Southern Illinois University’s men’s basketball team will begin its Missouri Valley Conference schedule with a home game against Illinois State on Thursday, December 18, at the Banterra Center in Carbondale. The Salukis, who have a 6-5 record, will face the Redbirds, who are currently 8-3.
Illinois State enters the matchup as the top-ranked team in the conference preseason poll and recently lost to Utah State. The Redbirds also played USC at the Intuit Dome in Inglewood, California, but were defeated by the Trojans. Their roster features five players averaging double-digit points per game, led by Johnny Kinziger with 13.0 points per game. As a team, they average 81.2 points and allow 67.5 points per game defensively.
The Redbirds are ranked No. 87 in NET ratings and No. 99 in KenPom.
For Southern Illinois, eight players average more than 17 minutes each contest. Quel’Ron House leads scoring for SIU with an average of 14.5 points per game. Other key contributors include Sykes (9.5), Drew Steffe (9.4), Rolyns Aligbe (9.0), Isaiah Stafford (8.4), Damien Mayo (8.0), Jalen Haynes (7.9) and Prince Aligbe (7.8). Max Pikaar recently logged a season-high of 25 minutes during SIU’s win over UT Martin.
SIU has made use of inside scoring this season and is shooting nearly half from the field overall but ranks low nationally in three-pointers made per game.
Rebounding has been another strength for Southern Illinois; they hold a +60 margin for the season and rank among the nation’s leaders with an average of just over 40 rebounds per game.
Freshman Jalen Haynes has increased his playing time recently and scored between six and twelve points in each of his last six games.
In their most recent outing, SIU lost to Richmond in overtime despite outrebounding their opponent by a wide margin; Rolyns Aligbe recorded a double-double with nineteen points and eleven rebounds.
Southern Illinois Salukis Men’s Basketball plays home games at Banterra Center according to its official website. The program competes as part of NCAA Division I athletics and belongs to the Missouri Valley Conference. The team is led by head coach Scott Nagy and operates from Carbondale, Illinois.
Over its history, Southern Illinois Salukis Men’s Basketball has produced NBA talent such as Walt Frazier and retired numbers for notable alumni. The program has appeared ten times in the NCAA Tournament and won an NAIA national championship in 1946.
Fans can follow updates about SIU men’s basketball on social media platforms including X (@SIU_Basketball), Instagram (@SIU_Basketball), Facebook (Facebook.com/SIUBasketball) or through their mobile app available on both major app stores.
