Preview | Salukis to Host Drake in White Out Game Saturday on ESPNU

CARBONDALE, Ill. – The Southern Illinois men's basketball team looks to continue its recent success against Drake when it hosts the Bulldogs (19-2, 9-2 MVC) on Saturday, Feb. 1 at Banterra Center.

Tickets start at just $10 with no added fees this season and can be purchased at SIUSalukis.com/Tickets or by calling 877-SALUKIS.

PROMOTIONS

It's a White Out at Banterra Center. Wear white and be loud!
All season long, we're celebrating the 60th birthday of the Banterra Center. Saturday's game will celebrate the decade of the 1960s.
Greek Night in the Dawg Pound.

HOW TO FOLLOW

The ESPNU broadcast team is made up of Clay Matvick and Kevin Lehman.
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.

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

QUICK HITS

SIU comes into Saturday winners of five of their last six games and hold a 10-12 overall record and 5-6 in the MVC. The Salukis are tied for seventh in the standings along with Illinois State and Murray State.
SIU has now won three straight MVC road games, dating back to Missouri State on January 15th. It is the first time SIU has won three straight MVC road games since the 2019-20 season when winning at Illinois State, Drake, and Evansville.
This year marked only the fifth time ever that SIU had started an MVC season 0-5 or worse. SIU has gone 5-1 in the last 6 games since that 0-5 start. The most wins SIU ever had after starting 0-5 in league play was five wins total in 1979-80 (5-11) and 1986-87 (5-9).
SIU scored 54 points in the paint in the win over UIC.The 54 paint points rank first in the MVC this year for a single game. It also marked the first time since 2020 (vs Quincy) that Southern had scored 50 or more paint points in a game.
The win at Valpo marked the first time that SIU had won a game when trailing at halftime. SIU was 0-12 when trailing at the break entering the game.
Five Salukis scored in double-digits on the road at Valpo. It marked the second time this season (Nov. 27 vs Florida Tech) that the Salukis have had five players score in double-figures.
The Salukis rank fourth in the MVC with 35.64 rebounds per game. SIU has done damage on the offensive glass as they rank fourth in the league with 10.82 offensive boards per game. Southern is outrebounding teams on the offensive glass this season 238 to 213 in 22 games.
SIU is averaging 10.32 fastbreak points per game which ranks third in the MVC.
As a team, SIU is fourth in the Valley in blocks with 3.1 per game. Jarrett Hensley leads SIU with 21 blocks and 0.95 blocks per game. Antwaun Massey has nine blocks for the Dawgs.
Ali Dibba leads the team and ranks second in the MVC with 16.5 points per game. He has scored 10 or more points in all but two games this season.
Dibba leads the MVC and ranks 41st nationally with 138 made field goals. His 48.6 percent from the floor ranks fourth in the MVC.
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.
Kennard Davis Jr. is second on the team with 15.2 points per game which ranks fourth in the MVC to go along with 5.1 rebounds and 2.5 assists. Davis ranks fourth in the MVC in steals with 1.6 per game this season. He has 34 steals this year after just 22 last season.
Davis has scored 18 or more in his last five games. This season Davis has 18 double-digit scoring games.
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 eighth in the MVC with 21 blocked shots.
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.
Drew Steffe dished out a season-high five assists at Belmont. The freshman has multiple assists in 18 of 22 games this season. His 3.6 assist-to-turnover (50:14) ratio leads the Salukis.
Jorge Moreno went 5-for-5 from the field and scored a career-high 13 points in the win at Valpo. Before the outing, the big man's best scoring output this season was seven points versus Florida Tech.
Damien Mayo Jr. has scored in double-digits in two of his last four games after not scoring more than eight in any of his previous outings this season.

LOOKING AT DRAKE

The new-look Bulldogs are under the direction of first-year head coach Ben McCollum though much of the makeup of his squad is familiar with the head man after following McCollum to Drake from his previous coaching home at Northwest Missouri State.
The Bulldogs have won seven straight games and enter play at 19-2 overall on the season and 9-2 in MVC play.
Drake comes into Saturday ranked third in the CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Top-25 Poll.
Drake leads the league in rebounding margin (+6.5), scoring defense (57.7), scoring margin (13.4), steals (9.2), turnover margin (2.7), and forced turnovers (14.4).
Bennett Stirtz leads the Bulldogs and the MVC with 17.8 points per game. He's joined by Mitch Mascari (11.8) and Daniel Abreu (11.2) who also score over 10 points per game for DU.

SERIES HISTORY WITH THE BULLDOGS

Saturday's meeting with the Bulldogs will be the 106th between the two programs. Southern Illinois leads the all-time series 61-44. Drake has won each of the last four games in the series, sweeping last season's meetings.
SIU walked away with a 92-88 loss in overtime in the last game against Drake.
SIU has won just one game in the last 10 meetings with the Bulldogs with that victory coming at home in 2023 during a 53-49 win.

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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