An ordinarily mild-mannered Tyrone Green beaming with delight told the story for Southern Illinois’ homecourt 74-49 win over Nevada.
The Kentucky-born guard had reason to smile, aside from his team’s nearly flawless performance. Guarding Marcelus Kemp, who attracted four NBA scouts to Carbondale, Green put on a defensive show.
He got up in Kemp’s personal space, [...]

Southern Illinois was left for dead early on. Once it became apparent that the Salukis lacked their traditionally adequate scoring punch, national media jumped ship. The eyes SIU had attracted in the last couple of years looked elsewhere, searching for the next mid-major media darling.
Now, in the quieter moments, SIU is winning close [...]

In this most recent off-season, one coach, Mark Turgeon, left for the money and recruiting benefits of the Big 12. His departure, coupled with the graduation of countless valuable seniors, leaves the MVC fighting for that elusive consistency that power conferences tend to have. Look at the list of names of the departed, [...]

The Missouri Valley Conference has had an impressive run of success the last few years. The key to consistently stellar basketball has been good coaches, experienced players, and hard-nosed defense.
What’s the point?
Under a microscope, a devoted observer would notice one thing all successful Valley teams had–and still have–in common: a gritty, tough, unflappable point [...]

The 2007 Final Four is set. Florida, UCLA, Georgetown, and Ohio State combine for the lowest cumulative seed count (6) since 1993, when three #1’s and a #2 made it to the third weekend. It’s a fitting cap for a Tournament in which so many outcomes went to the favorites.
If this year’s opening [...]

SOUTH
No. 1 Ohio State vs. No. 5 Tennessee
Of Note:
Casual fans probably won’t remember that Tennessee played Ohio State quite closely on January 13, losing 68-66 on (surprise, surprise) a Ron Lewis three-pointer at the end of regulation. That’s the same Buckeye who hit the game-tying three against Xavier over the weekend, for those keeping score [...]

Team personality: Defense wins championships. A common phrase in sports that is not commonly executed. SIU won four straight regular season Valley championships from 2001 to 2005 with the unbending defense providing the backbone. This year is no different. Tony Young and Jamaal Tatum disallow so much in the backcourt. The arm strength of frontcourt [...]