2001–02 Southern Illinois Salukis men's basketball team

The 2001–02 Southern Illinois Salukis men's basketball team represented Southern Illinois University Carbondale during the 2001–02 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Salukis were led by fourth-year head coach Bruce Weber and played their home games at the SIU Arena in Carbondale, Illinois as members of the Missouri Valley Conference. They finished the season 28–8, 14–4 in MVC play to finish tied for first place. They lost in the championship game of the MVC tournament to Creighton, but still received an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament as No. 11 seed in the East region. The Salukis upset Texas Tech and Georgia to reach the Sweet Sixteen,^[2] but fell to Connecticut in the regional semifinal round.

2001–02 Southern Illinois Salukis men's basketball
MVC Regular season champion
NCAA tournament, Sweet Sixteen
Conference	Missouri Valley Conference
Ranking
Coaches	No. 22
Record	28–8 (14–4 MVC)
Head coach	Bruce Weber (4th season)
Assistant coaches	Matt Painter Chris Lowery
Home arena	SIU Arena
Seasons ← 2000–01 2002–03 →

2001–02 Missouri Valley Conference men's basketball standings

v t e	Conf.							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
Southern Illinois	14	–	4		.778			28	–	8		.778
Creighton †	14	–	4		.778			23	–	9		.719
Illinois State	12	–	6		.667			17	–	14		.548
Southwest Missouri State	11	–	7		.611			17	–	15		.531
Wichita State	9	–	9		.500			15	–	15		.500
Drake	9	–	9		.500			14	–	15		.483
Northern Iowa	8	–	10		.444			14	–	15		.483
Bradley	5	–	13		.278			9	–	20		.310
Indiana State	4	–	14		.222			6	–	22		.214
Evansville	4	–	14		.222			7	–	21		.250
† 2002 MVC tournament winner Rankings from AP Poll[1]

Roster

2001–02 Southern Illinois Salukis men's basketball team
Players	Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Weight Year Previous school Hometown G 1 Darren Brooks 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 205 lb (93 kg) Fr Jennings St. Louis, Missouri G 3 Jamaal Tatum 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 175 lb (79 kg) Fr Helias Catholic Jefferson City, Missouri F 13 Brad Korn 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 195 lb (88 kg) So   Oswego, IL C 15 Rolan Roberts 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 240 lb (109 kg) Sr   Woodbridge, VA F 23 Jermaine Dearman 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 220 lb (100 kg) Jr   Indianapolis, IN G 33 Kent Williams 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 180 lb (82 kg) Jr   Mt. Vernon, IL	Head coach Bruce Weber (Milwaukee) Assistant coach(es) Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible (W) Walk-on Injured Current redshirt Roster

