Preview | Streaking Salukis Ready to Rumble with Murray State Wednesday

CARBONDALE, Ill. – Winners of three straight games, the Southern Illinois men's basketball team will play host to regional rival Murray State on Wednesday at 6 p.m. at Banterra Center.

PROMOTIONS

Fans can purchase tickets for just $6 to the upper bowl of Banterra Center following the Polar Vortex Sale. Visit SIUSalukis.com/Tickets to buy now.
SIU Athletics will give away 300 Saluki Rollabanas courtesy of State Farm.
It's College of Ag Night as well as Dawg Pound Greek Night at Banterra Center.

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

HOW TO FOLLOW

The MVC TV Network/ESPN Plus broadcast team is John Rooney and Dan Muller.
The game can also be seen locally on KFVS-12.
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 three games, SIU comes into Wednesday's meeting with Murray State at 8-11 overall and 3-5 in the Missouri Valley Conference.
Ali Dibba leads the team and ranks third in the MVC with 15.9 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 10.6 points in the second half this season to lead SIU while scoring just 5.2 points in the first half. In the last five games, Dibba has scored 20 in the first half and 71 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 14.5 points per game which ranks ninth in the MVC to go along with 5.2 rebounds and 2.4 assists. Davis ranks third in the MVC in steals with 1.67 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 11.6 points per game and a team-high 5.5 rebounds per contest. Hensley leads SIU and ranks sixth in the MVC with 20 blocked shots.
Hensley scored in double-digits in four straight games from Jan. 5 to Jan. 15. 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 15 of 19 games this season. His 45 assists to 13 turnovers lead the Salukis.
SIU ranks fifth in the MVC with 35.68 rebounds per game. The Salukis have done damage on the offensive glass as they rank fourth in the league with 11.05 caroms on the offensive end this season. SIU is outrebounding teams on the offensive glass this season 210 to 189 in 19 games.
SIU is averaging 10.74 fastbreak points per game which ranks third in the MVC.
As a team, SIU is fourth in the Valley in blocks with 3.3 per game. Hensley leads SIU with 20 blocks and 1.05 blocks per game. Antwaun Massey has nine blocks for the Dawgs.
SIU has recorded 16 or more assists in its last four games. Prior to the stretch, the Salukis had had four straight games of just 10 assists.

STRONG DEFENSE

SIU put on a defensive clinic throughout against Northern Iowa at home, but especially in the first half of play where SIU held UNI to just 15 points – a tie for sixth in program history for the fewest points in a first half.
UNI struggled to get any open looks from the floor as Southern locked in to hold the Panthers to just 4-of-28 from the floor in the first – UNI's first-half shooting percentage of 14.3 percent ranks as the third-best defensive effort in a half in program history.
SIU held Wright State to 13 percent in a half in 2010 and New Mexico State to 14 percent last season at the Cancun Challenge.

DAVIS NAMED MVC PLAYER OF THE WEEK

Davis, a St. Louis native, averaged a team-high 21 points and nine rebounds. Davis finished the two-game stretch shooting 57.1 percent (16-28) from the floor and 46.7 percent (7-15) from behind the arc.
Davis scored a career-high 24 in a win over UNI as he notched his third double-double of the season with a 24-point, 10-rebound performance against the Panthers. The sophomore had 18 points, eight rebounds, and three 3-pointers during a road win at Missouri State.

LOOKING AT MURRAY STATE

Murray State was picked to finish third in the MVC Preseason Poll and currently sits at 11-16 overall and 8-8 in The Valley.
The Racers are scoring 74.5 points per game while holding opponents to 69.3.
JaCobi Wood leads the Racers with 12.7 points while shooting 38.5 percent from behind the arc.
Guard AJ Ferguson returns to Banterra Center on the other bench after spending two seasons with the Salukis from 2022-24. Murray State assistant coach Brendan Mullins also spent five seasons as an assistant with the Salukis from 2019-24.

SERIES HISTORY WITH THE RACERS

It will be the 43rd meeting of all time between Southern Illinois and Murray State.
The Salukis lead the series 23-19 and have won five straight games against the Racers.
SIU is 9-11 on the road, 13-5 at home, and 1-3 on neutral courts against Murray State.

NAGY TOP-20 IN CAREER WINS

Nagy brings 30 years of head coaching experience to Carbondale and has recorded 14 straight winning seasons while at the helm of both South Dakota State and Wright State.
Nagy ranks No. 17 in wins (585) among active Division I head coaches.

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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