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Illinois State Redbirds (11-13, 5-8 MVC) at Southern Illinois Salukis (15-9, 7-6 MVC)
Carbondale, Illinois; Saturday, 7 p.m. EST
BOTTOM LINE: Southern Illinois takes on the Illinois State Redbirds after Xavier Johnson scored 35 points in Southern Illinois’ 92-88 overtime loss to the Drake Bulldogs.
The Salukis have gone 10-4 in home games. Southern Illinois is eighth in the MVC with 23.4 defensive rebounds per game led by Clarence Rupert averaging 4.8.
The Redbirds have gone 5-8 against MVC opponents. Illinois State has a 2-1 record in games decided by 3 points or fewer.
Southern Illinois is shooting 46.3% from the field this season, 1.7 percentage points higher than the 44.6% Illinois State allows to opponents. Illinois State averages 65.4 points per game, 1.0 fewer than the 66.4 Southern Illinois gives up to opponents.
TOP PERFORMERS: Johnson is averaging 24 points, six assists and 1.5 steals for the Salukis. Trent Brown is averaging 11.6 points and 2.5 rebounds while shooting 41.7% over the past 10 games for Southern Illinois.
Darius Burford is averaging 13.2 points for the Redbirds. Myles Foster is averaging 12.6 points over the last 10 games for Illinois State.
LAST 10 GAMES: Salukis: 5-5, averaging 70.4 points, 32.8 rebounds, 13.1 assists, 5.2 steals and 1.9 blocks per game while shooting 44.9% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 70.5 points per game.
Redbirds: 3-7, averaging 60.7 points, 32.9 rebounds, 12.2 assists, 5.4 steals and 1.6 blocks per game while shooting 39.5% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 65.2 points.
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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.