In their entire existence, SIU doesn’t exactly have a good record against Power 5 (or Power 4 teams nowadays). 

SIU, traditionally known as a basketball school, has dominated in their existence. They’ve won over 1,655 games as of their recent win against Missouri S&T, and lost 1,197, good for a 58% win percentage. 

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This strong win percentage is hurt by their performance against Power 5 teams. The Dawgs are a combined 43-93 against Power 5 teams in their existence, which admittedly doesn’t inspire a lot of confidence entering their matchup with the Oklahoma State Cowboys and Florida Gators this season. 

But, a closer look at some trends does help out the 2024 Salukis’ case. 

For whatever reason, SIU has traditionally owned Oklahoma State. Their first matchup came in the 1963-64 season, when Jack Hartman was the Salukis coach. The Dawgs, who were on the road, lost that first game 83-54, but came back with a vengeance for next season’s matchup. 

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The 1964-65 matchup with the Cowboys has a special place in SIU basketball lore; it was the first game played in the then-named SIU Arena (now known as the Banterra Center). It also represented a revenge opportunity that the Salukis took full advantage of. They ran the Cowboys off the court, beating them 78-55 and christening their home arena with a big win. 

The 1965-66 game was the last one between the two teams for the next 25 years, and the Salukis made it count. They went down to Stillwater, Oklahoma, and silenced the Cowboys in their own building 69-60.  

Fast forward to the 1990-91 season; legendary coach and Saluki Hall of Famer Rich Herrin was leading the Salukis out of a dim 1980s, coming off of two NIT berths to finish the decade. The Dawgs found themselves playing Oklahoma State yet again, this time in SIU Arena. Once again, the Dawgs defended their home court, and sent the Cowboys back south with an 85-73 win.

Oklahoma State got their revenge in the 2005 NCAA tournament. Head coach Chris Lowery’s Salukis fell to the Cowboys in what essentially amounted to a home game for OKST in Oklahoma City, 85-77.

Another postseason matchup, albeit not in the NCAA tournament, came in 2008, when the teams faced off in the NIT. A resounding 69-53 Saluki victory saw the Salukis hold an all-time series lead of 4-2 against the ‘Boys from Stillwater. 

The next opportunity to beat the ‘Boys came in 2022, under coach Bryan Mullins. The Dawgs once again went to Stillwater, and played the closest game the series had seen. The Salukis squeaked out a one-point victory, 61-60, fueled by iconic performances by Marcus Domask and Lance Jones. 

Oklahoma State came to Carbondale with something to prove in December 2023. The Salukis and Cowboys battled in front of a packed Banterra Center and national television via CBS, producing an instant classic that saw the Dawgs once again claim a slim victory, 70-68. The game also signified that Xavier Johnson had truly emerged as a star, marking his third game over 30 points in the young season.

That leads the Salukis to this season. Oklahoma State, who is paying to play SIU, has lost two of the games on the current home, home and away deal that they signed. They desperately need a win to save face in this series, and to make up ground in the all-time series, which they trail in six games to two.

The Cowboys come into the game 2-0 on the season, having beaten Green Bay and St. Thomas. They’re averaging 84.5 points per game and giving up 73.5, and have three players, Bryce Thompson, Abou Ousmane and Marchelus Avery averaging at least 16 PPG. 

All of those players are at least 6 feet 6 inches tall. Surprisingly, that doesn’t place SIU at much of a disadvantage; Kennard Davis, Jarrett Hensley, Antwaun Massey, and Davi

on Sykes are all at least that tall, and Ali Dibba is 6 foot 5 inches, which promises to make their matchup with Oklahoma State must-watch television on ESPN+.

SIU’s other Power 5 game this season comes against an opponent they’ve never faced: the University of Florida. It’s another pay game for the Dawgs, and one that will see them travel to the birthplace of Gatorade in Gainesville, Florida.

While SIU has never played the Gators, they have played several other SEC schools. The Dawgs haven’t fared overly well in those games, holding an overall 9-24 record versus the SEC. They’ve booked two wins a piece versus Arkansas, Ole Miss and Mississippi State and have also lost eight games to the nearby Missouri Tigers. 

Their last matchup with an SEC school was against Missouri in 2019-20, Mullins’ first year as head coach. The Dawgs traveled to Columbia and left as 75-53 losers. Their previous SEC matchup was against John Calipari and the at-the-time second-ranked Kentucky Wildcats, who beat the Salukis 71-59 (NBA players Tyler Herro, PJ Washington, Keldon Johnson and Immanuel Quickley were all members of this Kentucky team). 

At the time of writing, Florida is ranked #20 in the country. This doesn’t bode overly well for SIU, as in their last 17 games against ranked opponents, spanning over the last 10 years, they are 1-16, with their only win being last season’s home 74-69 triumph against #23 Indiana State, a game that will forever live in Saluki lore. 

Florida has experienced some of the same problems the Salukis have to start the season. They’ve been inconsistent on the boards so far, and have seen some streaky three-point shooting, holding a 26% clip at the time of writing.. The Gators have been relatively strong from the free throw line, sinking 73.8% of their shots from the stripe. 

Should SIU manage to beat Florida, it would mark their second ranked win in as many seasons and their first over a ranked Power 5 opponent since 2002, with Georgia being the opponent in that game.

Before beating Oklahoma State the last two years and Colorado in 2021, SIU had lost 17 Power 5 games in a row, as their last win came against the Virginia Tech Hokies in the 2006-07 NCAA Tournament.

With a victory against Oklahoma State on Thursday, the Salukis could set the record for longest winning streak (four games) in the modern era (post-1960) against Power 5 schools as well as against a single Power 5 school. SIU currently has consecutive wins over Colorado in 2021 and over OKST in 2022 and 2023.

The other times the Salukis have had three Power 5 wins in a row are from 1975-76 with wins over Missouri, Pitt and Arizona as well as a three game streak in from 1988-1993, beating Penn State, Oklahoma State and Mississippi State. 

The Salukis will look to set these records on Thursday, Nov. 14 at 7:00 PM in Stillwater, Oklahoma against the Oklahoma State Cowboys.

Sports consultant Ryan Grieser can be reached at [email protected]. To stay up to date on all your southern Illinois news, be sure to follow The Daily Egyptian on Facebook and on X @dailyegyptian.

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