Saturday, November 14th, 8:05 p.m. (et)

FACTS & STATS: Site: SIU Arena (9,409) -- Carbondale, Illinois. Television: None. Home Record: UT-Martin 0-0, SIU 0-0. Away Record: UT-Martin 0-0, SIU 0-0. Neutral Record: UT-Martin 0-0, SIU 0-0. Conference Record: UT-Martin 0-0, SIU 0-0. Series Record: Southern Illinois leads, 5-0.

GAME NOTES: The Southern Illinois Salukis will try to continue their dominance over the Tennessee-Martin Skyhawks when the two schools collide this evening in the season-opener for both teams. This will be the sixth meeting between the two schools on the hardwood, but thus far it has been all SIU, as the Salukis have won the five previous matchups.

The Skyhawks racked up 22 wins this past season, but returning to that level will be a very tough task for coach Jason James in his first season at the helm. Tennessee-Martin has not enjoyed much success in season openers over the past few years, posting a 6-11 ledger since the 1992-93 campaign.

As for the Salukis, they are coming off their first losing season in over a decade, as they stumbled to a 13-18 record. Last year the team dealt with some injuries and was filled with an inexperience roster, but this time around everyone is healthy and ready to bounce back from a dismal 2008-09 campaign. Southern Illinois has enjoyed plenty of success against the Ohio Valley Conference, posting a 173-124 all-time ledger.

The main reason the Skyhawks reached 22 victories this past season was because of Lester Hudson (27.5 ppg and 7.9 rpg). However, he is gone and now Tennessee-Martin will open the season looking for someone to step into the leading scorer role. Reuben Clayton and Delrico Lane give the Skyhawks some depth in the backcourt, but clearly this group will not be as talented without Hudson. Clayton has the talent to be a dangerous scorer, while Lane will likely be the leader on the floor for the Skyhawks. The frontcourt not only lacks depth, but experience as well, so it will be a tough job for coach James to figure out who will battle in the paint from a game-to-game standpoint. Tonight look for Dominique Mpondo, who is a 6-11 center, to be the main focus for UT-Martin down low, but the senior averaged less than 10 minutes per game a year ago, and is still very raw.

The struggles endured by the Salukis last season should pay off this year for the squad, especially since some of the younger players now have a year of experience. Kevin Dillard is one of those younger players coach Chris Lowery has high expectation for, as the 6-0 sophomore led SIU in scoring (12.2 ppg), assists (4.1 apg) and three-point percentage (.452) as a rookie last season. The Missouri Valley Conference Freshman of the Year is back to prove he will be even tougher as a sophomore. Another boost for Southern Illinois will be Tony Freeman. Freeman is an Iowa transfer, who posted 13.8 ppg as a Hawkeye. He will give the Salukis a dangerous tandem in the backcourt. In the frontcourt, Carlton Fay is the team's top option and the 6-8 forward ranked second on the team in scoring at 10.4 ppg. Along with Fay expect Anthony Booker and Nick Evans to see plenty of time on the floor in the opener tonight.

The Skyhawks will find out early that life without Hudson will be difficult. It does not help UT-Martin that the team is opening the year on the road against a much improved SIU team.

Predicted Outcome

Southern Illinois 74, Tennessee-Martin 60