Preview | Salukis Open Arch Madness with No. 9 Indiana State Thursday in St. Louis

ST. LOUIS – Southern Illinois basketball will begin its postseason Thursday afternoon when the Salukis take on No. 9 Indiana State in the opening round of Arch Madness. Tip with the Sycamores is scheduled for noon at Enterprise Center. With a win, SIU would face top-seeded Drake on Friday at noon.

HOW TO FOLLOW

The game will air on ESPN Plus with Scott Warmann 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.

POSTSEASON HONORS

Kennard Davis Jr. collected two Missouri Valley Conference postseason honors after earning Second Team All-MVC as well as being named to the Most Improved Team.
Ali Dibba was named Third Team All-MVC.

QUICK HITS

The Salukis rank third in the MVC with 35.61 rebounds per game. SIU has done damage on the offensive glass as they rank third in the league with 10.29 offensive boards per game.
SIU is averaging 10.32 fastbreak points per game which ranks second in the MVC.
Ali Dibba (16.8) and Kennard Davis Jr. (16.3) rank third and fourth in scoring in the MVC.
Dibba has scored in double-digits in all but three games this season.
Dibba leads the MVC and ranks 31st in the nation with 201 made field goals.
Davis' 24 points against Illinois State marked the ninth 20+ point performance this season. The sophomore scored 20 or more in five of his previous nine games.
Davis recorded his fourth double-double of the season against Murray State with 26 points and 10 rebounds. Davis is second on the team with 4.9 boards per game.
Jarrett Hensley is third on the team with 10.6 points per game. The graduate student has four double-doubles of the season, with his most recent double-double coming against Valpo when he scored 10 and had 12 rebounds.
Freshman Drew Steffe has been dominant in his last seven games, averaging 12.7 points, 2.9 rebounds and 2.1 assists. Over the stretch, he has shot 53.1 percent from behind the arc, including a 5-for-5 mark against Illinois State -- tying the MVC season-high for 3-pointers made in a game.
Steffe has recorded multiple assists in 25 of 31 games. His 3.3 assist-to-turnover (69:21) ratio leads SIU.
Davion Sykes finished 6-for-6 with 12 points against ISU with 10 of his points came in the first half of play.
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.

LOOKING AT INDIANA STATE

Indiana State enters the matchup at 14-17 overall and 8-12 in the Missouri Valley Conference under first-year head coach Matthew Graves.
Indiana State is 8-6 inside Hulman Center, 4-9 on the road, and 2-2 in neutral site games.
The Trees are second in the MVC in scoring offense at 79.9 points per game. ISU is leading the league in 3-point attempts with 29.2 per game and in fast break points with 11.58 per game.
Samage Teel leads the Sycamores with 17.1 points per outing with Jaden Daughtry scoring 13.0 points and grabbing 4.2 rebounds per game.

SERIES HISTORY WITH THE SYCAMORES

Thursday's meeting in St. Louis is the 147th meeting between the Salukis and Sycamores.
Southern Illinois leads the all-time series 92-54, though Indiana State has won six of the last 10 meetings.
SIU is 3-5 against the Sycamores at Arch Madness.
The Salukis are 33-37 on the road all-time against the Trees, 3-5 on a neutral court, and 54-12 at home.

LAST TIME AGAINST THE TREES

Southern Illinois fell on the road to Indiana State 95-77 in the regular season finale. Indiana State set the tone early, outscoring SIU 52-31 in the opening half.
The Sycamores converted 35 of 59 field-goal attempts (59.3 percent) and drained 12 of 29 three-point tries (41.4 percent), while the Salukis managed just 27-for-60 (45.0 percent) from the field.
Kennard Davis Jr. led the way for Southern with a game-high 19 points. Davion Sykes scored 12, including 10 in the first half and Drew Steffe contributed 12, but their efforts weren't enough to reverse the early deficit.

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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