# 2003–04 Southern Illinois Salukis men's basketball team

The 2003–04 Southern Illinois Salukis men's basketball team represented Southern Illinois University Carbondale during the 2003–04 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Salukis were led by first-year head coach Matt Painter and played their home games at the SIU Arena in Carbondale, Illinois as members of the Missouri Valley Conference. They finished the season 25–5, 17–1 in MVC play to finish as regular season champion. They lost in the semifinals of the MVC tournament to Missouri State, but did receive an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament as No. 9 seed in the West region. The Salukis fell to No. 8 seed Alabama, 65–64, in the opening round.

## Schedule and results

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Non-conference regular season ||||||
| Nov 22, 2003* | | at Wyoming | W 67–62 | 1–0 | Arena-Auditorium Laramie, Wyoming |
| Nov 26, 2003* | | Jacksonville State | W 84–49 | 2–0 | SIU Arena Carbondale, Illinois |
| Nov 29, 2003* | | at Milwaukee | W 81–77 | 3–0 | U.S. Cellular Arena Milwaukee, Wisconsin |
| Dec 3, 2003* | | Southeast Missouri State | W 71–58 | 4–0 | SIU Arena Carbondale, Illinois |
| Dec 6, 2003 | | at Drake | W 75–66 | 5–0 (1–0) | Knapp Center Des Moines, Iowa |
| Dec 15, 2003* | | at Wright State | W 79–73 | 6–0 | Ervin J. Nutter Center Fairborn, Ohio |
| Dec 17, 2003* | | at Murray State | L 64–68 | 6–1 | Regional Special Events Center Murray, Kentucky |
| Dec 21, 2003* | | Montana | W 82–71 | 7–1 | SIU Arena Carbondale, Illinois |
| Missouri Valley regular season ||||||
| Dec 28, 2003 | | Illinois State | W 57–40 | 8–1 (2–0) | SIU Arena Carbondale, Illinois |
| Jan 2, 2004* | | Charlotte | L 59–64 | 8–2 | SIU Arena Carbondale, Illinois |
| Jan 7, 2004 | | at Indiana State | W 67–50 | 9–2 (3–0) | Hulman Center Terre Haute, Indiana |
| Jan 11, 2004 | | Wichita State | W 73–64 | 10–2 (4–0) | SIU Arena Carbondale, Illinois |
| Jan 14, 2004 | | Evansville | W 81–63 | 11–2 (5–0) | SIU Arena Carbondale, Illinois |
| Jan 17, 2004 | | at Bradley | W 72–62 | 12–2 (6–0) | Carver Arena Peoria, Illinois |
| Jan 21, 2004 | | at Illinois State | W 71–58 | 13–2 (7–0) | Redbird Arena Normal, Illinois |
| Jan 25, 2004 | | Indiana State | W 53–44 | 14–2 (8–0) | SIU Arena Carbondale, Illinois |
| Jan 28, 2004 | | at Wichita State | W 84–79 | 15–2 (9–0) | Charles Koch Arena Wichita, Kansas |
| Jan 31, 2004 | | Northern Iowa | W 63–53 | 16–2 (10–0) | SIU Arena Carbondale, Illinois |
| Feb 3, 2004 | | Missouri State | W 59–52 | 17–2 (11–0) | SIU Arena Carbondale, Illinois |
| Feb 7, 2004* | | at Creighton | W 61–60 | 18–2 (12–0) | Qwest Center Omaha Omaha, Nebraska |
| Feb 11, 2004 | No. 23 | Drake | W 96–76 | 19–2 (13–0) | SIU Arena Carbondale, Illinois |
| Feb 14, 2004 | No. 23 | at Missouri State | W 59–58 | 20–2 (14–0) | Hammons Student Center Springfield, Missouri |
| Feb 18, 2004 | No. 20 | at Evansville | W 84–69 | 21–2 (15–0) | Roberts Municipal Stadium Evansville, Indiana |
| Feb 21, 2004* | No. 20 | Hawaii | W 66–62 | 22–2 | SIU Arena Carbondale, Illinois |
| Feb 24, 2004 | No. 16 | Creighton | W 68–60 | 23–2 (16–0) | SIU Arena Carbondale, Illinois |
| Feb 28, 2004 | No. 16 | Bradley | W 72–71 | 24–2 (17–0) | SIU Arena Carbondale, Illinois |
| Mar 1, 2004 | No. 15 | at Northern Iowa | L 52–68 | 24–3 (17–1) | UNI-Dome Cedar Falls, Iowa |
| Missouri Valley tournament ||||||
| Mar 6, 2004* | No. 15 | vs. Evansville Quarterfinals | W 93–67 | 25–3 | Savvis Center St. Louis, Missouri |
| Mar 7, 2004* | No. 15 | vs. Missouri State Semifinals | L 74–80 | 25–4 | Savvis Center St. Louis, Missouri |
| NCAA tournament ||||||
| Mar 18, 2004* | (9 W) No. 23 | vs. (8 W) Alabama First round | L 64–65 | 25–5 | KeyArena Seattle, Washington |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. W=West. All times are in Central Time. ||||||

## Awards and honors

* Darren Brooks – MVC Player of the Year
* Matt Painter – MVC Coach of the Year (second of three straight season a different Saluki head coach received the honor – Bruce Weber (2003) and Chris Lowery (2005))