Salukis Take On Chicago State Thursday Night at Banterra Center

CARBONDALE, Ill. - Southern Illinois basketball kicks off the on-campus portion of the Cancun Challenge Thursday night with Chicago State coming to Banterra Center. Tipoff is slated for 7 p.m. on ESPN Plus. SIU heads to Cancun next week to take on nationally ranked James Madison on Tuesday before facing off with either New Mexico State or Fresno State on Wednesday. Both games will air on CBS Sports Network.

PROMOTIONS
• All Brown Dawg's Kids Club members receive a free ticket at the ticket office. Sign up in advance or on the night of the game. Parents can purchase additional tickets for $10.
• Remember, at all Saluki men's basketball games, kids are invited down to the court for pregame starting lineups. To participate, bring your child to the floor in front of Section 107 10 minutes before tipoff and look for Brown or Grey Dawg.

WHERE TO WATCH AND LISTEN
• The game will be available nationally on ESPN Plus with Mike Trude (play-by-play) and Dominic Hosher (analyst) calling the action.

• The radio broadcast can be heard on the Saluki Radio Network, SIUSalukis.com/Listen, the Saluki Mobile App, and the Varsity Network App with Luke Martin (play-by-play) and Rodney Watson (analyst) on the call.

QUICK HITS
• SIU has 38 assists through two games. The 19 assists per game ranks 33rd nationally.
• Southern's 2.24 assist-to-turnover ratio is tops in the MVC and 13th nationally.
• SIU has turned the ball over 17 games in 80 minutes. That is good enough for 20th-best nationally.
• Southern has scored 88+ in consecutive games for the first time since the 2020-21 season.
• SIU finished the 2022-23 season 23-10 -- the most wins since the 2006-07 season.
• The Salukis closed 2022-23 eight games over .500 in MVC play -- the best since 2007.
• SIU won a true road game over a Power-5 team for the first time since 2000 (at Okla. St.) last year.
• Southern has beaten a Power-6 team three years in a row for the first time in program history.
• SIU ended the season ranked 12th nationally and first in the MVC in scoring defense (61.4 ppg).

LAST TIME OUT
• Southern improved to 2-0 on the season after defeating Queens 91-68 Friday night.
• SIU had four players in double-figures led by guard Xavier Johnson with 21 points.
• The offense assisted on 23 of its 32 made field goals in the games as Xavier Johnson had a team-high seven dimes and Trey Miller dished out five assists off the bench.
• SIU scored 46 points in the paint -- the last time SIU scored 50 in the paint came in 2020.
• Center Scottie Ebube scored in double-digits for the second-straight game. The big man dropped 15 points in 19 minutes on 6-for-10 shooting.

THE MATCHUP
• Friday's game will mark the 14th meeting between the two programs with Southern Illinois leading the series 12-1. SIU is 8-0 at home against the Cougars and 3-1 on the road. The last meeting with Chicago State came in the 2022 season with SIU coming away with a 63-52 victory.
• CSU enters the game at 1-3 on the season with a win over Southern Indiana.
• The Cougars return their top two scorers from a year ago with Wesley Cardet, who participated in last year's NBA Draft Camp and is projected to be a 2024 second-round pick, leading the way, averaging 16.6 points per game and Jahsean Corbett, who was selected to compete with Team Virgin Islands in the FIBA World Olympic Qualifying Tournament, was second, averaging 14.2 ppg.

BALANCING THE OFFENSE
After being dominated by just two true scoring threats a year ago, five players are averaging over nine points a game for SIU through two games. Xavier Johnson leads SIU with 20.5 points per game while big man Scottie Ebube has dominated in his first two games with 13.5 points per game (17.9 MPG) off the bench. Jovon Stulic and Clarence Rupert round out SIU's double-digit scorers with 11.5 points per game.

BANTERRA MAGIC
Southern Illinois extended its program-record nonconference home winning streak to 21 games on Friday when the Salukis defeated Queens. SIU entered the year (19-straight) tied for the longest nonconference home winning streak which happened under the direction of head coaches Bruce Weber and Matt Painter from 1999-2003.

JOHNSON AN MVC PRESEASON PICK
Graduate Xavier Johnson was named to the preseason MVC Third Team. The guard returns for his second season in maroon & white after starting in 31 games a year ago and scoring seven points per outing. Johnson was named to the MVC All-Defensive Team following the 2022-23 and was second on the team and sixth in the MVC with 50 steals. To go along with his scoring output Johnson averaged 3.2 rebounds and 2.7 assists per game.

TICKET INFORMATION
Season tickets start at just $125 and are on sale now for the 2023-24 season. Fans can purchase tickets for the 18-game home slate including nonconference games against Oklahoma State and Saint Louis by calling 877-SALUKIS, visiting SIUSalukis.com/Tickets or by visiting the SIU Ticket Office during normal business hours.

FOLLOW THE SALUKIS
Keep up with all the latest news and information on the Salukis by following the team on Twitter at @SIU_Basketball, on Instagram at @SIU_Basketball, and on Facebook at Facebook.com/SalukiAthletics. Fans can also download the "Salukis" Mobile App on the App Store or Google Play Store.

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Salukis Take On Chicago State Thursday Night at Banterra Center

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Players Mentioned

Scottie Ebube

Xavier Johnson

Trey Miller

Clarence Rupert

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