Southern Illinois Falls to Saint Louis, In Danger of Falling Off Map

Last night, Southern Illinois lost to Rick Majerus' struggling Saint Louis Billikens 56-51. Earlier in the season, Southern Illinois was ranked #18 in the AP top 25. Now, with a 3-4 record that includes blowout losses to USC and Indiana, as well as bad losses to Charlotte and the aforementioned Saint Louis Billikens, Southern Illinois is in danger of falling off the college basketball map.

Southern Illinois has made six straight NCAA Tournament appearances. They made it to the Sweet Sixteen in 2002 and 2007. They have been a perennial powerhouse in the underrated Missouri Valley Conference. And after Gonzaga, Southern Illinois has probably been the most consistently visible (in terms of time spent in the AP top 25, national television coverage and overall recognition) mid major program in college basketball (George Mason's trip to the 2006 Final Four was big, but SIU has been visible for a longer period of time).

But if SIU doesn't turn things around soon, they won't be in the Tournament in March.

So what's wrong with Southern Illinois, and what can they do to get their season back on track?

Southern lost guards Jamaal Tatum and Tony Young to graduation. Tatum was their go-to guy for the last three seasons. Without Tatum, the Salukis don't have a proven scorer, or a player who is comfortable in the scorer's role. Right now SIU doesn't have a guy who is capable of creating shots for himself or a guy who's proven to be able to make big shots when the game is on the line.

Tony Young was a lock-down defender who evolved into a big time perimeter scorer (although he was always the second option, after Tatum). Young was also a fifth year senior and the undisputed team leader. With the tandem of Tatum and Young, in additon to tough, lock down defender PG Bryan Mullins and scrappy big men Randal Falker and Matt Shaw, Southern Illinois was as talented as just about anyone in college basketball (remember, last year SIU was one missed layup away from beating Kansas, and earning a trip to the Elite Eight).

This year, however, SIU has some holes to fill.

In Mullins, Southern Illinois has one of the best defensive minded point guards in college basketball. But Mullins isn't a big scorer. He's good at running the offense, he can penetrate and distribute and he'll hit open three pointers. But Mullins isn't the type of player who can carry the Saluki's offensively.

Forward Randal Falker gets a significant amount of media love. He's the current face of Southern Illinois basketball. But he's not a natural scorer. Falker is an energy guy. He's effective as a rebounder, defender and garbage man. But he's not a polished post scorer.

The other forward, Matt Shaw, is a good rebounder and a nice perimeter shooter, but he's not really an inside scorer either.

Southern Illinois was overrated at the start of the season. The current team doesn't have the weapons that previous SIU teams have had. That said, Chris Lowrey's teams are all hard nosed, scrappy, and defense-oriented. Southern Illinois will be competitive in the Missouri Valley Conference. But they won't dominate the Valley this year, as they did the last two or three years. In fact, right now they don't even look like they'll be a legitimate contender to win the conference. But they'll be competitive. You can count on that. And if they can finish in the top three in the Valley, they will still have a good shot at making it to the NCAA Tournament.

But they've got to get it going soon.