Tuesday, March 18th, 9:00 p.m. (et).

FACTS & STATS: Site: SIU Arena (9,628) -- Carbondale, Illinois. Television: ESPN2. NIT Record: OSU 6-10, SIU 7-7. Series Record: Southern Illinois leads, 3-2.

GAME NOTES: Winners of the 1967 NIT, the Southern Illinois Salukis are back in the event again this year as they host the Oklahoma State Cowboys in the 71st annual tournament. Finishing third in the Missouri Valley Conference with a record of 11-7, fourth-seeded SIU has lost two straight after winning five in a row. The team closed out the regular season with a 57-49 loss to Illinois State and then was one-and-done in the conference tournament with a 54-49 setback against Northern Iowa. As for the fifth-seeded Cowboys, who are 6-10 in the postseason NIT over the years and have lost in the first round in each of the last two years, they were in the bottom half of the Big 12 Conference after winning just seven of 16 league affairs. If not for a narrow 76-72 victory over Texas Tech in the first game of the conference tournament, the Cowboys would be on a four-game slide right now, having lost to nationally- ranked Texas on Friday by a score of 66-59. Southern Illinois leads the all- time series with the Cowboys by a count of 3-2, although it was OSU that posted an 85-77 victory in the most recent affair three years ago in the postseason. The winner of this meeting takes on the survivor of the Alabama State/Arizona State affair in the quarterfinals.

Last year, Marcus Dove was named the co-Defensive Player of the Year in the Big 12 Conference, this time around he kept the award all to himself as he placed first on the Cowboys with 36 blocked shots and was second with 61 steals. The only player to start all 32 games for the unit, Dove also paced the team with close to six rebounds per contest and posted 9.7 ppg as well. James Anderson was one of four players to average double-digit scoring for the Pokes with his 13.3 ppg, followed by Byron Eaton who tallied 11.7 ppg and was the team leader with 115 assists and 65 thefts. Unfortunately, Eaton also played a bit too physical at times, resulting in his seven disqualifications. The team averaged 68.9 ppg and was tough to stop on defense as it recorded an average of almost 16.5 forced turnovers per game.

While Dove is the top defender in the Big 12 for the Cowboys this season, the Salukis can also boast of having the premier defender in the Missouri Valley Conference after Bryan Mullins became the fifth player in the last seven years to win the award for SIU. Mullins, who had more than twice as many steals (66) as anyone else on the Southern Illinois roster, didn't waste his talents there as he also paced the program with 41 percent shooting behind the three-point line and was first in assists with 154. Randal Falker, a member of the All-MWC First Team, led the Salukis with his 12.7 ppg, 6.9 rpg and 43 blocked shots. A bit too physical at times for his own good, Falker made good on 56.1 percent of his field goal attempts, the team just 42.7 percent as they scored a meager 62.7 ppg.

Focused on defense more than anything else, the Salukis are inclined to take opponents out of their comfort zone more so than try and pick up the tempo. As long as Falker can stay out of foul trouble SIU should be in good shape.

Predicted Outcome

Southern Illinois 63, Oklahoma State 60