Coach Barry Hinson’s press conference was the top story after his team’s loss to Murray State Tuesday.

Hinson went from one end of the spectrum to the other in his post game press conference, as he compared his player to dogs and also brought his wife into the conversation.

“I’m struggling with this crew right now, they won’t let me coach them,” Hinson said. “Anytime I coach somebody, they put their head down.”

Players didn’t find out about Hinson’s press conference until after they returned to Carbondale. Junior guard Mike Balogun said he saw it as a way for Hinson to motivate his players.

“(To) try to get a reaction out of us, try to get a reaction for us to get where we need to be.”

Balogun said despite assumptions, Hinson cares about his team.

“He’s an emotional coach, you can’t read too much into the exact words that he may use at the time,” Balogun said. “Just know that it’s all in good intentions, he cares about all of us.”

SIU fell to the Racers 73-65 Tuesday, and behind the scenes issues were not the only ones hindering the Salukis.

Rebounding was a struggle for SIU as they were outrebounded 40-29. Hinson said rebounding is about more than size.

“I’ve been telling my wife for years, size doesn’t matter,” Hinson said. “I really think when it comes to rebounding, its heart, heart and effort, I think a guys just got to go out and play.”

The key player for the Salukis during the game was senior guard Desmar Jackson. Jackson finished with 28 points and four rebounds in the loss.

Jackson said the team has a tendency to come out flat in the second half.

“We have to get better, we have to concentrate more and definitely have to play harder,” Jackson said.

Hinson said he team isn’t playing as tough as they can be right now.

“We’re soft, we’ve been enabled for whatever reason,” he said. “I got a bunch of momma’s boy’s right now.”

The Salukis weren’t able to convert opportunities in transition, Hinson said something in the crowd was tripping his team up.

“There was a sniper in the gym, didn’t you see that, we had guys falling down,” Hinson said. “We had a guy snipered at half court, two guys snipered at half-court, it was unbelievable. I thought Navy Seal Team Six was out there.”

SIU will look to rebound from issues on and off the court Saturday as they take on Ball State University at 2:05 p.m. in SIU Arena.

Tyler Dixon can be reached at [email protected] or tdixon_de on Twitter.