SIUE Men's Basketball 2013-14 Schedule Released

EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. – SIUE men's basketball Head Coach has announced the Cougars' 2013-2014 schedule. The Cougars will play a total of 30 regular season games, with 15 games at home at the Vadalabene Center, including an exhibition matchup to start the season Nov. 4 against Greenville.

"We have put together a challenging schedule," SIUE Head Coach Lennox Forrester said. "The nonconference schedule is one that will help us be prepared for conference play."

After opening the regular season on the road Nov. 8 at SEC member Arkansas, SIUE's first regular season home game will see the Cougars play host to Saint Louis, Wednesday, Nov. 13. It is the first-ever visit to Edwardsville for the Billikens. Three days later the Cougars will welcome Central Arkansas in a return game from last year's Bracket Buster matchup.

The Cougars next travel to the west coast for a four-game trip. SIUE participates in the Portland State Tournament Nov. 22-24, where the Cougars will meet host Portland State, UC Davis and Loyola-Chicago. SIUE wraps up the trip with a visit to Oregon State Nov. 26.

"We will play three games in three days in the tournament," Forrester said. "We want to be playing back-to-back-to-back days in the OVC Tournament. Playing this tournament style gives our guys an idea of what to expect."

Home games with Texas-Pan American (Dec. 2) and Central Michigan (Dec. 7) follow the west coast trip. SIUE also visits Chicago State (Dec. 16) and SIU Carbondale (Dec. 23) before completing the calendar year with a home game against Robert Morris-Springfield (Dec. 29).

The nonconference schedule features 12 games against schools from 10 different NCAA Division I conferences.

"We have teams from the SEC to the Missouri Valley to the Pac 12," Forrester added. "Our guys are going to see a lot of different levels of competition."

The Ohio Valley Conference season begins with back-to-back home games against Morehead State (Jan. 2) and Eastern Kentucky (Jan. 4). The Cougars also have OVC home games with Austin Peay (Jan. 16), Murray State (Jan. 18), Southeast Missouri (Feb. 6), UT Martin (Feb. 8), Belmont (Feb. 26), and Eastern Illinois (Mar. 1).

The conference road slate includes games at Jacksonville State (Jan. 9), Tennessee Tech (Jan. 11), Southeast Missouri (Jan. 23), UT Martin (Jan. 25), Eastern Illinois (Feb. 1), Murray State (Feb. 13), Austin Peay (Feb. 15), and Tennessee State (Feb. 25).

The OVC Tournament takes place at Municipal Auditorium in Nashville, Tenn., Mar. 5-8. The top eight teams in the conference will participate in the tournament.

"We have to be ready every night," Forrester added. "There are no easy games. The nonconference schedule prepares us for the conference schedule, which prepares us for the OVC tournament."

Game times and television schedule will be announced at a later date.

Season tickets are on sale for the 2013-2014 season, with good lower-level chair back seats still available. Information on season tickets is available by calling the SIUE ticket office at 855-SIUE-TIX.