Preview | Salukis Wrap Up Road Swing Wednesday at Valparaiso - Southern Illinois University Athletics

CARBONDALE, Ill. – Southern Illinois basketball will look to win its sixth-straight game when the Salukis travel to Valparaiso for a midweek matchup with the Beacons Wednesday night at 7 p.m.

WHERE TO WATCH AND LISTEN

The game will be available nationally on ESPN Plus with Todd Icklow (play-by-play) and Jamie Stangel (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

Southern Illinois entered the CollegeInsider.com Mid Major Top 25 at No. 23 this week.
SIU enters the game ranked 83 in the NET, while Valpo ranks 311.
Southern is shooting 39.0 percent from behind the arc -- ranking 13th nationally.
SIU is holding opponents to 26.2 percent from 3-point range -- 2nd-best nationally.
The Salukis rank 35th nationally in effective field goal percentage at 55.4 percent.
Clarence Rupert has scored in double-digits in nine games. Earlier this season Rupert strung together five-straight 10+ point performances.
Jarrett Hensley recorded a career-high three blocks against the Redbirds.
In his last six games, Scottie Ebube has 48 points in 59 minutes, shot 22-of-29, 20 rebounds, and four blocks.
With a 10-point win over Belmont, SIU now has nine double-digit wins this season out of the 11 overall. 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 24.3 points per game.
is 18th nationally and leading the MVC with 6.1 assists per game.
is fourth nationally with 113 free throws made and sixth nationally in free throw attempts with 125.
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 15 games this season -- the longest stretch of his career.

NUMBERS WATCH

Xavier Johnson 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.
Graduate Trent Brown enters the game with 140 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

Valpo enters the matchup Wednesday with an overall record of 4-1 and an MVC record of 0-4 under first-year head coach Roger Powell Jr.
Valpo has dropped its last nine games with its last victory coming against Southern University on Nov. 25.
One of the youngest teams in the nation, Valpo is led by Isaiah Stafford with 16.4 points and 4.1 rebounds per game. Cooper Schwieger is the only other Beacon in double-digits with 10.4 points and 4.6 rebounds per game.
Valpo is scoring 66.9 points per game while shooting 39.5 percent from the field, 30.7 percent from deep, and 70.4 percent from the free throw line.

THE SERIES

Southern Illinois and Valparaiso have met on the hardwood 15 times in their histories, with each team coming away with SIU leading the series 8-7. Southern has won four straight games in the series.

LAST TIME OUT

Southern Illinois picked up its fifth straight victory with a 71-64 road win at Illinois State last time out.
The Salukis were led by Xavier Johnson with 26 points and nine assists while sharpshooter Trent Brown put together a career day with six triples en route to 20 points.
Jarrett Hensley scored nine for the Salukis, including a 3-pointer -- seven of his points came in the second half.
The Salukis assisted on 20 of their 25 made field goals.
SIU used a 17-7 second half run to get control and never looked back.
SIU shot 53 percent from the field (25-47) and 52 percent (11-21) from deep. The Salukis held Illinois State to just 3-for-18 shooting from behind the arc, including a 0-for-8 mark in the first half.

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 Wrap Up Road Swing Wednesday at Valparaiso

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Players Mentioned

Trent Brown

Scottie Ebube

Jarrett Hensley

Xavier Johnson

Clarence Rupert

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