Salukis approach top-seeded KU with respect, confidence

~ Southern Illinois hopes to reach its first Elite Eight on Thursday.

ST. LOUIS -- The Southern Illinois Salukis have shed the label of NCAA tournament upstarts.

Making their sixth consecutive NCAA appearance, the Salukis are a win away from reaching the round of eight for the first time. Standing in the way is a date with top-seeded Kansas in the West Regional in San Jose Calif., on Thursday night.

SIU's Jamaal Tatum said the fourth-seeded Salukis aren't done changing perceptions.

"There's plenty more respect to come," Tatum said during a conference call Monday, a day after Southern advanced with a 63-48 victory over Virginia Tech. "We think we can make a big run still. I think we're a great team and have the caliber of players to get us to another level in the tournament.

"We're not going to surprise ourselves; we have high expectations."

Tatum has a healthy respect for the Jayhawks (32-4), who rolled past Kentucky on Sunday for their 13th-straight win and a chance to match their depth and balance against the Salukis' tenacious defense.

Southern Illinois is third in the nation, allowing 56.1 points a game.

But "we can't worry about how much talent they have or how many players they might have capable of going to the NBA," Tatum said. "We have to come out and set the tone of the game and not be intimidated."

Said Tony Young, Tatum's senior backcourt mate: "We're going to have to guard them and slow them in transition if we're going to have any chance."

The Salukis (29-6) have won 15 of 16 games and set a school record for victories in a season.

"Right now, we're worried about us," said Salukis coach Chris Lowery, the youngest coach in the tournament at 34.

Kansas should expect a heavy dose of Southern Illinois' in-your-face defense, which held Virginia Tech to its lowest output of the season and just 2-of-13 shooting from 3-point range. Offensively, the Salukis matched a season-high with 12 3-pointers on 21 attempts.

Jayhawks coach Bill Self called SIU "as tough as any team in America."

"I know enough to know they make it hard to score," Self said after the Jayhawks dispatched Kentucky and improved to 20-0 this season when they score at least 80 points. "They love grind-it-out games."

Whether Southern Illinois has the services of its third-leading scorer, junior forward Matt Shaw, against Kansas is another question. Shaw sat out Sunday -- his first missed start in 83 games -- with an ankle sprain sustained in the first round against Holy Cross.

Shaw's status Thursday remained murky.

There's nothing unclear about how Southern Illinois will approach the Jayhawks.

"We really have to go in expecting to play hard, expecting to play defense, expecting to dive on the floor and get loose balls," Young said. "All the little things to win games."