# 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, but fell to Connecticut in the regional semifinal round.

## 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 | 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 | 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. ||||||