Preview | Salukis Travel to Bradley for Wednesday Night Meeting with Braves

CARBONDALE, Ill. – Southern Illinois basketball returns to the road on Wednesday night with a matchup in Peoria, Illinois with Bradley. Tipoff with the Braves is scheduled for 6 p.m. CT from Carver Arena.

HOW TO FOLLOW

The game will air on ESPN Plus with John Rooney and Kevin Lehman on the call.
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.

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

QUICK HITS

SIU comes into Wednesday's game at Bradley winners of seven of their last nine games, with a 12-13 overall record and 7-7 in the MVC. The Salukis are tied for fifth in the standings with UIC and Illinois State.
Southern has now won four straight MVC road games, dating back to Missouri State on January 15th. It is the first time SIU has won four straight MVC road games since the 2015-16 season when winning at Loyola, Bradley, Missouri State, and Indiana State. The mark is tied for 17th nationally for consecutive road wins.
This year marked only the fifth time that SIU had started an MVC season 0-5 or worse. SIU has gone 7-2 in the last nine games since that 0-5 start. The seven wins are the most wins SIU ever had after starting 0-5 in league play. Prior to this season, the most was five wins total in 1979-80 (5-11) and 1986-87 (5-9).
SIU hit a season-high 15 3-pointers at Evansville. Southern hit 10 triples in the first half alone. Five Salukis had multiple shots fall from deep led by Jarrett Hensley with four and Kennard Davis Jr. who had three.
SIU's 15 triples at UE tied for sixth in program history for most 3-pointers in a game.
The Salukis rank third in the MVC with 35.64 rebounds per game. SIU has done damage on the offensive glass as they rank second in the league with 10.72 offensive boards per game. Southern is outrebounding teams on the offensive glass this season 268 to 245 in 25 games.
SIU is averaging 10.52 fastbreak points per game which ranks third in the MVC.
Ali Dibba (16.2) and Kennard Davis Jr. (15.8) rank third and fourth in scoring in the MVC.
Dibba has scored in double-digits in all but three games this season.
Davis has scored 14 or more in his last nine games. This season Davis has 21 double-digit scoring games.
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.
Freshman Drew Steffe scored a career-high 20 points and hit four shots from behind the arc in a home win over UIC. It marked the second-straight game that he has recorded multiple makes from behind the arc and just the sixth time the Frisco, Texas native knocked down two or more triples in a game this season.
Steffe has multiple assists in 21 of 25 games. His 3.3 assist-to-turnover (56:17) ratio leads the Salukis.
Jarrett Hensley is third on the team with 11.4 points per game. The graduate student recorded his third double-double of the season last game out with 10 points and 11 rebounds. His first double-double of the season came against Bradley at home when he scored 12 while pulling down 12 rebounds.
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.

LOOKING AT BRADLEY

The preseason MVC favorite, Bradley comes into action at 19-6 overall and 10-4 in the MVC. After a three-game skid, the Braves defeated Evansville on the road last time out, 80-74.
Duke Deen leads all scorers with 13.3 points per game while also leading the team with 3.97 assists. Zek Montgomery is second on the squad with 13 points per game while Darius Hannah also scores in double-figures with 11.6 points per game. Hannah leads the team with 5.6 rebounds per game.
As a team, Bradley is scoring 79.2 points per game while holding its opponents to just 69.6 per outing. The Braves are shooting 40.3 percent from behind the arc and 48.7 percent from the field.

SERIES HISTORY WITH THE BRAVES

Bradley has won five straight games against Southern Illinois and leads the all-time series with SIU 59-50. BU has won seven of the last 10 meetings.
The Salukis hold a 28-21 advantage against the Braves on their home court, are 16-35 on the road, and 6-3 in neutral-site contests.

LAST TIME OUT

The Salukis are coming off a 79-67 win at home over UIC on Saturday.
SIU put four scorers in double figures led by Kennard Davis Jr. who scored 23 points to go along with five rebounds and three assists.
Freshman guard Drew Steffe dropped a career-high 20 points in the win and hit five of his seven shot attempts, including four 3-pointers.

LAST TIME AGAINST THE BRAVES

Southern Illinois dropped its Missouri Valley Conference opener to Bradley, 83-60, back on December 3.
The Braves outscored SIU 50-33 in the first half and cruised to the win. SIU turned the ball over 17 times in the loss.
Kennard Davis Jr. led the Salukis with 15 points while Jarrett Hensley had a double-double with 12 and 12.

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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