Each team has their ups and downs during the season. Unfortunately for the Creighton Bluejays, their downs have come over the past two games at Wichita State and at Drake. They are hoping they can stop the bleeding with another road game coming up on Sunday against Southern Illinois.
Last season, the Bluejays came into Carbondale with a three game losing streak. Creighton came out strong and blew out the Salukis marking the beginning of the end of Chris Lowery’s future as the head coach. The game got them on track to finish out the season with eight straight wins before losing to North Carolina in the NCAA Tournament. Hopefully this game on Sunday night can help springboard the Bluejays into a similar winning streak.
To get caught up on the Salukis and what to expect on Sunday night, we caught up with Todd Hefferman of the Southern Illinoisan. Here is what he had to say.
White & Blue Review: Halfway through the first season with Barry Hinson, how has the feedback been by fans from when he was initially hired to this point in the season? Is he the right hire for the Salukis?
Todd Hefferman: The feedback from the fans has been great. Attendance is 4,855 per game this season, almost double last season. People have come back, for the most part. I still know people that for a long time bought season tickets, but decided not to get them this season. Barry Hinson is very personable, and he treats the job like a privilege, and people have responded well to that. Even though the team isn’t winning, some of the excitement is back at SIU Arena. Is he the right hire? Well, people want to get back to the NCAA tournament, and I think Hinson will do that. Kids will start graduating and staying out of trouble more. Will SIU perennial challenge for the Missouri Valley Conference title after his first five years? That is the question.
WBR: After performing quite well in the non-conference season, was the bar raised headed into conference play or was it generally known how they would perform once they got to conference play?
TH: Barry Hinson made no bones about it, he knew his team had deficiencies and Diamond Taylor wasn’t going to fill any of them. He knew Valley play was going to be a different animal, and it has been.
WBR: Who has been the biggest surprise for Southern Illinois this season that Creighton fans should watch out for?
TH: Freshman Anthony Beane Jr. has impressed me. He will probably be on the MVC All-Freshman Team, maybe even the freshman of the year. He’s very confident for a first-year player, and SIU asks a lot of him. Guard the other team’s best perimeter player, score and take care of the basketball.
WBR: How will the suspension of Jeff Early affect the Salukis? How has the rotation of players changed during the season?
TH:Early’s suspension will hurt SIU’s rebounding. He is an emotional leader for the team, so someone will have to take that role over, and I don’t know who that will be, but we’ll see on Sunday. The rotation for SIU has been steady, which is why Early’s suspension is a crushing blow. The Salukis don’t have a lot of depth to begin with. Now they’re losing one of their best players at their toughest position to fill.
WBR: Southern Illinois used to be known for their defense. Is this something that Coach Hinson is trying to re-establish or do they want to be known for something else?
TH: Hinson had great offensive numbers while he was at Missouri State, but claims he’s always been a defensive coach. He is trying to re-establish SIU’s effectiveness at that end of the court, but with his lineup, he basically has to do his best to guard the basket and hope opponents don’t shoot well from the outside. That hasn’t worked in conference play, and he doesn’t have a lot of options.
WBR: If Creighton wanted to exploit a weakness that SIU has, what would that be?
TH:Well, Creighton can attack SIU inside with Gregory Echenique, Doug McDermott and Ethan Wragge right off the bat. Dantiel Daniels will probably take Echenique, but McDermott may have 6-1 Josh Swan on him, and the 6-7 Wragge may have 6-5 Desmar Jackson on him. Hinson could start Davante Drinkard, who is 6-9, but I don’t see him doing that. I expect Creighton to put Echenique and McDermott inside, and let Wragge shoot all he wants out by the 3-point line, along with Grant Gibbs and Jahenns Manigat.
WBR: We have been gauging the reaction of the beat writers across the Valley on the conference realignment and at some point how it might affect the MVC. What is your opinion of these changes and how would SIU react if Creighton did end up being part of those changes?
TH: Losing Creighton would be a crushing blow to the league, and I think it’s very possible. If those Big East schools want to add another three or four teams, I think Creighton might be near the top of their list because of their stature, their facility, and their revenue potential in Omaha. Certainly they would be competitive. SIU would lose a major rival who has a lot of history against the Salukis. The league would lose a big footprint and a central part of their revenue draw at the MVC tournament.
WBR: What is your final prediction? What does SIU need to do to upset the Bluejays?
TH: SIU needs Dantiel Daniels and Desmar Jackson to have dominant games and Creighton to play like it did at Drake. Funny things happen on the road, and the Bluejays are, maybe just a tiny, tiny bit, doubting themselves a bit. A big opening 10 minutes may put those doubts to rest, though, and an ugly game is certainly within reason. Creighton shot 77.5 percent from the field FOR THE GAME last season at SIU Arena, and it is just as loaded this season.