SIU men’s basketball may be feeling a bit of deja vu this weekend as it plays North Texas for the second time in eight days.

The rematch is scheduled for 7 p.m. Saturday at SIU Arena. The Salukis won last Saturday 95-63.

SIU played an in-season home-and-home last year with Tennessee State, the only time it has happened since 2000.

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Coach Barry Hinson said these arrangements will continue to be made in the future but the proximity of the two games is not ideal.

“[North Texas coach Tony Benford] is much more upset than I am about this,” Hinson said.

For North Texas, the proximity makes the games even more difficult as the Mean Green are playing SIU in back-to-back games.

Hinson said there are no games this week for North Texas because of its finals week. The Salukis’ only game during finals week is at 7 p.m. Friday at Murray State.

Playing the same team twice in a week does not affect establishing a game plan, Hinson said.

In last Saturday’s game, senior guard Anthony Beane scored 27 points, while junior guard Mike Rodriguez and junior forward Sean O’Brien also entered double figures as SIU shot a season-high 67.9 percent from the field.

Rodriguez said he is confident North Texas will be motivated after losing to SIU by 32.

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“I don’t think any of us think that we’re just going to beat them by 30 again,” he said. “They’re better than that.”

Sean Carley can be reached at [email protected] or at 536-3304.