The Southwest Missouri State University men’s basketball team came into this season touted as the second-best team in the Missouri Valley Conference.

A brutal non-conference schedule and five losses by fewer than five points later have left the Bears at 5-10 overall and 2-2 in the MVC.

SMSU has played four teams that are currently or have been in the Top 25, including Texas Christian University and Clemson University.

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Nonetheless, the Bears are still ahead of the Salukis in the conference standings. SIUC owns a 2-3 record in the Valley and are 7-8 overall. SMSU is coming off a 72-54 home victory over Creighton University Monday.

I think they’re a much better team than what their record shows, SIUC coach Rich Herrin said. They lost some close games, but they’re are coming in here off a big victory.

They really wacked Creighton the other night. Creighton is one of the better teams in our league, and Southwest beat them by almost 20 points.

The Bears have their own version of twin towers in 7-foot center John Paul Nelson and 6-foot-11 inch forward Danny Moore. Nelson leads the team with 16 blocks. Moore, a junior from Shelbyville, Ind., is a preseason all-league favorite and is second in the conference in scoring at just over 17 points a game.

Sophomore guard Kevin Ault has proven he can hit the three-point shot, shooting 41 percent from beyond the arc.

Moore is a big inside player, Herrin said. Ault is a great player, and they’re a big team with a lot of good athletes.

Meanwhile, the Salukis have been searching for answers to reasons behind the team’s three-game losing streak. The University of Evansville completed a sweep of SIUC Monday with a 77-69 victory.

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SIUC let a nine-point second half lead slip away by only scoring eight point in the final eight minutes of the game. Rashad Tucker scored 20 points, but only eight in the second half.

Herrin has not seen a problem with the amount of scoring opportunities for Tucker, but he will try to get him the ball more in key situations.

Well, he’s got about all he can handle in the offense right now, Herrin said. He has it most of the times, so he’s pretty well involved. I think to have a good basketball team you have to have a good balance, but Rashad is probably our go-to-guy and he gets it most of the time.

The Salukis battle Southwest Missouri State University tonight at 7:05 at SIU Arena.

The game can be heard on 95.1 WXLT-FM or at http://www.siu.edu/~athletic.