Southern Illinois News

Southern Illinois Set for Valentine’s Day Matchup on the Road with Valparaiso

Southern Illinois and Valpo will meet on the hardwood Tuesday night in Valparaiso, Indiana. Tipoff with the Beacons is scheduled for 6 p.m. from the Athletics Recreation Center.
 
THE BROADCAST
• The game will be available on ESPN Plus with Todd Ickow (play-by-play) and Jamie Stangel (analyst) calling the action.
• The radio broadcast can be heard on the Saluki Radio Network with SIU Hall of Famer Mike Reis (play-by-play) and Rodney Watson (analyst) on the call.
 
QUICK HITS
• Saluki basketball will look to bounce back on Valentine's Day on the road at Valparaiso.
• The game with the Beacons marks the first and only regular season meeting between the two programs.
• Southern Illinois in a three-way tie for third place in the MVC alongside Belmont and Indiana State at 11-5.
• Head coach Bryan Mullins has surpassed the most wins in a season under his leadership -- Mullins had previously led the Salukis to a pair of 16-win seasons in both 2019-20 (16-16) and 2021-22 (16-15).
• Southern's 19-8 record is the best start to a season since the 2006-07 season -- the last time SIU advanced to the NCAA Tournament.
• SIU is 13-1 this season when leading at the half and 50-11 under Bryan Mullins.
 
TRENDING
• Marcus Domask is the MVC's active leader in scoring with 1,515 points. Drake's DJ Wilkins sits in second. Domask is one of 13 players in program history to surpass the 1,500-point mark.
• Lance Jones is third on the MVC's active list for career 3-pointers with 195.
• Sophomore Troy D'Amico surpassed his career high (10) in just six minutes in the first half of play against Missouri State. The forward closed the game out with 15 points on 5-of-6 shooting in just under 20 minutes.
• The Salukis rank third in the MVC in fast break points averaging 10.7 per game.
• The Salukis were lethal in forcing Missouri State turnovers, turning the 16 Bear miscues into 26 points.
• Southern Illinois is 12-1 inside Banterra Center this season -- its 10-game home streak is the longest in the MVC and the 23rd longest nationally.
• SIU set a new season high with six blocks against the Flames. Clarence Rupert led the team with two rejections in the game. SIU averages 2.1 blocks per game but has 11 in its last three games combined.
• SIU's seven-game home winning streak against MVC opponents is its longest since the 2017-18 season.
• Centers Scottie Ebube and JD Muila combined to go 7-for-7 from the field against UIC. Ebube was a perfect 4-for-4 with all four field goals coming on dunks. He fell a point shy of his career high of nine points in the win.
 
LAST TIME OUT
• SIU fell on the road at Drake 82-59. The Salukis trailed 16-0 and by 28 points at one point in the game before rallying to within 12 points in the second half of play.
• Three Salukis scored in double digits led by Lance Jones and Jawaun Newton who tallied 13 points each. Xavier Johnson added 10 points in the loss.
 
A DYNAMIC DUO
• Marcus Domask (11th-1,515) and Lance Jones (15th-1,440) each rank in the top-15 in program history in points scored. The duo also ranks in the top 20 in career assists combining for nearly 600 over their careers.
• Marcus Domask has scored in double-digits in 23 of 26 games this season to lead SIU. He has scored 20 or more eight times, 30 or more three times. His 16.7 points per game rank fifth in the MVC.
• Lance Jones leads the Salukis with 60 3-pointers this season and 36 in Valley play. The senior has made 195 threes over his career to rank fifth in program history.
• Lance Jones is one steal short of entering SIU's Top-5.
 
IT STARTS ON DEFENSE
• SIU's 61.9 points allowed per game ranks 19th nationally. The Salukis have held conference opponents to just 61.9 points per game and seven of its 16 Valley opponents to 57 points or fewer.
• SIU's 7.6 steals per game lead the MVC. The duo of Lance Jones and Xavier Johnson are No. 1 and 4 in the MVC in steals with 48 and 41 respectively.

THE MATCHUP
• Southern Illinois and Valparaiso have met on the hardwood 14 times in their histories, with each team coming away with seven victories. Southern has won three-straight games in the series including a sweep of the Beacons last season which included a 63-60 win on the road.
 
• Ben Krikke leads the Beacons with 18.9 points and 5.9 rebounds per game. Valpo is scoring at a clip of 69.6 points per game while allowing 73.5 points per outing.

UP NEXT
The Salukis return to Carbondale for their final regular season home games of the season beginning with Bradley on Sunday. The game will air on ESPN2 and tip at 1 p.m.
 
FOLLOW THE SALUKIS
Keep up with all the latest news and information on the Salukis by following the team on Twitter at @SIU_Basketball, on Instagram at @SIU_Basketball, and on Facebook at Facebook.com/SalukiAthletics. Fans can also download the "Salukis" Mobile App on the App Store or Google Play Store.
  

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