#6 SIU (19-12, 11-9) will play # 11 UIC (11-20, 4-26) at 8:30 p.m. Thursday March 7
By Jim Beers
ST. LOUIS, Mo. – The 48th Annual Missouri Valley Basketball Tournament tips-off today and runs through Sunday March 10. 2024 will mark the 34th straight year that the tournament has been hosted in St. Louis, Mo. at a neutral site.
The event is hosted at the Enterprise Center which holds 8,476 in the lower bowl and 16,502 if the entire facility is full. The top-4 teams in the event enjoy a first round bye and avoid the dreaded “Opening Round” games Thursday March 7th. The schedule is as follows:
Opening Round Thursday March 7
Game 1: 12 p.m. #8 Murray State (12-19, 9-11) vs. #9 Missouri State (16-15, 8-12)
Game 2: 2:30 p.m. #5 Belmont (19-12, 12-8) vs #12 Valparaiso (7-24, 3-17)
Game 3: 6:00 p.m. # 7 Illinois State (15-16, 9-11) vs #10 Evansville (15-16, 6-14)
Game 4: 8:30 p.m. # 6 Southern Illinois (19-12, 11-9) vs #11 UIC (11-20, 4-16)
Quarterfinals Friday March 8
Game 5: 12:00 p.m. #1 Indiana State (26-5, 17-3) vs Winner of Game 1
Game 6: 2:30 p.m. #4 UNI (18-13, 12-8) vs Winner of Game 2
Game 7: 6:00 p.m. # 2 Drake (25-6, 16-14) vs Winner of Game 3
Game 8: 8:30 p.m. 33 Bradley (21-10, 13-7) vs Winner of Game 4
Semifinals Saturday March 9
Game 9: 2:30 p.m. Winner of Game 5 vs Winner of Game 6
Game 10: 5:00 p.m. Winner of Game 7 vs Winner of Game 8
Championship Game Sunday March 11 at 1:10 p.m. on CBS Sports
Game 11: 1:10 p.m. Winner of Game 9 vs Winner of Game 10
Note: Opening Round games and Quarterfinal games on Thursday March 7 and Friday March 8 will be aired on ESPN Plus. Semifinal and Championship games Saturday March 9 and Sunday March 10 will be aired on the CBS Sports Network as well as on ESPN Plus.
Wednesday March 6 the Annual Missouri Valley Conference Awards Reception and Banquet will be held at the Marriott St. Louis Grand Majestic Ballroom in downtown St. Louis. The event begins at 5:30 p.m. with a reception followed by the banquet and awards ceremony at 6:30 p.m.
Friday March 8 the MVC Board of Directors Hall of Fame Breakfast will be held at The Stifel Theatre from 8:00 -10:15 a.m.
SIU’s Xavier Johnson has already been named to the 2024 MVC Most Improved Team and has been chosen as the Captain of that squad.
Another Saluki, Trent Brown, has already been announced as a winner of the MVC Second Team Scholar-Athlete Award. All other 2024 award winners will be announced at the 2024 MVC Awards Banquet and Awards Ceremony.
Going into Thursday’s Opening Round game against the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC), the Salukis have already won 11 MVC games in back-to-back years for the first time since Bryan Mullins was a player.
The Dawgs are holding opponents to 30.2 percent from 3-point range which is the 19th-best of all teams nationally. SIU is ranked 3rd in the MVC in assist-to-turnover ratio at 1.26.
The Salukis are currently shooting 76.5 % from the free throw line which is 2nd in the MVC and 30th overall out of all NCAA teams. Out of the Dawg’s 20 conference games, 10 of those games have been decided by six or less points.
Coach Bryan Mullins has coached the Salukis to a win over a Power 6 team in each of the last four seasons. SIU is 29-2 since Mullins took over the Dawgs when the team scores 75 points or more. When SIU scores 70 points or more they are 55-9.The Salukis have accomplished 10 double-digit wins in 2023-2024 out of the 19 overall victories.
Xavier Johnson finished the regular season averaging 22 points per game with an average of 6.1 assists per game. Last season (2022-2023) Johnson just averaged 7 points per game and dished out an average of 2.7 assists per game. Thus his honor of being the MVC’s Most Improved Player is justified.
Johnson has also been named to the USBWA Oscar Robertson Trophy Watch List AND the All American Watch List for the 2023-2024 season. He was further named to the Mid-Season Watch List for the Lute Olson (National Player of the Year) and Lue Henson (Mid-Major Player of the Year) Awards.
Xavier is currently ranked 4th in the nation in scoring at 22 points per game and has scored 16 or more points in all 28 of SIU’s 31 games. He ranks 18th nationally and he leads the MVC with 6.1 assists per game.
He is 17th nationally having played 36:28 minutes per game. Johnson ranks 4th nationally having made 212 free throws this year and he is 8th nationally in free throw attempts with 238. Johnson has scored 682 points this season ranking 4th in SIU history. Charlie “Chico” Vaughn holds the title with 779 in 1960.
Against UIC the Salukis lead the series 10-4 overall, and have won the last six games. Three of those last four wins have been by 3 points or less. SIU is 6-0 at home and 3-3 on the road against UIC. They are 1-1 on a neutral site. Thursday’s game will be the first time that the two teams meet in a Missouri Valley Tournament game.
SIU swept the season match-ups against the University of Illinois at Chicago winning 62-50 Saturday December 30 at home and 74-71 at UIC Saturday February 3.
A win Thursday March 7 against UIC will put SIU against # 3 Bradley Friday March 8 at 8:30 p.m. in the Quarterfinals.