighton was a prime example. Specifically, in the final 6 1/2 minutes of the first half, the Bluejays ripped off a 19-2 run that essentially decided the game.
“That stretch is where it got away from us,” Cowboys coach Mike Boynton said. “Certainly disappointed in the outcome. I’m proud of the effort. We’ve just got to get better.”
Guard Javon Small paces Oklahoma State, averaging 15.7 points, 5.5 rebounds and 5.3 assists. He is one of just nine Division I players with marks of 15, 5 and 5, respectively, through the weekend.
Meanwhile, the Salukis (5-2) are coming off their best performance, a 101-62 rout of visiting Saint Louis on Saturday that saw them tie a school record by canning 18 3-pointers (on 29 attempts). It was the first time Southern Illinois scored 100 against a Division I opponent in 25 years.
Point guard Xavier Johnson poured in a game-high 31 points, upping his scoring average to 23.1, good for fourth in Division I through the weekend. The game was a 180 for Southern Illinois, which was drilled 77-48 on Nov. 28 at Indiana State in its Missouri Valley Conference opener.
“We were the most connected we’ve been this year on both ends of the court,” Salukis coach Bryan Mullins said.
Southern Illinois owns a 5-2 lead in the all-time series, winning last year 61-60 in Stillwater on a late 3-pointer by Marcus Domask. The swingman transferred to Illinois ahead of this season.
–Field Level Media
