SIU opens second half of MVC play at Bradley

The Southern Illinois men's basketball team starts the second half of the Missouri Valley Conference season with a Saturday afternoon game at Bradley. Tip off is set for 1 p.m. and the game will be broadcast on CBS Sports Network. The Salukis need a win to earn a season split with Bradley for a third-straight season.

Southern Illinois (11-11, 4-5 MVC) at Bradley (11-11, 3-6 MVC) || Saturday, February 2 || 1 p.m. || Peoria Ill. (Carver Arena)

Watch » CBS Sports Network with John Sadak and Tim Doyle
Listen » Saluki Sports Network with Mike Reis and (Stream available through TuneIn)
Live Stats » via Bradley
Game Notes » Southern Illinois (PDF)
Twitter » @SIU_Basketball

THE RUNDOWN

Southern Illinois travels to Bradley for a 1 p.m. game on Saturday, February 2. The game will be broadcast nationally on CBS Sports Network.
Bradley won the first meeting between the programs this season, 57-54 in Carbondale. The teams have split the season series in four of the last five seasons. BU hasn't swept the season series from SIU since 2013.
Armon Fletcher is coming off a 34-point performance against Indiana State, the most by any MVC player this year, and the most by a Saluki in an MVC game since Troy Hudson had 39 at Indiana State in 1996.
Salukis in the MVC individual rankings (all games)...
- 1st - Kavion Pippen in blocks (1.82)
- 1st - Eric McGill in steals (1.70)
- 2nd - Aaron Cook in minutes (721)
- 3rd - Cook in assists (3.8)
- 4th - Thik Bol in blocks (1.37)
Salukis in the MVC team rankings (all games)...
- 1st in blocks (4.4)
- 1st in 3-point FG% (.383)
- 2nd in fewest fouls (15.1)
- 2nd in FG% defense (.425)
- 2nd in offensive rebounds (9.27)
- 2nd in steals (7.0)

GAME PREVIEW

Southern Illinois travels to the Bradley for the first of two-straight road games. SIU-BU will tip off at 1 p.m. CT and will be broadcast nationally on CBS Sports Network.
Bradley leads the all-time series, 49-46.
Bradley has won three of its last four games overall, which started with a win over SIU on January 20 at SIU Arena.
The Braves are led by Darrell Brown (14.1 ppg) and Elijah Childs (11.8 ppg). Brown had 16 points and shot 4-of-6 from the 3-point line in the first game. Childs had 12 points and 7 rebounds.

FLETCH'S NIGHT

SIU senior Armon Fletcher scored a career-high 34 points in the 88-73 win over Indiana State on Wednesday...
- Most points by any Saluki since Carlton Fay scored 38 in 2010
- Most points by a Saluki in an MVC game since Troy Hudson had 35 against Wichita State in 1996
- Tied for fourth-most by a Saluki in SIU Arena in the past 30 seasons
Fletcher led SIU to 88 points and 22 assists, both the most points and most assists for SIU in a conference game since Feb. 2, 2005 at Bradley (89 points, 24 assists).

DAWG BITES

Saluki Athletics donated more than 3,500 hours of community service to Carbondale and the surrounding area during Fall 2018, which ranked second in the nation. Notably, the SIU swimming and diving program donated more than 1,100 hours of community service.
Three recent Salukis are playing professional basketball. Anthony Beane, Jr., is playing in Latvia. Sean O'Brien is playing in the Czech Republic; and Mike Rodriguez is playing in Iceland.
SIU overcame a 21-point deficit to beat Northern Iowa on January 23, the fifth-largest deficit overcome in MVC history. Notably, SIU head coach Barry Hinson has been the head coach for three of the top-seven comebacks in league history. When Hinson was head coach at Missouri State, his Bears overcame a 22-point deficit to beat Winthrop and a 23-point deficit to beat Southern Illinois.
Since the start of the 2015-16 season, SIU is 41-3 (.930) when scoring 75 points or more.
SIU has won 19 consecutive games when scoring 75+ points. SIU is 8-0 this year and was 9-0 last year. SIU's last loss when scoring 75+ was January 18, 2017 (L, 88-84 at Drake).
SIU has outscored opponents in the second half in 16 of the last 20 games. On the season, SIU has outscored opponents by 119 points in the second half.
Since the start of the 2017-18 season, Southern Illinois is 23-5 when holding an opponent under 70 points (8-4 in 2018-19).
SIU held UNI to 31.5 percent shooting on Jan 5., marking SIU's best defensive effort against an MVC team since Feb. 25, 2009 at Drake.
SIU scored 88 points and had 22 assists against Indiana State on January 30. Each was the most for SIU in an MVC game since Feb. 2, 2005 at Bradley (89 points and 24 assists).
Southern Illinois shot 60.7 percent in its win against Indiana State, marking the second-best performance in a league game for the Salukis in the past 10 seasons (.638 vs. MSU on 1/27/18) and the third-best in the MVC this season.

For a complete set of game notes in PDF format, click here.

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Players Mentioned

Thik Bol

Aaron Cook Jr.

Armon Fletcher

Eric McGill

Sean O'Brien

Kavion Pippen

Mike Rodriguez

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