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Sou Illinois seeks to continue dominance of Drake

Mar 2, 2007 - 5:08 PM Drake (17-14) at No. 11 Southern Illinois (25-5) 1:05 pm EST

ST. LOUIS (Ticker) -- Southern Illinois has climbed to a school-record No. 11 ranking this week.

The Salukis will be heavily favored to beat Drake in a Missouri Valley Conference Tournament quarterfinal game on Friday afternoon.

Southern Illinois has won the last 16 meetings in the series and enters with an 11-game winning streak. Even if the Salukis are beaten in the conference tournament, they still will likely get an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament. Southern Illinois has reached the NCAA Tournament each of the last five years.

This team is trying to become just the fourth in school history to win 26 games in a season. The Salukis won a record 28 games in 2002.

Southern Illinois has won the regular season title in the MVC five of the last six years. Wichita State won it in 2006.

The Salukis have won the conference tournament five times and lost in the league title game four times.

Southern Illinois ranks fourth in the nation in defense, allowing just 56.2 points per game. Princeton leads the country at 52.5, followed by Air Force (55.5) and Michigan State (56.0).

The Salukis are led by guard Jamaal Tatum, the MVC Player of the Year, and forward Randal Falker, the conference's Defensive Player of the Year. Tatum averaged 14.5 points, shooting nearly 41 percent from 3-point range, and Falker averaged 2.1 blocks per game.

Southern Illinois struggled to a 59-54 win at Drake on January 4 as Tatum scored 20 points. Just 11 days later, the Salukis posted a 72-62 victory over the Bulldogs. Tony Young scored 16 and Falker added 14.

Drake finished just 6-12 in the MVC, but won four of its last five games. The Bulldogs made a season-high 15 shots from the arc in a 101-96 win over Evansville in a first-round game on Thursday.

Senior guard Nick Grant is averaging 19 points in his last four games, shooting 52 percent (23-of-44) in that span.