SIU Arena will be packed and ready for Wichita State in meeting of unbeaten teams

This generation knows so little about the terrors of SIU Arena. For that perspective, it takes experiences that flash back to the roots of Wichita State’s glory days, when the Shockers tried, and usually failed, to supplant Southern Illinois atop the Missouri Valley Conference.

“You had screaming students on both ends and screaming parents behind you,” said former Shocker Rob Kampman, who played from 2001-05 and lost four times at SIU Arena. “I remember our locker room was close to the football locker room and it stunk.”

Former Shocker Paul Miller played on the 2006 MVC title team that lost at SIU Arena.

“I think I’ve suppressed all the memories because I never won there,” he said.

To refresh, SIU won six MVC titles from 2000-09 with dominance at SIU Arena a given. The Salukis won 42 consecutive MVC home games from 2001-06. They built streaks of 31 and 33 conference and non-conference victories during that time. SIU Arena, a gym built in 1964 for basketball, features seats close to the floor and students packed into bleachers behind both baskets. A 2010 renovation changed the look without removing its essential spirit, much like what WSU did at Koch Arena.

What Miller tries to block out is screaming fans who loved defense and floor burns and feasted on the frustration of opponents who couldn’t dribble, pass or move without a Saluki in their way. WSU lost 11 straight games in SIU Arena from 1999-2009. Fans delighted in picking on emotional Shocker star Jamar Howard, as most did, and the ex-Shockers will tell you it felt as if referees weren’t interested in reining in SIU’s physical defense on that floor.

“It had a certain aura,” Kampman said. “It was a true college atmosphere. They would hound you all game long. It was one of the better organized student sections in the Valley.”

The Shockers broke through at SIU Arena in 2010 with a 76-55 win. WSU continued on its path to success. SIU flopped and playing in Carbondale became just another MVC stop. Since losing 11 straight, WSU is 5-1 there, losing on a hotly contested goaltending call in 2013.

On Saturday, the Shockers (9-5, 3-0 MVC) return to SIU Arena for another big game. SIU expects a sell-out crowd of 8,284, the 25th sellout in the arena’s 51-year history. The Salukis (14-2, 3-0) are the surprise of the MVC, picked ninth in the preseason poll after winning 12 games last season and the maroon hordes notice.

SIU drew a season-high crowd of 6,106 for last week’s win over Northern Iowa, more than 1,000 over its season average, and its first crowd of more than 6,000 since 2014.

“We had fans leaving the game and saying it hadn’t been like that since 2005,” SIU coach Barry Hinson said. “They said we had 1,000 tickets left. I don’t know where we could have put them. It’s getting back to the good old days.”

Intimidating as SIU Arena was, it takes good old players to make a big difference. Hinson added talent and refined his returners to create a team that is among the nation’s best shooting units and relies heavily on its backcourt.

SIU guard Anthony Beane scored 32 points against Northern Iowa and is averaging 21 while making 46.2 percent of his three-point shots. Hinson added two junior-college guards who relieve Beane of some of the ball-handling duties and the extra help rejuvenated Beane, who shot 33 percent from three-point range last season, and SIU’s offense. Point guard Mike Rodriguez provides an assist-to-turnover ratio of 2.61, tops in the MVC, and averages 10.2 points. Leo Vincent averages 7.7 points off the bench and is second on the team with 17 steals.

Beane is back at shooting guard, his natural position.

“The guys they added to the roster are really making a difference,” UNI coach Ben Jacobson said. “Even though (Beane’s) still got the ball in his hands a lot, he isn’t responsible for running the team and I think that’s really been a good change for them.”

Forward Sean O’Brien and junior guard Tyler Smithpeters started as freshmen and struggled through a difficult sophomore season. As juniors, those experiences are helping. O’Brien averages 12.8 points and 6.4 rebounds. Smithpeters is shooting 48.2 percent from three-point range and averages 7.4 points. O’Brien, Hinson said, is on a limited practice schedule because of a medical issue.

“The difference in Sean O’Brien is his confidence,” Hinson said. “He was own his worst enemy. His sophomore year, he started off the first six games averaging a double-double and then he just lost his confidence.”

Hinson started reshaping the Salukis last spring, after they finished 12-21, 4-14 in the MVC. Five players left the program, including top freshman Jordan Caroline, who transferred to Nevada. Hinson, after three straight losing seasons, didn’t want a repeat exodus.

“Anybody new that came into the program, we really challenged them,” Hinson said. “Our offseason workouts, our preseason workouts, everything, was as hard as we’ve ever been in anything we’ve ever done. Our whole mentality was, ‘If these guys are going to leave us, let’s make them leave before the season starts.’ We really went after them. The by-product was, the guys kind of bonded together.”

They stayed and the result is a return of the fans to SIU Arena.

This story was originally published January 8, 2016 at 1:10 PM with the headline "SIU Arena will be packed and ready for Wichita State in meeting of unbeaten teams."