Southern Illinois University’s men’s basketball team earned another chance at sending its four seniors out with a home win Sunday night.
Less than four hours after the Salukis’ streak of six straight appearances in the NCAA Tournament ended, they were awarded a home game against one of the biggest names in the Big 12. Fifth-seeded Oklahoma State (17-15) will appear at SIU Arena at 8 p.m. Tuesday night as fourth-seeded SIU (17-14) opens its ninth appearance in the NIT. Tickets for the game go on sale today for season-ticket holders at $8, $12 and $15 apiece. After 5 p.m. today, any remaining seats go on sale to the general public.
The game will appear on ESPN2. SIU coach Chris Lowery said it was a good opportunity.
"We had an opportunity to do something special at the end of the year, and we didn’t," SIU coach Chris Lowery said Sunday. "We had an opportunity to do something special the whole year, and we didn’t. We had the schedule, and I thought we had a chance, but now we get another chance. It’s like we were given nine lives. We get another opportunity to play again, and at home."
Illinois State beat SIU 57-49 in Carbondale in both teams’ regular-season finales. It was just the second time in the last seven years the Salukis lost at home against a conference opponent.
While seniors Matt Shaw, Randal Falker, Tyrone Green and Dion Coopwood will get another shot at winning their possibly last home game of the season, Bryan Mullins will not. Mullins will miss the remainder of the season due to a stress fracture, Lowery said. Joshua Bone will take his place in the starting rotation.
Mullins, the Missouri Valley Conference’s Defensive Player of the Year this season, started all 31 games this season and was the team’s top 3-point shooter. The 6-foot-2 junior point guard hit 41 percent from beyond the arc and was the team’s second-best free-throw shooter, percentage-wise.
The team’s third-leading scorer at 10.7 points per game, Mullins scored only 10 points in his last two games. Against Illinois State, Mullins was 3 of 14 from the field in 35 minutes. Against Northern Iowa at the MVC Tournament, he was 0 for 7 in 36 minutes, with all seven misses from behind the arc.
"He’s out," Lowery said. "We wanted to make sure that it was a sure thing, that he wasn’t going to be able to come back, and now he’s on crutches. We’re saving him until next year at this point."

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(03-16) 21:36 PDT — Cal sophomore forward Ryan Anderson had to rush from the Staples Center to catch a flight Thursday after the Bears lost 88-66 to UCLA in the Pac-10 tournament, but he found the time to make one heart-felt statement.
“It will be a huge disappointment if we have to sit at home and see other teams continue to play,” he said. “To play in a postseason tournament would be huge, experience-wise. We can learn what it feels like and come back hard next year.”
Instead of sitting at home during the postseason, Anderson and his teammates will be playing at home after accepting a bid Sunday to play in the National Invitational Tournament. The Bears (16-15) earned a No. 4 regional seed and will play New Mexico (24-8) at 8 p.m. Wednesday at Haas Pavilion.
Tickets will go sale at 8:30 a.m. today via calbears.com and through the Cal ticket office at (800) 462-3277. The winner of the Cal-New Mexico game will play the Ohio State-North Carolina Asheville winner on a date between Thursday and next Monday at a site to be determined.
“College basketball has become extremely competitive, so to be in the postseason is a huge opportunity,” Cal coach Ben Braun said. “I don’t think you should ever look at the NIT as a consolation. We’re looking at it as a great opportunity to extend our season, especially after having been through so many tough games.”

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He’ll probably watch the NCAA Tournament selection show this afternoon, but UAB head coach Mike Davis will likely have to wait a little longer to find out his basketball team’s postseason fate.
Once thought to be a good bet to the play in the NCAA Tournament, the Blazers now appear destined for the NIT. The NIT pairings announcement is scheduled for 8 p.m. on ESPN2.
“We’ll see if it’s NCAA, if it’s NIT. Whatever it is, we’ll welcome the opportunity to go play more basketball,” Davis said.
Obviously, he would welcome a trip to the NCAA Tournament more than he would a spot in the NIT. Entering the final game of the regular season, UAB had clinched second place in C-USA and was a popular choice as an at-large entry into the tournament despite some bad RPI losses during the season. When the Blazers ended the regular season with a 38-point loss at No. 2 ranked Memphis, some projections dropped UAB from the field.
“We lost to the No. 2 team in the country but the way we lost, I guess everybody is judging on points,” Davis said. “If you lose, you lose, whether it’s by 20 or 10 or 1.”

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