# 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.

## 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 | 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. ||||||