# 2004–05 Southern Illinois Salukis men's basketball team

The 2004–05 Southern Illinois Salukis men's basketball team represented Southern Illinois University Carbondale during the 2004–05 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Salukis were led by first-year head coach Chris Lowery and played their home games at the SIU Arena in Carbondale, Illinois as members of the Missouri Valley Conference. They finished the season 27–8, 15–3 in MVC play to finish atop the regular season standings. The Salukis were eliminated in the semifinal round of the MVC tournament, but received an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament as No. 7 seed in the Chicago region. The Salukis defeated No. 10 seed Saint Mary's before falling to No. 2 seed Oklahoma State in the round of 32.

## Schedule and results

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Regular season ||||||
| Nov 21, 2004* | | Augustana (IL) | W 83–59 | 1–0 | SIU Arena Carbondale, Illinois |
| Nov 23, 2004* | | Tennessee State | W 83–60 | 2–0 | SIU Arena Carbondale, Illinois |
| Nov 26, 2004* | | vs. Vanderbilt | W 67–53 | 3–0 | Valley High School Las Vegas, Nevada |
| Nov 27, 2004* | | vs. UTEP | W 68–62 | 4–0 | Valley High School Las Vegas, Nevada |
| Nov 29, 2004* | | at Hawaii | L 64–66 | 4–1 | Stan Sheriff Center Honolulu, Hawaii |
| Dec 7, 2004* | | at Little Rock | L 53–70 | 4–2 | Alltel Arena Little Rock, Arkansas |
| Dec 11, 2004* | | Murray State | W 80–71 | 5–2 | SIU Arena Carbondale, Illinois |
| Dec 14, 2004* | | Wright State | W 54–42 | 6–2 | SIU Arena Carbondale, Illinois |
| Dec 18, 2004* | | at Southeast Missouri State | W 72–68 | 7–2 | Show Me Center Cape Girardeau, Missouri |
| Dec 21, 2004* | | Saint Louis | W 67–41 | 8–2 | SIU Arena Carbondale, Illinois |
| Dec 23, 2004 | | Illinois State | W 61–49 | 9–2 (1–0) | SIU Arena Carbondale, Illinois |
| Dec 30, 2004* | | Wyoming | W 81–69 | 10–2 | SIU Arena Carbondale, Illinois |
| Jan 2, 2005* | | Drake | W 51–45 | 11–2 (2–0) | SIU Arena Carbondale, Illinois |
| Jan 5, 2005* | | at Louisiana-Lafayette | L 61–63 | 11–3 | Cajundome Lafayette, Louisiana |
| Jan 9, 2005 | | at Creighton | W 69–63 | 12–3 (3–0) | Qwest Center Omaha Omaha, Nebraska |
| Jan 12, 2005 | | at Evansville | W 69–57 | 13–3 (4–0) | Roberts Stadium Evansville, Indiana |
| Jan 15, 2005 | | Southwest Missouri State | W 61–60 | 14–3 (5–0) | SIU Arena Carbondale, Illinois |
| Jan 19, 2005 | | Bradley | W 67–59 | 15–3 (6–0) | SIU Arena Carbondale, Illinois |
| Jan 22, 2005 | | at Wichita State | L 56–58 | 15–4 (6–1) | Charles Koch Arena Wichita, Kansas |
| Jan 26, 2005 | | at Southwest Missouri State | L 77–92 | 15–5 (6–2) | Hammons Student Center Springfield, Missouri |
| Jan 29, 2005 | | Evansville | W 79–55 | 16–5 (7–2) | SIU Arena Carbondale, Illinois |
| Feb 2, 2005 | | at Bradley | W 89–73 | 17–5 (8–2) | Carver Arena Peoria, Illinois |
| Feb 5, 2005 | | at Northern Iowa | L 61–67 | 17–6 (8–3) | UNI-Dome Cedar Falls, Iowa |
| Feb 7, 2005 | | at Drake | W 58–57 | 18–6 (9–3) | Knapp Center Des Moines, Iowa |
| Feb 9, 2005 | | Indiana State | W 64–53 | 19–6 (10–3) | SIU Arena Carbondale, Illinois |
| Feb 12, 2005 | | Creighton | W 71–67 | 20–6 (11–3) | SIU Arena Carbondale, Illinois |
| Feb 16, 2005 | | at Illinois State | W 66–59 | 21–6 (12–3) | Redbird Arena Normal, Illinois |
| Feb 19, 2005* | | at Kent State | W 65–54 | 22–6 | Memorial Athletic and Convocation Center Kent, Ohio |
| Feb 23, 2005 | | Northern Iowa | W 76–69 | 23–6 (13–3) | SIU Arena Carbondale, Illinois |
| Feb 26, 2005 | | Wichita State | W 65–55 | 24–6 (14–3) | SIU Arena Carbondale, Illinois |
| Feb 28, 2005 | | at Indiana State | W 60–52 | 25–6 (15–3) | Hulman Center Terre Haute, Indiana |
| Missouri Valley tournament ||||||
| Mar 5, 2005* | | vs. Indiana State Quarterfinals | W 64–49 | 26–6 | Scottrade Center St. Louis, Missouri |
| Mar 6, 2005* | | vs. Southwest Missouri State Semifinals | L 61–65 | 26–7 | Scottrade Center St. Louis, Missouri |
| NCAA tournament ||||||
| Mar 18, 2005* | (7 CHI) | vs. (10 CHI) Saint Mary's First Round | W 65–56 | 27–7 | Ford Center Oklahoma City, OK |
| Mar 20, 2005* | (7 CHI) | vs. (2 CHI) No. 6 Oklahoma State Second Round | L 77–85 | 27–8 | Ford Center Oklahoma City, OK |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. CHI=Chicago. All times are in Central Time. ||||||

## Awards and honors

* Darren Brooks – MVC Player of the Year (second time)
* Chris Lowery – MVC Coach of the Year (third straight season a different Saluki head coach received the honor – Bruce Weber and Matt Painter)