2002–03 Southern Illinois Salukis men's basketball team

The 2002–03 Southern Illinois Salukis men's basketball team represented Southern Illinois University Carbondale during the 2002–03 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Salukis were led by fifth-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 24–7, 16–2 in MVC play to finish as regular season champion. 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 Midwest region. The Salukis fell to No. 6 seed Missouri in the opening round.

2002–03 Southern Illinois Salukis men's basketball
MVC Regular season champion
NCAA tournament, First Round
Conference	Missouri Valley Conference
Record	24–7 (16–2 MVC)
Head coach	Bruce Weber (5th season)
Assistant coaches	Matt Painter Chris Lowery
Home arena	SIU Arena
Seasons ← 2001–02 2003–04 →

2002–03 Missouri Valley Conference men's basketball standings

v t e	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
Southern Illinois	16	–	2		.889			24	–	7		.774
No. 15 Creighton †	15	–	3		.833			29	–	5		.853
Wichita State	12	–	6		.667			18	–	12		.600
Southwest Missouri State	12	–	6		.667			17	–	12		.586
Evansville	8	–	10		.444			12	–	16		.429
Bradley	8	–	10		.444			12	–	18		.400
Northern Iowa	7	–	11		.389			11	–	17		.393
Drake	5	–	13		.278			10	–	20		.333
Illinois State	5	–	13		.278			8	–	21		.276
Indiana State	2	–	16		.111			7	–	24		.226
† 2003 MVC tournament winner Rankings from AP Poll^[1]

Roster

2002–03 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) So Jennings St. Louis, Missouri F 13 Brad Korn 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 195 lb (88 kg) Jr   Oswego, IL C 21 Josh Warren 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 255 lb (116 kg) So   Washington, MO 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 24, 2002*		George Mason	W 83–74	1–0	SIU Arena  Carbondale, Illinois
Nov 27, 2002*		Colorado State	W 83–71	2–0	SIU Arena  Carbondale, Illinois
Dec 3, 2002*		Murray State	W 85–56	3–0	SIU Arena  Carbondale, Illinois
Dec 7, 2002*		at Southeast Missouri State	W 85–69	4–0	Show Me Center  Cape Girardeau, Missouri
Dec 14, 2002*		at Illinois-Chicago	L 71–73	4–1	UIC Pavilion  Chicago, Illinois
Dec 18, 2002*		at Charlotte	L 67–80	4–2	Dale F. Halton Arena  Charlotte, North Carolina
Dec 22, 2002*		Cal State Northridge	W 86–74	5–2	SIU Arena  Carbondale, Illinois
Dec 28, 2002*		at Saint Louis	L 60–71	5–3	Savvis Center  St. Louis, Missouri
Missouri Valley regular season
Jan 2, 2003		Drake	W 76–63	6–3 (1–0)	SIU Arena  Carbondale, Illinois
Jan 4, 2003		Illinois State	W 74–65	7–3 (2–0)	SIU Arena  Carbondale, Illinois
Jan 8, 2003		at Evansville	W 90–84	8–3 (3–0)	Roberts Stadium  Evansville, Indiana
Jan 11, 2003		at Indiana State	W 69–61	9–3 (4–0)	Hulman Center  Terre Haute, Indiana
Jan 15, 2003		Wichita State	W 69–64	10–3 (5–0)	SIU Arena  Carbondale, Illinois
Jan 18, 2003		at No. 13 Creighton	L 76–85	10–4 (5–1)	Omaha Civic Auditorium  Omaha, Nebraska
Jan 22, 2003		at Northern Iowa	W 88–78 ^OT	11–4 (6–1)	UNI-Dome  Cedar Falls, Iowa
Jan 25, 2003		Indiana State	W 60–48	12–4 (7–1)	SIU Arena  Carbondale, Illinois
Jan 29, 2003		Bradley	W 75–72	13–4 (8–1)	SIU Arena  Carbondale, Illinois
Feb 1, 2003		at Wichita State	W 94–59	14–4 (9–1)	Kansas Coliseum  Wichita, Kansas
Feb 6, 2003		at Drake	W 65–64	15–4 (10–1)	Knapp Center  Des Moines, Iowa
Feb 8, 2003		at Missouri State	W 76–75	16–4 (11–1)	Hammons Student Center  Springfield, Missouri
Feb 13, 2003		Northern Iowa	W 72–61	17–4 (12–1)	SIU Arena  Carbondale, Illinois
Feb 15, 2003		at Bradley	L 73–77 ^OT	17–5 (12–2)	Carver Arena  Peoria, Illinois
Feb 19, 2003		Missouri State	W 74–69	18–5 (13–2)	SIU Arena  Carbondale, Illinois
Feb 22, 2003*		UW–Milwaukee Bracket Buster	W 66–64	19–5	SIU Arena  Carbondale, Illinois
Feb 26, 2003		Evansville	W 76–64	20–5 (14–2)	SIU Arena  Carbondale, Illinois
Mar 1, 2003		No. 17 Creighton	W 70–62	21–5 (15–2)	SIU Arena  Carbondale, Illinois
Mar 3, 2003		at Illinois State	W 78–62	22–5 (16–2)	Redbird Arena  Normal, Illinois
Missouri Valley tournament
Mar 8, 2003*		vs. Illinois State Quarterfinals	W 75–63	23–5	Savvis Center  St. Louis, Missouri
Mar 9, 2003*		vs. Missouri State Semifinals	W 64–55	24–5	Savvis Center  St. Louis, Missouri
Mar 10, 2003*		vs. No. 19 Creighton Championship game	L 56–80	24–6	Savvis Center  St. Louis, Missouri
NCAA tournament
Mar 20, 2003*	(11 MW)	vs. (6 MW) No. 24 Missouri First round	L 71–72^[2]	24–7	RCA Dome  Indianapolis, Indiana
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. MW=Midwest. All times are in Central Time.

Rankings

Main article: 2002–03 NCAA Division I men's basketball rankings

^[3]

References

1. sports-reference.com 2002-03 Missouri Valley Conference Season Summary
2. "Missouri Gets a Foul Victory". The Los Angeles Times. March 21, 2003. Retrieved February 26, 2023.
3. ESPN College Basketball Encyclopedia: The Complete History of the Men's Game. Random House. 2009. pp. 1119–1120. ISBN 978-0-345-51392-2.