Southern Illinois-Edwardsville At Eastern Tonight

Eastern Illinois University (5-10, 2-6)

Tue., Jan. 26, 7 p.m.

Charleston, Illinois.

WINTER BREAK

SIUE played Dec. 18 at Morehead State and then not again until Thursday at Tennessee State, making 33 full days between games. In that time, nine games were postponed. All of those games have been rescheduled. LAST GAME

Belmont opened on a 13-0 run and never looked back, handing SIUE its first Ohio Valley Conference defeat, 114-62 Saturday at Curb Event Center. SIUE got as close as 13-5, before Belmont pushed the lead to double digits and never had less than a 10-point lead from that point forward. The Bruins had a 10-0 run and two other 9-0 runs in the first half. Belmont led 56-22 at half, and continued to push the lead in the second half, ballooning the advantage to as many as 57. The Cougars shot 42 percent from the field and were led by Iziah James in scoring. James scored a season-high 12 points on three triples and three free throws.

GAUNTLET

Tonight's game begins a stretch of nine games over the next 14 days. SIUE is schedlued to play 14 games in the month of February.

BARONE SIGNED THROUGH 2024

On September 3, SIUE Director of Athletics Tim Hall announced the option on Head Coach Brian Barone's contract had been picked up, extending Barone

through the 2023-2024 season.

BARONE'S PEDIGREE

Brian's father is the late Tony Barone, Sr., who played at Duke before beginning his coaching career. After stops at Duke and Bradley as an assistant, Tony

was the head coach at Creighton (1985-91) and Texas A&M (1991-1998). He also coached the NBA's Memphis Grizzlies during the 2006-07 season.

BLOCK PARTY

With 11 blocks against UHSP, SIUE matched the school record, set in 2006 against Illinois Tech. At 5.8 blocks per game, the Cougars lead the OVC and are fifth nationally. Lamar Wright is second in the OVC at 1.67 blocks per game.