Southern Illinois University
Illinois State
Salukis looking to make statement in Valley opener
12/17/2025 | 1:14:00 | Men's Basketball
CARBONDALE, Ill. — Southern Illinois' Men's Basketball opens the Missouri Valley Conference slate in battle with Illinois State.
The Salukis (6-5) take on the Redbirds (8-3) at 8 p.m. on Thursday, Dec. 18, in the Banterra Center in Carbondale, Ill.
Game Details
Matchup: SIU vs. Illinois State
Time: 8 p.m.
Location: Banterra Center, Carbondale, Ill.
Live Stats | Watch on the MVC Network | Listen | App
Scouting the Redbirds
The number one team in the Missouri Valley Conference Preseason Poll enters the night 8-3 after an 83-78 loss at Utah State.
Highlighting the Redbirds' non-conference slate was a trip to the Intuit Dome in Inglewood, Calif., to take on USC, where they fell 87-67 to the Trojans.
The Redbirds feature a balanced scoring attack, with five players averaging double figures early on. Johnny Kinziger leads the charge early on with 13.0 points per game. They average 81.2 points per game as a team, 109th nationally and third in The Valley.
Defensively, the Redbirds allow 67.5 points per game, tied for 61st in the NCAA and third in The Valley.
Illinois State ranks No. 87 in the latest NET ratings and No. 99 in KenPom.
The Dawgs
Eight Salukis average more than 17 minutes per game. Quel'Ron House leads the team with 14.5 points per game. Seven others average more than seven points, including Sykes (9.5), Drew Steffe (9.4), Rolyns Aligbe (9.0), Isaiah Stafford (8.4), Damien Mayo (8.0), Jalen Haynes (7.9) and Prince Aligbe (7.8). Sophomore Max Pikaar logged a season-high 25 minutes in an 83-54 win over UT Martin on Dec. 10.
SIU shot 41% (21-for-51) from three during its recent three-game win streak.
Southern is shooting 49.1 percent from the field, which is 49th in the nation. They do most of their work inside the arc, making only 4.8 3-pointers per game, which is bottom 10 in the country.
SIU has been good on the boards, holding a +60 rebounding margin on the season. They are in the top 61 overall, averaging 40.2 rebounds per game. The Dawgs split up the work pretty evenly, with Rolyns Aligbe leading the way with 6.4 boards per game. Aligbe notched a double-double in the loss at Richmond on Saturday night.
True freshman Jalen Haynes has seen his minutes spike recently, playing more than 20 minutes in each of the past six games. He's scored 6, 10, 10, 10, 12, and 12 points in those contests, respectively.
SIU landed at No. 125 in the most recent NET ratings, fifth in the MVC.
Last Time Out
SIU dropped its second overtime contest of the season at Richmond, 93-84, despite outrebounding the Spiders 48-29. Rolyns Aligbe tallied the team's first double-double of the season with 19 points and 11 rebounds in the effort.
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.
