Johnson, Southern Illinois Salukis take on the Illinois State Redbirds

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 hosts Southern Illinois in a matchup of MVC teams.

The Redbirds are 6-1 in home games. Illinois State is 1-1 in games decided by less than 4 points.

The Salukis are 2-1 in conference matchups. Southern Illinois scores 75.3 points while outscoring opponents by 11.9 points per game.

Illinois State averages 68.8 points, 5.4 more per game than the 63.4 Southern Illinois allows. Southern Illinois scores 6.1 more points per game (75.3) than Illinois State gives up (69.2).

The Redbirds and Salukis face off Saturday for the first time in conference play this season.

TOP PERFORMERS: Dalton Banks is averaging 10.6 points and 3.7 assists for the Redbirds. Darius Burford is averaging 15.9 points over the last 10 games for Illinois State.

Xavier Johnson is shooting 42.5% from beyond the arc with 2.2 made 3-pointers per game for the Salukis, while averaging 24.1 points, 5.9 assists and 1.7 steals. Clarence Rupert is shooting 57.1% and averaging 10.6 points over the last 10 games for Southern Illinois.

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.