Northern Iowa visits Southern Illinois following Uchenna’s 26-point game

Northern Iowa Panthers (9-9, 4-3 MVC) at Southern Illinois Salukis (3-12, 1-5 MVC)

Carbondale, Illinois; Friday, 7 p.m. EST

BOTTOM LINE: Southern Illinois hosts Northern Iowa after Gift Uchenna scored 26 points in Southern Illinois’ 85-70 loss to the Evansville Purple Aces.

The Salukis have gone 1-5 at home. Southern Illinois has a 1-6 record against teams over .500.

The Panthers are 4-3 in MVC play. Northern Iowa has a 4-9 record against teams above .500.

Southern Illinois averages 59.3 points per game, 10.9 fewer points than the 70.2 Northern Iowa allows. Northern Iowa has shot at a 45.7% clip from the field this season, 2.4 percentage points above the 43.3% shooting opponents of Southern Illinois have averaged.

The Salukis and Panthers meet Friday for the first time in conference play this season.

TOP PERFORMERS: Uchenna is averaging 15.8 points, 13.4 rebounds and 2.4 blocks for the Salukis. Kayla Cooper is averaging 9.0 points over the last 10 games.

Kayba Laube is shooting 49.6% from beyond the arc with 3.2 made 3-pointers per game for the Panthers, while averaging 14.2 points. Maya McDermott is shooting 40.9% and averaging 17.1 points over the last 10 games.

LAST 10 GAMES: Salukis: 2-8, averaging 60.0 points, 35.9 rebounds, 12.7 assists, 7.9 steals and 3.7 blocks per game while shooting 35.7% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 72.9 points per game.

Panthers: 5-5, averaging 74.2 points, 31.1 rebounds, 14.3 assists, 8.8 steals and 2.5 blocks per game while shooting 44.2% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 71.0 points.

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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.

Copyright © 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, written or redistributed.

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