Salukis look to punch NCAA tourney ticket

Tickets remain available for this weekend's 2006 State Farm/Missouri Valley Conference men's basketball tournament at the Savvis Center in St. Louis. The tournament runs Thursday, March 2, through Sunday, March 5.

Driving ahead - Junior guard Jamaal Tatum hits for two of his 11 points in Saturday's win over then 25th-ranked Northern Iowa at the Arena. Tatum is looking to help lead the Salukis to their first Missouri Valley Conference Tournament title since 1995 this weekend at the Savvis Center in St. Louis. Tatum, who leads the Salukis in scoring, was named all-conference honorable mention and all-academic first team Tuesday.

The Salukis, who finished 12-6 in the conference and are 19-10 overall, are looking to punch a ticket to a fifth straight NCAA tournament appearance. They face the winner of Thursday's Evansville/Illinois State game in a 6 p.m. quarterfinal game on Friday. Tournament semifinals are Saturday, with the title game at 1 p.m. Sunday. The championship game is being televised nationally by CBS.

The MVC is offering several different tournament discount ticket programs. All session tickets are $80, and individual session tickets are $26.