Preview | Southern Illinois Hosts Northern Iowa Saturday for Saluki Jam

CARBONDALE, Ill. – Southern Illinois basketball begins a two-game homestand on Saturday as Northern Iowa comes to town. Tipoff is set for 6 p.m. from Banterra Center for the Space Jam-themed game.

PROMOTIONS

Saluki Jam is back with a Space Jam throughout the game!
S-Club and Dawg Pound Alumni Night
- Former student-athletes, and members of the Dawg Pound and spirit squad are invited to a pregame reception in the Boydston Center at 5 p.m. Appetizers and drinks will be served.
- Register now to reserve a spot. Attendees may request up to two free tickets for themselves and a guest. The deadline to request tickets is 5 p.m. on Jan. 17.

ESPN+ Broadcast | Radio Broadcast | Live Stats | SIU Game Notes | Live Updates on X

HOW TO FOLLOW

The ESPN Plus broadcast team is Mike Trude and Saluki Hall of Famer Jamaal Tatum.
The radio broadcast can be heard locally on 101.5 CIL-FM, on the Saluki Radio Network, SIUSalukis.com/Listen, the Saluki Mobile App, and the Varsity Network App with Luke Martin and Rodney Watson calling the action.
Fans can follow Live Stats at SIUSalukis.com.

QUICK HITS

Winners of their last two games -- both against Missouri State -- the Salukis come into Saturday's meeting with Northern Iowa at 7-11 overall and 2-5 in the Missouri Valley Conference.
Three Salukis scored in double-figures last game at Missouri State led by Ali Dibba (22). Kennard Davis Jr. and Jarrett Hensley added 18 points each in the win.
Ali Dibba leads the team and ranks third in the MVC with 16.1 points per game. He has scored 10 or more points in all but two games this season.
Dibba scored a career-high 33 at Belmont. He finished the game 13-for-23 from the field, 5-for-8 from behind the arc, and a rebound short of a double-double. His 13 made field goals also set the opponent record at the Curb Event Center.
Dibba is averaging 10.9 points in the second half this season to lead SIU while scoring just 6.1 points in the first half. In the last four games, Dibba has scored 12 in the first half and 65 in the second.
Dibba scored 33 on the road at Belmont before Jarrett Hensley had 30 at home against Missouri State. They became the first Saluki duo to score 30 or more in a season since 2005-06 when Jamaal Tatum (37) and Tony Young (30) did so against Eastern Washington and Bradley.
Kennard Davis Jr. is second on the team with 13.9 points per game which ranks 10th in the MVC to go along with 4.8 rebounds and 2.4 assists. Davis ranks second in the MVC in steals with 1.76 per game this season. He has 30 steals this year after just 22 all of last season.
Jarrett Hensley put up a career-high 30 points in an overtime win against Missouri State, including hitting a trio of 3-pointers. He ranks third on the team with 11.8 points per game and a team-high 5.6 rebounds per contest. Hensley leads SIU and ranks 10th in the MVC with 17 blocked shots.
Hensley has scored in double-digits in four straight games dating back to Jan. 5. The senior has scored in double-figures in 11 games this season.
Drew Steffe scored a career-high 16 points against Missouri State, including hitting three 3-pointers in the win - the most this season for the Frisco, Texas native.
Steffe dished out a season-high five assists at Belmont. The freshman has multiple assists in 14 of 18 games this season. His 42 assists to 13 turnovers lead the Salukis.
SIU ranks fifth in the MVC with 35.67 rebounds per game. The Salukis have done damage on the offensive glass as they rank third in the league with 11.22 caroms on the offensive end this season. SIU is outrebounding teams on the offensive glass this season 202 to 179 in 18 games.
SIU is averaging 10.67 fast break points per game which ranks third in the MVC.
As a team, SIU is fifth in the Valley in blocks with 3.2 per game. Jarrett Hensley leads SIU with 17 blocks and 0.94 blocks per game. Antwaun Massey has nine blocks for the Dawgs.
SIU has recorded 17 or more assists in its last three games. Prior to the stretch, the Salukis had had four straight games of just 10 assists.
SIU went on a 14-1 scoring run in the first half against Mo State. That was the first scoring run of that magnitude in the first half of a game for the Salukis since an 18-3 run versus La Tech on November 25.

LOOKING AT NORTHERN IOWA

The Panthers were picked to finish second in the MVC Preseason Poll coming into the season and enter play at 11-7 overall and 5-2 in the MVC after winning their last two games against ILS and UE.
As a team, UNI is shooting 51.3 percent from the floor, 37.4 percent from behind the arc, and 71.9 percent from the charity stripe while outrebounding opponents 33.1 to 30.8 in 18 games.
The Panthers feature a quartet of double-digit scorers led by Tytan Anderson at 14.7 points and 6.3 rebounds per game in 28.9 minutes.

SERIES HISTORY WITH THE PANTHERS

It will be the 79th time that SIU and UNI meet on Saturday with both teams winning 38 games in the series.
SIU is 26-9 at home against UNI but just 9-26 on the road against UNI. SIU leads the series at Arch Madness, 4-3.
UNI has won the last three meetings, including a 78-67 win back on December 29 in Cedar Falls.

FOLLOW THE SALUKIS
Keep up with all the latest news and information on the Salukis by visiting SIUSalukis.com as well as following the team on X at @SIU_Basketball, Instagram at @SIU_Basketball, and Facebook at Facebook.com/SIUBasketball. Fans can also download the "Salukis" mobile app from the App Store or Google Play Store.

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