Salukis host Evansville on Saturday night

Calendar

Dec 10

7 PM

Men's Basketball

UT Martin

Carbondale, IL

Dec 13

5 PM (CST)

Men's Basketball

University of Richmond

Richmond, VA

Dec 18

8:00 PM

Men's Basketball

Illinois State University

Carbondale, IL

Dec 21

TBD

Men's Basketball

Bradley University

Peoria, IL

Dec 29

TBD

Men's Basketball

Murray State

Murray, KY

Jan 1

2:00 PM

Men's Basketball

Valparaiso University

Carbondale, IL

Jan 4

4:00 PM

Men's Basketball

Belmont University

Nashville, TN

Jan 7

TBD

Men's Basketball

UIC

Chicago, IL

The Southern Illinois men's basketball team hosts Evansville for a Saturday night game at 7 p.m. in SIU Arena. The Salukis and Aces are meeting for the first time this year.

Southern Illinois (12-12, 5-6 MVC) vs. Evansville (10-14, 4-7 MVC) || Saturday, February 9 || 7 p.m. || Carbondale, Ill. (SIU Arena)

Tickets » SIUSalukis.com/tickets or call 877-SALUKIS
Watch » ESPN3 with Darren Kinnard and Mike Trude
Listen » Saluki Sports Network with Mike Reis and Connor Onion (Stream available through TuneIn)
Stats » SIUSalukis.com/MBB/LiveStats
Game Notes » Southern Illinois (PDF)
Coach Hinson Press Conference » Watch on YouTube

THE RUNDOWN

Southern Illinois hosts Evansville on Saturday night at 7 p.m., the first meeting between the Salukis and Aces this year.
Kavion Pippen is coming off a 24-point, 10-rebound game at Missouri State. Pippen tied his career high with 24 points.
In the last two games, Pippen is averaging 22 points and 8 rebounds on 18-for-30 shooting (60 percent).
Armon Fletcher was named the MVC Player of the Week on Monday. Fletcher scored 34 points against Indiana State last week, the most by any MVC player this season. On the 2-0 week, he averaged 24 points on 70 percent shooting.
Salukis in the MVC individual rankings (all games)...
- 1st - Kavion Pippen in blocks (1.75)
- 2nd - Eric McGill in steals (1.73)
- 3rd - Pippen in FG% (.563)
- 4th - Aaron Cook in assists (3.6)
- 4th - Cook in minutes (784)
Salukis in the MVC team rankings (all games)...
- 1st in blocks (4.2)
- 1st in 3-point FG% (.378)
- 2nd in FG% defense (.427)
- 2nd in fewest fouls (15.3)
- 2nd in offensive rebounds (9.38)
- 2nd in steals (6.8)

GAME PREVIEW

Southern Illinois hosts Evansville on Saturday night at 7 p.m., the first meeting between the Salukis and Aces this year.
Evansville is the only MVC team that SIU has not played yet this year. The Salukis and Aces will play again in Evansville on February 27, the second-to-last game of the regular season.
SIU quality control consultant Doug Novsek served as an assistant coach at Evansville from 2015-18.
SIU leads the all-time series with Evansville 69-57. The teams have split the season series in each of the past two seasons.
The Aces are led by KJ Riley, who averages 14 points per game. Marty Hill (10.8 ppg) and Shea Feehan (10.3 ppg) are the other two Aces who average double-figures. John Hall (9.9 ppg, 7.9 rpg) is nearly the team's fourth.
With a win, SIU would...
Give SIU a three-game winning streak in league home games.
Improve to 4-2 at home in league play and 11-4 in the last 15 home MVC games.
Improve to 3-1 in the last four games and 4-2 in the last six.

SECOND HALF SALUKIS

SIU is outscoring opponents by 140 points in the second half this year.
The Salukis overcame a 16-point halftime deficit to beat Northern Iowa (Jan. 23) and a 10-point halftime deficit to beat Bradley (February 2).
Southern Illinois trailed Missouri State by 13 points at halftime (February 6) and rallied to take the lead in the second half, but ultimately fell 65-59.
In 11 MVC games, the Salukis have outscored opponents by 64 points in the second half. SIU has outscored its opponent in the second half in eight of its 11 league games. Four times, SIU has outscored an MVC opponent by 9+ points in the second half.

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