Preview | Salukis and Govs Set for Tuesday Night Tilt at Banterra Center

CARBONDALE, Ill. - Southern Illinois basketball is set to close out a three-game homestand Tuesday night as Austin Peay comes to town. Tipoff from Banterra Center is set for 7 p.m.

PROMOTIONS
• Fans can purchase tickets for any of the remaining games in the month of December by using code "FIVE" at SIUSalukis.com/Promo.
• Younger fans will have the opportunity to meet Santa pregame and also receive a custom Saluki Christmas Tree Ornament as they enter Banterra Center over the next three home men's basketball games.
• 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 Noah Reed (play-by-play) and Mike Trude (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 enters the game ranked 73 in the NET, while Austin Peay sits at 271.
• The Salukis rank 26th nationally and second in the MVC in effective field goal percent at 56.9 percent.
• Southern is shooting 40.9 percent from behind the arc -- ranking 7th nationally.
• SIU is holding opponents to 27.0 percent from 3-point range -- 20th-best nationally.
• Xavier Johnson ranks second in the country in scoring at 24.2 ppg -- behind Purdue's Zach Edey (24.8).
• Xavier Johnson has scored 16 or more in all eight games this season -- the longest stretch of his career.
• Xavier Johnson leads the MVC with a 93.1 percent mark (63-69) from the free throw line.
• Trent Brown is shooting 56.4 percent from behind the arc -- the third-best percentage in the nation.
• SIU is second in the MVC with 16.1 made free throws per game -- SIU shoots 72.1 percent as a team.

NUMBERS WATCH
• Trent Brown enters play with 126 career 3-pointers and needs just one to tie for 16th in program history -- a spot held by head coach Bryan Mullins.
• Xavier Johnson needs just 63 points to reach 1,000 career points. In two seasons, Johnson has scored 426 points in maroon & white.
• Clarence Rupert has two double-doubles this season -- matching the number of double-doubles SIU has produced in the last two seasons combined.

THE MATCHUP
• Austin Peay comes into action at 5-6 overall under first-year head coach Corey Gipson. Gipson spent one season at Northwestern State, leading the Demons to a 22-9 record and the program's first Top-25 win ever. The Govs have won two straight games with wins over Midway and Murray State -- both games in Clarksville. APSU is 4-1 at home, 0-4 on the road, and 1-1 in neutral-site games. Austin Peay is scoring at a 66.7 clip while allowing 63.6 points. The Govs are led by Demarcus Sharp with 19.1 points per game. Sharp also averages a team-high 7.7 rebounds. Ja'Monta Black is second on the team in scoring with 12.6 points per game while shooting 40.7 percent (37-91) from behind the arc.

THE SERIES
• Southern Illinois leads the series with Austin Peay 11-6 and has won seven of the last 10 meetings between the two programs, including the last two matchups. The first meeting in the series came in 1958 with SIU winning 89-71 at home before the Salukis fell to the Govs on the road the next year. All-time, Southern is 8-1 against APSU at home, with the lone loss in Carbondale coming in 1995. In 2021, the Salukis trailed at halftime 27-25, before Lance Jones scored 22 second-half points to help SIU to a 73-55 win.

LAST TIME OUT
• Southern Illinois hosted a Power Five opponent for the first time since the 2007-08 season, knocking off Oklahoma State, 70-68.
• Xavier Johnson dropped a game-high 32 points in the win over the Cowboys.
• Clarence Rupert (13) and Trent Brown (12) joined Johnson in double figures.
• SIU won its second straight game after being outrebounded heavily. OSU won the battle on the boards 43-24, including a 20-6 advantage on the offensive glass. OSU had just 15 second-chance points.

BANTERRA MAGIC
Southern Illinois extended its program-record nonconference home winning streak to 24 games when the Salukis defeated Oklahoma State last time out. 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.

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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Preview | Salukis and Govs Set for Tuesday Night Tilt at Banterra Center

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Trent Brown

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