 He started in the spring of 2004 and was fired on March 2, 2012.Born in Evansville, Indiana, Lowery played at Southern Illinois starting in 1990 and later became an assistant coach, eventually serving under Bruce Weber at Southern Illinois and moving with him to Illinois after the 2002–03 season.On April 9, 2004, Lowery was named the head coach of Southern Illinois men's basketball team after Matt Painter left to become an associate head coach/head coach designate to Gene Keady at Purdue University.