WICHITA, Kan. – The Southern Illinois University Edwardsville (SIUE) Cougars are gearing up for a big moment in their historic season: Their first-ever NCAA March Madness tournament.
SIUE (a 16-seed) will take on the college basketball powerhouse Houston Cougars (a 1-seed) in their tournament debut Thursday afternoon.
How To Watch
Matchup: SIUE (16) vs. Houston (1) – Midwest Region
- Scheduled game time: 1 p.m. CT (Thursday, March 20)
- TV Channel: TBS
- Streaming: NCAA March Madness Live (website or app), Sling TV or YouTube TV
- Venue: INTRUST Bank Arena (Wichita, Kansas)
- Tickets: Starting at $9 before fees via Ticketmaster.
What To Know
It’s been a historic season for SIUE, which won its first Ohio Valley Conference Championship title on March 8 to secure its first trip to the NCAA Tournament. The Cougars finished 22-11 in their sixth season under head coach Brian Barone.
SIUE graduate guard, Ray’Sean Taylor, was recently named OV Player of the Year and became the program’s all-time scoring leader with 1,952 points over his career. Brian Taylor II and Ring Malif are considered the team’s top playmakers after Taylor.
SIUE’s success this season has been fueled by strong three-point shooting and disciplined ball control, two factors that will be crucial if they hope to pull off an upset against top-seeded Houston.
While getting to the NCAA tournament is a big accomplishment for SIUE, history is not on its side. March Madness No. 1 seeds hold a near-perfect 154-2 record all-time against No. 16 seeds, a challenge SIUE will need to embrace regardless of the first-round result.