The Daily Egyptian is published by the students of SIU at Carbondale. Except during vacations and exam weeks, The Daily Egyptian is published Monday through Friday during the fall and spring semesters and TWThF during the summer semester."

Owen busts out, cashes in

Last season, the Missouri Valley Conference recognized LaMar Owen on three occasions -Sixth Man of the Year, All-Newcomer Team and All-Bench Team.

And on Monday, for the first time in his career, Owen was named the MVC Player of the Week.

The senior forward led SIU with a career-high 21 points in its 67-53 win against Vanderbilt. Owen also pulled down 10 rebounds against the Commodores for the third double-double of his career.

Owen is averaging 13.3 points and seven rebounds a game through the first four games of the season as a starter. He tallied 8.4 points and 4.3 rebounds a game in 18 minutes of action off the bench last season.

Changing places

SIU moved up three spots to No. 28 in the AP Poll after wins against Augustana, Tennessee State, Vanderbilt and Texas El-Paso in the Las Vegas Invitational.

The Salukis' earned the highest ranking in school history March 1, 2004 when they were ranked No. 15 in both the AP and Coaches polls.

NCAA making life hard for mid-majors

Two weeks ago, the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals reversed a ruling that would have eliminated the NCAA's two-in-four rule, which prohibits schools from participating in more than two exempt tournaments in a four-year span.

Division I programs are limited to 28 regular-season games, but can compete in more games by playing in exempt tournaments, which count as one game against the NCAA limit.

The Las Vegas Invitational is an exempt tournament, and although SIU played four games the invitational counts as just one game against its schedule.

The ruling severely limits the chances a mid-major program has to face the top programs in the nation.

Saluki wins against Vanderbilt and Texas El-Paso may never have had a chance to materialize if it weren't for exempt tournaments.

"It's either play them on a neutral floor in a tournament or play at their place," said assistant men's basketball coach Shane Hawkins.

"Mid-majors are definitely pushing for it."

A new dimension

Fans who saw the Salukis crush Augustana and Tennessee State last week may have noticed a couple of additions to the already symbol-laced court.

The NCAA experimented with a wider free-throw lane and increased the distance of the three-point line in exempt tournaments.

The lane was widened from 12 feet to 15 feet with an NBA-style charge circle under the basket. The three-point line was pushed back to 20.5 feet from the usual 19-feet-9-inches to give players a better route to the basket and limit the physicality under the basket.

The rule changes had little, if any, effect on the Salukis, especially sophomore guard Jamaal Tatum. Tatum has connected on 60 percent of his three-pointers this season, including a 5-for-8 shooting clinic against Tennessee State last Tuesday.

Before the season started, head coach Chris Lowery was worried about the three-second violations and other mishaps as a result of the wider lane, but the Saluki big men had no problems adjusting to the temporary adjustments.

"We've been using it in practice," said Matt Shaw after scoring 13 points and grabbing four rebounds against Augustana.

"It could be a little better for the big men, but overall I don't think it affects us too much."