Preview | Salukis Travel to Illinois State for Sunday Tilt with Redbirds

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Dec 10

7 PM

Men's Basketball

UT Martin

Carbondale, IL

Dec 13

5 PM (CST)

Men's Basketball

University of Richmond

Richmond, VA

Dec 18

8:00 PM

Men's Basketball

Illinois State University

Carbondale, IL

Dec 21

TBD

Men's Basketball

Bradley University

Peoria, IL

Dec 29

TBD

Men's Basketball

Murray State

Murray, KY

Jan 1

2:00 PM

Men's Basketball

Valparaiso University

Carbondale, IL

Jan 4

4:00 PM

Men's Basketball

Belmont University

Nashville, TN

Jan 7

TBD

Men's Basketball

UIC

Chicago, IL

CARBONDALE, Ill. – Southern Illinois basketball will look for its first Missouri Valley Conference win of the season on Sunday when the Salukis take on Illinois State on the road. Tip is set for 3 p.m. CT inside CEFCU Arena in Normal.

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

HOW TO FOLLOW

The ESPN Plus broadcast team is Kurt Pegler and Kelly Burke.
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

SIU enters play at 5-9 overall and 0-3 in MVC play after dropping its last game at home against Evansville.
Ali Dibba has scored 10 or more points in all but one game this season. The senior guard scored a career-high 27 against High Point after scoring 26 points against Eastern Kentucky with 24 of the 26 points in the second half. He leads the team with 15.1 points per game.
Kennard Davis Jr. is coming off his second double-double of the season after a 19-point and 10-rebound game against Evansville. He is second on the team with 114.2 points per game to go along with 4.5 rebounds and 2.4 assists. Davis ranks third in the MVC (behind Drake's Bennett Stirtz and UIC's Javon Jackson) in steals with 1.8 per game this season. He has 25 steals this year after just 22 all of last season.
The duo of Dibba and Davis rank fifth and seventh in scoring in the MVC.
Jarrett Hensley is putting up 10.3 points per game to go along with a team-high 6.2 rebounds per contest. He leads SIU and ranks ninth in the MVC with 12 blocked shots.
SIU ranks fourth in the MVC with 36.79 rebounds per game. The Salukis have done damage on the offensive glass as they rank fourth in the league with 11.29 caroms on the offensive end this season.
SIU is averaging 10.43 fastbreak points per game which ranks fourth in the MVC.
As a team, SIU is third in the Valley in blocks with 3.1 per game. Jarrett Hensley leads SIU with 12 blocks and 0.86 blocks per game. Antwaun Massey has nine blocks for the Dawgs.
The Salukis rank 12th in the MVC in 3-point percentage defense (35.8) and 3-pointers per game (6.0).

LOOKING AT ILLINOIS STATE

Illinois State comes into Sunday at 9-5 overall and winners of five of their last six games.
The Redbirds are 1-2 in the MVC with losses to Belmont and UIC, but ISU is coming off a road win at Murray State in their last game.
ISU is scoring 78.7 points per game and is led by a trio of double-digit scorers. Chase Walker leads the team with 14.6 points and 6.3 rebounds while Johnny Kinziger is averaging 14.1 points a game.
Former Saluki Dalton Banks is scoring 10.6 points while leading ISU with 58 assists in 14 games.

SERIES HISTORY WITH THE REDBIRDS

It will be the 169th meeting between SIU and Illinois State when the two teams face off on Sunday. The Salukis lead the all-time series with ISU, 89-79, winning six of the last seven and eight of the last 10 matchups.
Overall, SIU is 54-20 at home against Illinois State, 27-52 on the road, 7-8 on neutral courts, and 8-6 when matched up in the MVC Tournament.

ALIGBE NAMED MVC FRESHMAN OF THE WEEK

Forward Rolyns Aligbe was named the MVC Freshman of the Week following his game at UNI. Aligbe, a Minneapolis, Minnesota native, made his first career start for the Salukis on the road at Northern Iowa Sunday. He scored seven points and recorded a team-high eight rebounds for Southern in the loss.
The big man averages 4.3 points and 4.1 rebounds in 14 minutes of action per game this season. He has recorded five or more points in six games and had a season-high 10 rebounds on the road at Florida.

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 (582) 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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