Preview | Salukis Travel to Normal to Square Off with Illinois State Saturday

CARBONDALE, Ill. - Southern Illinois will put its four-game winning streak on the line when the team takes on Illinois State Saturday night at CEFCU Arena. Tipoff is set for 6 p.m. in Normal.

WHERE TO WATCH AND LISTEN

The game will be available nationally on Marquee and ESPN Plus with Kurt Pegler (play-by-play) and Dan Roan (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 88 in the NET, while Illinois State ranks 216.
Southern is shooting 38.0 percent from behind the arc -- ranking 24th nationally.
SIU is holding opponents to 26.9 percent from 3-point range -- 10th-best nationally.
The Salukis rank 54th nationally in effective field goal percentage at 54.8 percent.
Clarence Rupert has scored in double-digits in nine games. Earlier this season Rupert strung together five-straight 10+ point performances.
In his last five games, Scottie Ebube has 44 points in 54 minutes, shot 20-of-26, 19 rebounds, and four blocks.
With a 10-point win over Belmont, SIU now has nine double-digit wins this season out of the 10 overall, with the lone win by single digits being against Oklahoma State. The most wins in one season by 10+ points SIU has had under head coach Bryan Mullins is 10 in 2019-20, with three of them being MVC wins.

XAVIER JOHNSON...

is second in the nation in scoring at 24.1 points per game.
is third nationally with 109 free throws made and fifth nationally in free throw attempts with 121.
is the only player in the nation averaging 20+ points, shooting better than 40 percent or better from the field, 40 percent or better from three, 85 percent or better from the free throw line, and averaging five or more assists per game.
has scored 16 or more in all 14 games this season -- the longest stretch of his career.
is one of seven players in SIU history with five 30+ point games in a season. He has five of the 11 30+ point games in the MVC. His nine 20+ point games lead the MVC.

NUMBERS WATCH

Graduate Trent Brown enters the game with 134 career 3-pointers -- ranking 14th in program history.
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

Illinois State enters Saturday's game at 8-6 overall and 2-1 in the Missouri Valley Conference.
The Redbirds defeated UIC and Murray State in the early conference portion of the schedule before dropping a road game at Drake last time out.
Darius Burford leads ILS with 13.7 points while former Saluki guard Dalton Banks is averaging 10.6 points and 3.7 assists per game.

THE SERIES

Southern Illinois takes to the road for one of its oldest rivals Saturday when the Salukis take on Illinois State for the 167th meeting between the two programs. The Salukis lead the all-time series with ILS, 87-79, winning four of the last five matchups. Overall, SIU is 53-20 at home against Illinois State, 26-52 on the road, 7-8 on neutral courts, and 8-6 when matched up in the MVC Tournament. Head coach Bryan Mullins is 6-2 in his coaching career against the Redbirds.

LAST TIME OUT

Southern Illinois earned its fourth-straight victory Tuesday after defeating Belmont 73-63 at Banterra Center. SIU's bench was able to outscore the Bruins 31-10 led by AJ Ferguson (15) and Scottie Ebube (12).
Ebube scored all 12 of his points in the final 20 minutes while tying a career-high with eight rebounds in the win.
Returning from injury, Ferguson went for 15 points in 27 minutes of action. The guard shot 5-for-8 from the field and hit a pair of 3-pointers for the Dawgs while also pulling down five rebounds.
Xavier Johnson led the Salukis with 18 points while shooting just 3-for-10 from the field. The Germantown, Md., native did not let his shooting affect his game though, dishing out eight assists while going 12-for-13 from the charity stripe.
SIU forward Clarence Rupert also scored in double-figures for the Salukis with 11 points in six boards in the win.

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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