Schedule and results

Date time, TV	Rank#	Opponent#	Result	Record	Site (attendance) city, state
Non-conference regular season
Nov 16, 2001*		Belmont	W 82–71	1–0	SIU Arena  Carbondale, Illinois
Nov 19, 2001*		at Saint Louis	W 69–64	2–0	Scottrade Center  St. Louis, Missouri
Nov 22, 2001*		vs. Iowa State Las Vegas Invitational	W 66–57	3–0	Valley High School  Las Vegas, Nevada
Nov 23, 2001*		vs. Hartford Las Vegas Invitational	W 78–46	4–0	Valley High School  Las Vegas, Nevada
Nov 24, 2001*		vs. No. 2 Illinois Las Vegas Invitational	L 72–75	4–1	Valley High School  Las Vegas, Nevada
Nov 29, 2001*		Illinois-Chicago	W 76–68	5–1	SIU Arena  Carbondale, Illinois
Dec 1, 2001*		Indiana	W 72–60	6–1	SIU Arena  Carbondale, Illinois
Dec 8, 2001*		at George Mason	W 73–66	7–1	Patriot Center  Fairfax, Virginia
Dec 16, 2001*		at Cal State Northridge	W 74–60	8–1	Matadome  Northridge, California
Dec 18, 2001*		at Colorado State	L 62–80	8–2	Moby Arena  Fort Collins, Colorado
Dec 22, 2001*		Southeast Missouri State	W 92–80	9–2	SIU Arena  Carbondale, Illinois
Dec 29, 2001*		at Murray State	W 67–63	10–2	Regional Special Events Center  Murray, Kentucky
Missouri Valley regular season
Jan 2, 2002		at Evansville	W 82–72	11–2 (1–0)	Roberts Stadium  Evansville, Indiana
Jan 5, 2002		Illinois State	W 79–58	12–2 (2–0)	SIU Arena  Carbondale, Illinois
Jan 7, 2002		Missouri State	W 84–74	13–2 (3–0)	SIU Arena  Carbondale, Illinois
Jan 10, 2002		at Wichita State	L 79–88	13–3 (3–1)	Levitt Arena  Wichita, Kansas
Jan 12, 2002		Northern Iowa	W 83–58	14–3 (4–1)	SIU Arena  Carbondale, Illinois
Jan 16, 2002		at Bradley	W 55–49	15–3 (5–1)	Carver Arena  Peoria, Illinois
Jan 19, 2002		Indiana State	W 91–73	16–3 (6–1)	SIU Arena  Carbondale, Illinois
Jan 24, 2002		at Drake	W 79–64	17–3 (7–1)	Knapp Center  Des Moines, Iowa
Jan 26, 2002		at Northern Iowa	L 64–69	17–4 (7–2)	UNI-Dome  Cedar Falls, Iowa
Jan 30, 2002		Evansville	W 101–62	18–4 (8–2)	SIU Arena  Carbondale, Illinois
Feb 3, 2002		at Creighton	W 79–77	19–4 (9–2)	Omaha Civic Auditorium  Omaha, Nebraska
Feb 6, 2002		Wichita State	W 78–58	20–4 (10–2)	SIU Arena  Carbondale, Illinois
Feb 9, 2002		Drake	W 66–57	21–4 (11–2)	SIU Arena  Carbondale, Illinois
Feb 13, 2002		at Missouri State	L 71–78	21–5 (11–3)	Hammons Student Center  Springfield, Missouri
Feb 16, 2002		at Illinois State	L 70–84	21–6 (11–4)	Redbird Arena  Normal, Illinois
Feb 20, 2002		Creighton	W 65–62	22–6 (12–4)	SIU Arena  Carbondale, Illinois
Feb 23, 2002		at Indiana State	W 84–74	23–6 (13–4)	Hulman Center  Terre Haute, Indiana
Feb 25, 2002		Bradley	W 84–73	24–6 (14–4)	SIU Arena  Carbondale, Illinois
Missouri Valley tournament
Mar 2, 2002*		vs. Bradley Quarterfinals	W 66–44	25–6	Scottrade Center  St. Louis, Missouri
Mar 3, 2002*		vs. Missouri State Semifinals	W 86–63	26–6	Scottrade Center  St. Louis, Missouri
Mar 4, 2002*		vs. Creighton Championship Game	L 76–84	26–7	Scottrade Center  St. Louis, Missouri
NCAA tournament
Mar 15, 2002*	(11 E)	vs. (6 E) Texas Tech First Round	W 76–68	27–7	United Center  Chicago, Illinois
Mar 17, 2002*	(11 E)	vs. (3 E) No. 23 Georgia Second Round	W 77–75[3]	28–7	United Center  Chicago, Illinois
Mar 22, 2002*	(11 E)	vs. (2 E) No. 10 Connecticut East Regional semifinal – Sweet Sixteen	L 59–71[4]	28–8	Carrier Dome (29,252) Syracuse, New York
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. E=East. All times are in Central Time.

Rankings

Main article: 2001–02 NCAA Division I men's basketball rankings