Missouri State Bears (18-5, 10-2 MVC) at Southern Illinois Salukis (4-17, 2-10 MVC)
Carbondale, Illinois; Thursday, 7 p.m. EST
BOTTOM LINE: Southern Illinois hosts Missouri State in a matchup of MVC teams.
The Salukis have gone 2-8 in home games. Southern Illinois has a 1-0 record in games decided by less than 4 points.
The Bears are 10-2 in MVC play. Missouri State is second in the MVC with 11.0 offensive rebounds per game led by Sarah Linthacum averaging 2.4.
Southern Illinois’ average of 4.6 made 3-pointers per game this season is just 0.2 fewer made shots on average than the 4.8 per game Missouri State gives up. Missouri State averages 6.1 made 3-pointers per game this season, 1.9 fewer made shots on average than the 8.0 per game Southern Illinois gives up.
The Salukis and Bears meet Thursday for the first time in MVC play this season.
TOP PERFORMERS: Gift Uchenna is scoring 15.2 points per game with 13.5 rebounds and 0.6 assists for the Salukis. Kayla Cooper is averaging 10.6 points and 3.1 rebounds while shooting 31.7% over the last 10 games.
Lacy Stokes is scoring 12.2 points per game with 4.7 rebounds and 4.0 assists for the Bears. Kaemyn Bekemeier is averaging 12.7 points and 7.4 rebounds while shooting 45.0% over the last 10 games.
LAST 10 GAMES: Salukis: 2-8, averaging 60.2 points, 35.9 rebounds, 12.9 assists, 6.6 steals and 4.5 blocks per game while shooting 34.6% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 77.6 points per game.
Bears: 9-1, averaging 76.0 points, 36.4 rebounds, 16.9 assists, 9.2 steals and 2.8 blocks per game while shooting 45.5% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 58.8 points.
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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.
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