# 2005–06 Southern Illinois Salukis men's basketball team

The 2005–06 Southern Illinois Salukis men's basketball team represented Southern Illinois University Carbondale during the 2005–06 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Salukis were led by second-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 22–11, 12–6 in MVC play to finish tied for second in the regular season standings. The Salukis won the MVC tournament to receive an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament. Playing as the No. 11 seed in the South region, the Salukis were defeated by No. 6 seed West Virginia in the opening round.

## Schedule and results

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Exhibition ||||||
| Nov 6, 2005* 5:05 p.m. | | Missouri–St. Louis | W 89–64 | | SIU Arena Carbondale, Illinois |
| Nov 12, 2005* 1:05 p.m. | | SIU Edwardsville | W 50–31 | | SIU Arena Carbondale, Illinois |
| Non-conference regular season ||||||
| Nov 18, 2005* 7:05 p.m. | | Louisiana | W 65–47 | 1–0 | SIU Arena (6,226) Carbondale, Illinois |
| Nov 24, 2005* 11:00 p.m. | | vs. Monmouth Great Alaska Shootout | L 68–80 | 1–1 | Sullivan Arena (6,882) Anchorage, Alaska |
| Nov 25, 2005* 5:00 p.m. | | at Alaska Anchorage Great Alaska Shootout | L 64–72 | 1–2 | Sullivan Arena (5,761) Anchorage, Alaska |
| Nov 26, 2005* 1:00 p.m. | | vs. Eastern Washington Great Alaska Shootout | W 80–72 | 2–2 | Sullivan Arena (6,342) Anchorage, Alaska |
| Nov 30, 2005* 7:00 p.m. | | at Saint Louis | L 42–56 | 2–3 | Scottrade Center (8,875) St. Louis, Missouri |
| Dec 3, 2005* 3:00 p.m. | | at Wyoming | W 57–53 | 3–3 | Arena-Auditorium (5,599) Laramie, Wyoming |
| Dec 10, 2005* 7:05 p.m. | | Kent State | W 58–51 | 4–3 | SIU Arena (6,548) Carbondale, Illinois |
| Dec 18, 2005* 1:00 p.m. | | at Central Michigan | W 64–54 | 5–3 | McGuirk Arena (1,519) Mount Pleasant, Michigan |
| Dec 22, 2005* 7:05 p.m. | | Little Rock | W 67–42 | 6–3 | SIU Arena (6,476) Carbondale, Illinois |
| Dec 28, 2005* 9:00 p.m. | | at Murray State | W 57–53 | 7–3 | Regional Special Events Center (4,297) Murray, Kentucky |
| MVC Regular season ||||||
| Dec 31, 2005 2:05 p.m. | | Drake | W 64–50 | 8–3 (1–0) | SIU Arena (6,839) Carbondale, Illinois |
| Jan 2, 2006 8:05 p.m. | | Wichita State | W 58–49 | 9–3 (2–0) | SIU Arena (6,059) Carbondale, Illinois |
| Jan 5, 2006 6:05 p.m. | | at Indiana State | W 55–49 | 10–3 (3–0) | Hulman Center (3,940) Terre Haute, Indiana |
| Jan 8, 2006 2:05 p.m., ESPNU | | Bradley | W 67–55 | 11–3 (4–0) | SIU Arena (7,594) Carbondale, Illinois |
| Jan 11, 2006 7:05 p.m. | | Evansville | W 66–38 | 12–3 (5–0) | SIU Arena (5,982) Carbondale, Illinois |
| Jan 14, 2006 7:05 p.m. | | Drake | W 47–46 | 13–3 (6–0) | SIU Arena (5,829) Carbondale, Illinois |
| Jan 16, 2006 7:05 p.m. | | at Northern Iowa | L 65–71 $^{2OT}$ | 13–4 (6–1) | UNI-Dome (5,304) Cedar Falls, Iowa |
| Jan 19, 2006 7:05 p.m. | | at Missouri State | L 63–71 | 13–5 (6–2) | Hammons Student Center (7,252) Springfield, Missouri |
| Jan 22, 2006 2:05 p.m. | | Illinois State | W 56–44 | 14–5 (7–2) | SIU Arena (7,529) Carbondale, Illinois |
| Jan 24, 2006 7:05 p.m. | | Creighton | W 62–48 | 15–5 (8–2) | SIU Arena (9,004) Carbondale, Illinois |
| Jan 28, 2006 4:05 p.m. | | at Illinois State | W 65–52 | 16–5 (9–2) | Redbird Arena (7,051) Normal, Illinois |
| Feb 1, 2006 7:05 p.m. | | Indiana State | L 54–63 | 16–6 (9–3) | SIU Arena (7,289) Carbondale, Illinois |
| Feb 4, 2006 11:00 a.m. | | at Wichita State | L 63–71 $^{2OT}$ | 16–7 (9–4) | Charles Koch Arena (10,478) Wichita, Kansas |
| Feb 7, 2006 8:05 p.m. | | Missouri State | W 66–64 | 17–7 (10–4) | SIU Arena (6,848) Carbondale, Illinois |
| Feb 11, 2006 1:00 p.m. | | at Creighton | W 74–67 | 18–7 (11–4) | Qwest Center Omaha (15,552) Omaha, Nebraska |
| Feb 14, 2006 7:35 p.m., MVC-TV | | at Bradley | L 60–72 | 18–8 (11–5) | Carver Arena (9,613) Peoria, Illinois |
| Feb 18, 2006* 5:00 p.m. | | Louisiana Tech ESPN BracketBusters | L 51–54 | 18–9 | SIU Arena (9,168) Carbondale, Illinois |
| Feb 21, 2006 8:05 p.m. | | at Evansville | L 59–64 | 18–10 (11–6) | Roberts Municipal Stadium (5,118) Evansville, Indiana |
| Feb 25, 2006 1:05 p.m. | | No. 25 Northern Iowa | W 46–45 | 19–10 (12–6) | SIU Arena (9,222) Carbondale, Illinois |
| Missouri Valley tournament ||||||
| Mar 3, 2006* 6:05 p.m. | (2) | vs. (7) Evansville Quarterfinals | W 71–55 | 20–10 | Savvis Center (14,533) St. Louis, Missouri |
| Mar 4, 2006* 4:05 p.m. | (2) | vs. (6) Northern Iowa Semifinals | W 55–46 $^{OT}$ | 21–10 | Savvis Center (17,772) St. Louis, Missouri |
| Mar 5, 2006* 2:05 p.m., CBS | (2) | vs. (5) Bradley Championship game | W 59–46 | 22–10 | Savvis Center (13,969) St. Louis, Missouri |
| NCAA tournament ||||||
| Mar 17, 2006* 1:55 p.m. | (11 S) | vs. (6 S) No. 22 West Virginia First round | L 46–64 | 22–11 | Palace of Auburn Hills (18,456) Auburn Hills, Michigan |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. S=South. All times are in Central Time. ||||||