Southern Illinoise University Athletics
Southern Illinois University
UNI
Salukis Close Road Trip at UNI
02/20/2026 | 5:05:00 | Men's Basketball
The Salukis (13-15, 7-10 MVC) take on the Panthers (18-10, 10-7 MVC) at 6:30 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 21, at the McLeod Center in Cedar Falls, Iowa.
Game Details
Matchup: SIU at UNI
Time: 5Â p.m.
Location: McLeod Center, Cedar Falls, Iowa
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SCOUTING THE PANTHERS
The Panthers are one of The Valley's hottest teams, having won six of their last eight games. Southern is one of two teams to beat UNI during that stretch in a dominant 65-50 win over the Panthers on Jan. 28.
Trey Campbell leads UNI, averaging 13.3 points per game, which ranks 11th in The Valley.
UNI averages 69.5 points per game as a team, 10th in The Valley and 322nd nationally.
Defensively, the Panthers allow 61.1 points per game, which is first in The Valley and the nation. According to KenPom's adjusted tempo metric, they play at the third-slowest pace with 62.3 possessions per 40 minutes. Still, they rank 21st in the nation in adjusted defensive efficiency.
The Panthers lead the MVC and are fourth in the country in three-point defense (27.8%). They also lead the conference in assist-to-turnover ratio at 1.6.
UNI ranks No . 82 in the latest NETratings and No. 80 in KenPom.
THE DAWGS
The Salukis are led by second-year head coach Scott Nagy. Nagy brings 31 years of head coaching experience to Carbondale and had recorded 14 straight winning seasons while at the helm of both South Dakota State and Wright State before a 14-19 first season at SIU. He became the 13th active coach and the 70th all-time to reach 600 wins with a 65-50 victory over UNI on Jan. 28.
Eight Salukis average more than 18 minutes per game. Quel'Ron House leads the team with 14.8 points per game. Seven others average seven or more points, including Rolyns Aligbe (10.4), Drew Steffe (9.6), Damien Mayo Jr. (9.0), Jalen Haynes (8.2), Prince Aligbe (7.4), Isaiah Stafford (7.3) and Davion Sykes (7.0).
Southern is shooting 45.5% from the field, which is 166th in the nation. They do most of their work inside the arc, making only 5.0 three-pointers per game, which is bottom 10 in the country.
Freshman Jalen Haynes has been a bright spot off the bench this season, scoring in double figures in nine contests. He had a season-high 22 in his first start of the season on Jan. 17 against Belmont.
On the boards, the Dawgs split up the work pretty evenly, with Rolyns Aligbe leading the way with 7.4 boards per game. Aligbe has five double-doubles on the season, one coming against Northern Iowa on Jan. 28 when he had a career-high 21 points and 10 rebounds. He tallied a career-high 16 rebounds in SIU's win over Indiana State on Feb. 9, the most a Saluki has recorded since Thik Bol had 17 on Nov. 16, 2016.
Quel'Ron House was named the MVC's Newcomer of the Week on Feb. 9 after averaging 24.0 points in two games between Feb. 2-8. He had a career-high 26 on Feb. 6 against Murray State, and tied that total against
Bradley on Sunday.
Southern's Jan. 25 game at Evansville was postponed due to the winter storm. The game has been rescheduled for Sunday, Mar. 1.
SIU landed at No. 129 in the most recent NET ratings, seventh in the MVC.
LAST TIME OUT
Southern Illinois won 66-61 at Drake for its first win in Des Moines since 2020 on Wednesday. Damien Mayo Jr. matched his career highs with 22 points and made five threes in the effort. The Saluki defense held the Bulldogs to just 40 percent shooting overall and 28 percent from three.
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.
