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GAME NOTES: The regular season comes to a close this afternoon for the Southern Illinois Salukis and Wichita State Shockers, as the two will duke it out in a Missouri Valley Conference clash at Koch Arena.

The Salukis lost another close game on Tuesday night, as they fell to Creighton in overtime, 83-78. Of their 11 conference losses this season, eight have come by five points or less. SIU has not won on the road since upending Evansville on January 16th, as the Salukis' last four contests away from home have all resulted in defeat.

That's certainly not very comforting as they prepare to face a Wichita State squad that is undefeated at home this season (16-0). But like the Salukis, the Shockers have also lost their last four road games, including Wednesday's 75-73 setback at Bradley. Wichita State enters this final weekend tied with Illinois State for second place in the MVC standings at 11-6.

Southern Illinois holds a 46-33 lead in the all-time series. These teams met on January 31st in Carbondale, with Wichita State pulling out a 55-54 victory to snap a six-game losing streak to the Salukis. The victory also snapped the Shockers' 11-game skid at SIU Arena.

The Salukis can only look at their 6-11 conference mark and wonder what might have been, had they found a way to pull out a few of those close games. Tuesday night's loss was painfully familiar, as Creighton overcame an eight- point deficit in the final seven minutes of regulation, then pulled away in overtime. SIU was clinging to a two-point lead in the final minute of regulation, when Creighton stole an inbound pass and scored to force the extra session. Justin Bocot led four players in double figures with 21 points and seven rebounds, while Carlton Fay added 18 points in the loss. The Salukis were playing without starting point guard and leading scorer Kevin Dillard (13.0), who sat out with an ankle sprain. His status is day-to-day, and coach Chris Lowery has not hinted at Dillard's availability for this afternoon. If he is unable to go, players such as Tony Freeman (12.2) and Fay (11.9) will have to step up.

The Shockers are holding opponents to 61.4 ppg and are out-rebounding foes by an average margin of 5.0 boards per contest. Clevin Hannah and Toure Murry are both scoring 12.1 ppg to share team-high scoring honors. J.T. Durley is putting up 11.3 ppg, while he and Murry are each pulling down 5.0 rebounds per game. However, the Shockers led one slip away Wednesday night against Bradley. With the score tied 73-73, Graham Hatch had the ball stolen away with 12 seconds remaining and the Braves sank the deciding free throws on the other end. Hannah and Murry scored 15 points apiece to lead Wichita State. Durley posted 13 points and 13 rebounds, while Hatch and Garrett Stutz each scored 12 points in the loss. Overall the defense was a bit too generous, as Bradley shot 51.1 percent from the floor and knocked down 11-of-20 threes.

The Shockers have been near the top of the MVC standings all season long. But if they are to make any noise in postseason play, they'll eventually have to figure out a way to win outside of Wichita.