Salukis look for seventh NCAA tourney bid

The SIUC men's basketball team looks for a seventh straight NCAA tournament bid as it heads to the Missouri Valley Conference tourney and Arch Madness this weekend.

Driving it home - Saluki senior forward Randal Falker goes up for two points against Illinois State Saturday night. Falker and the rest of the Salukis look to garner a seventh-straight NCAA tournament bid this weekend at the Missouri Valley Conference tournament in St. Louis. On Tuesday, Falker was named all-conference first team, while Bryan Mullins earned the league's Defensive Player of the Year award, and all-conference second -team honors. Falker and Mullins also each earned all-defensive team honors.

Tickets remain for the 2008 State Farm/Missouri Valley Conference men's basketball tournament at the Scottrade Center in St. Louis. The tournament runs Thursday, March 6, through Sunday, March 9.

The Salukis — 17-13 overall — finished third in the conference this season. Some bracketology predictions place the Salukis as a “bubble” team for making the 65-team NCAA field, requiring a long conference tournament run. The 65-team field will be announced Sunday, March 16.

SIU faces Northern Iowa in the final quarterfinal game at 8:35 p.m. on Friday. Tournament semifinals are Saturday, with the title game at 1 p.m. Sunday. The championship game is being televised by CBS.

The Salukis lost to Northern Iowa, 68-63, in Cedar Falls, Iowa on Feb. 2, but beat them by 20 points, 67-47, at the SIU Arena on Feb. 20.

The quarterfinal and semifinal games will be shown on FSN Midwest and Comcast Sportsnet Chicago.