Nevada draws Southern Illinois in BracketBuster

Nevada draws Southern Illiinois in BracketBuster

BY DARRELL MOODY

Appeal Sports Writer

RENO - For the fifth straight season, Nevada will be in the national spotlight for the O'Reilly/ESPNU BracketBuster event.

Nevada, currently 13-8 overall, has been selected to play Southern Illinois, currently 11-11, on Feb. 23 in Carbondale, Illinois. Which ESPN channel the game will be televised and the time of the contest will be determined next week.

This will be the second straight year that Nevada played a team from the Missouri Valley Conference. Last year, Nevada knocked off Northern Iowa. Nevada has played teams from the Mid-American Conference -Toledo and Akron - in their other BracketBuster appearances.

Neither SIU or Nevada is having the type of season it wants, but the Missouri Valley Conference is ranked much higher in the Ratings Percentage Index (RPI) than the Western Athletic Conference, thus a win would help Nevada's RPI.

Both coaches seemed happy with the matchup.

"Southern Illinois is a team and program we have a lot of respect for, and we look forward to playing them in the BracketBuster and again next year in Reno," Nevada coach Mark Fox said. "Chris Lowery has done a great job with that program.

"It will be a real challenge for us. We're very pleased to be back on national television. It's a sign of respect for our program."

The Salukis are tied for third in the MVC and have a 6-5 conference record. They are 87-5 at home since the 2001-02 season.

Forwards Matt Shaw and Randal Falker lead the Salukis' offense. Falker averages 12.5 points and 6.6 rebounds a contest. Shaw averages 12.3 and 6.5, respectively.

Lowery has a lot of respect for the Wolf Pack, who have a WAC-leading RPI of 80. The Salukis are at 79.

"This is a great game for our fans," Lowery said. "Nevada is a well-established program on the national level with a strong basketball tradition."

The Salukis are 4-1 in its five previous BracketBuster games. Nevada has won all four of its BracketBuster appearances.

The best thing about drawing SIU is that it really makes Nevada's 2008-09 home schedule that much more attractive.

The Pack is scheduled to play Oregon State, North Carolina, Pacific, SIU and UNLV at home. Current road games scheduled for next year are at California, Montana State and San Diego.

Two other WAC teams - Utah State and Boise State - were selected as part of the 14-game television package. Utah State hosts UC Santa Barbara on Feb. 22 and Boise State hosts Siena on Feb. 23.

The other six WAC teams will find out who their nonconference opponents are sometime this week.

• Contact Darrell Moody at dmoody@nevadaappeal.com, or by calling (775) 881-1281