Preview | Salukis and Aces Set to Tango Sunday in Evansville - Southern Illinois University Athletics

CARBONDALE, Ill. – With three games remaining in the regular season and Arch Madness seeding on the line, Southern Illinois is set to face Evansville on Sunday at 1 p.m. at the Ford Center. The Salukis currently sit in fourth place in the MVC standings with the top four seeds receiving a bye in St. Louis.

WHERE TO WATCH AND LISTEN

The game will be available on Bally Sports, NBC Sports Chicago Plus and ESPN Plus with Scott Warmann (play-by-play) and Dan Muller (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 is ranked 106 in the NET, while Evansville comes in at 191.
SIU is holding opponents to 29.6 percent from 3-point range -- 14th-best nationally.
The Salukis rank fourth in the MVC in assist-to-turnover ratio at 1.27.
SIU's scoring defense ranks 55th in the nation -- holding opponents to 67.1 points per game.
SIU is shooting 76.4 percent from the free throw line which is second in the MVC and 28th nationally.
The Salukis rank 59th nationally in effective field goal percentage at 53.6 percent.
Out of 16 MVC games, 10 of SIU's games have been decided by six points or less.

UNDER MULLINS...

SIU has beaten a Power 6 team each of the last four seasons.
SIU is 29-2 under Bryan Mullins when scoring 75 points or more and 55-8 when scoring 70 or more.
Bryan Mullins is tied for the fourth-fastest coach in program history to reach 80 wins -- 142 games.
SIU has nine double-digit wins this season out of the 16 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...

was named to two Mid-Season Watch List: Lute Olson (National Player of the Year) & Lue Henson (Mid-Major Player of the Year).
is third in the nation in scoring at 22.8 points per game and has scored 16 or more in all 27 of 28 games.
is 16th nationally and leading the MVC with 6.1 assists per game.
is 14th nationally in minutes per game with 36:34. He has played every minute of the last six games for SIU.
is third nationally with 195 free throws made and 10th nationally in free throw attempts with 216.

NUMBERS WATCH

Johnson is one of five players in SIU history with six or more 30+ point games in a season. He has six of the 22 combined 30+ point games in the MVC. His 16 20+ point games lead the MVC.
Johnson has 172 assists this season to pass Bryan Mullins who held the single-season record with 154 assists during the 2007-08 season.
Johnson now owns the single-season free throws made record with 195 so far this season. He passed Freddie McSwain (182).
Johnson has scored 637 points this season, ranking fourth in SIU history. Charlie "Chico" Vaughn scored 779 in 1960 to top the list.
Brown enters play with 170 career 3-pointers -- 9th in SIU history. Brown ranks seventh in program history with 485 3-point attempts.
Brown is on pace to break the program record for games played -- currently with 137 games. Tony Young (139) holds the record.
Rupert has three double-doubles this season -- exceeding the number of double-doubles SIU had last year in total.

THE SERIES

Southern Illinois leads the series with the Purple Aces 78-58 and has won nine of the last 10 including four straight games. It is the lone regular-season meeting between the two programs this season. SIU is 28-38 on the road against UE all-time.

THE MATCHUP

Evansville was picked to finish 11th in the MVC Preseason Poll and currently sits at 15-13 overall and 6-11 in The Valley.
UE has two scorers over 10 points led by Ben Humrichous (15.4).
It is the lone time that the Salukis and Aces will meet this season.

LAST TIME OUT

SIU was led by junior Troy D'Amico who tied his career high with 20 points. Jarrett Hensley also had a career-high 15 points.
Southern got big-time performances from big men Scottie Ebube and Jarrett Hensley who played extended minutes in the absence of Clarence Rupert who missed the game due to illness.
Hensley was able to score 11 of his 15 in the second half including the go-ahead putback layup with 39 seconds left to play.
SIU assisted on 18 of their 26 made baskets and turned 15 Racer turnovers into 17 points.

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.

Calendar

Upcoming Events

Preview | Salukis and Aces Set to Tango Sunday in Evansville

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Troy D'Amico

Scottie Ebube

Jarrett Hensley

Clarence Rupert

Scoreboard