Johnson, Southern Illinois Salukis to visit Foster, Illinois State Redbirds

Fri, Jan 5, 2024
NCAAB News (AP)

Southern Illinois Salukis (10-4, 2-1 MVC) at Illinois State Redbirds (8-6, 2-1 MVC)

Normal, Illinois; Saturday, 7 p.m. EST

BOTTOM LINE: Illinois State plays Southern Illinois in a matchup of MVC teams.

The Redbirds have gone 6-1 at home. Illinois State is 1-1 in games decided by 3 points or fewer.

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The Salukis are 2-1 in MVC play. Southern Illinois is 1-2 in games decided by less than 4 points.

Illinois State averages 6.6 made 3-pointers per game, 1.7 more made shots than the 4.9 per game Southern Illinois allows. Southern Illinois has shot at a 47.2% clip from the field this season, 3.6 percentage points above the 43.6% shooting opponents of Illinois State have averaged.

The matchup Saturday is the first meeting of the season between the two teams in conference play.

TOP PERFORMERS: Darius Burford is shooting 43.8% and averaging 13.7 points for the Redbirds.

Clarence Rupert is averaging 9.6 points and 6.1 rebounds for the Salukis.

LAST 10 GAMES: Redbirds: 5-5, averaging 68.7 points, 35.2 rebounds, 11.1 assists, 6.1 steals and 2.5 blocks per game while shooting 42.3% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 72.0 points per game.

Salukis: 7-3, averaging 72.8 points, 32.6 rebounds, 15.0 assists, 5.3 steals and 3.8 blocks per game while shooting 46.6% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 62.6 points.

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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.