South Cook News

Salukis Travel North for Matchup with Illinois State Sunday

 Southern Illinois men's basketball begins a two-game road swing Sunday afternoon in Normal as the Salukis matchup with Illinois State. The game is scheduled to tip at 2 p.m. from CEFCU Arena.
 
THE BROADCAST
• The game will air on ESPN Plus with Kurt Pegler calling the action and Kelly Burke serving as analyst.
• 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
• Southern Illinois and Illinois State meet for the second time this season on Sunday in Normal.
• The Salukis will be going for a season sweep of the Redbirds after defeating ILS, 59-57 January 14.
• Head coach Bryan Mullins is 5-1 in his coaching career against Illinois State.   
• SIU has won five-straight Valley contests (INS, ILS, UE, MSU, MUR) and 12 of its last 13 games.
• The Salukis sit tied with Belmont atop the MVC standings at 9-2 in League play.
• SIU is off to its best start under head coach Bryan Mullins in four seasons at 17-5 and 9-2 in MVC.
• Southern's 17-5 record is the best start to a season since the 2006-07 season -- the last time SIU advanced to the NCAA Tournament.
• With 17 wins, Mullins has surpassed the most wins in a season -- Mullins had previously led the Salukis to a pair of 16-win seasons in both 2019-20 (16-16) and 2021-22 (16-15).
• SIU is 11-1 this season when leading at the half and 48-11 under Bryan Mullins.
• The Salukis are 7-1 this month -- Mullins and SIU are 17-14 overall in January over his tenure.
• SIU is 10-1 at home -- its eight-game home streak is the longest in the MVC.
• The Salukis are ranked No. 9 in the latest CollegeInsider.com men's basketball mid-major poll, up one spot from last week.
 
DOMASK JOINS ELITE COMPANY
• With four rebounds at Missouri State, forward Marcus Domask became just the fourth player in program history to score 1,400 points, grab 500 rebounds and dish out 300 assists. The senior joined Wayne Abrams, Darren Brooks, and Marcus Timmons – all three of which are Saluki Hall of Famers.
• Domask ranks 14th in program history in scoring (1,437), tied for 13th in assists (309), and 29th in rebounding (507).
 
A DYNAMIC DUO
• Marcus Domask (14th-1,437) and Lance Jones (19th-1,359) each rank in the top-20 in program history in points scored. The duo also ranks in the top 20 in career assists.
• Marcus Domask scored in double-digits in 20 of 22 games this season to lead SIU. He has scored 20 or more five times, 30 or more twice, and his 16.9 points per game rank fifth in the MVC.
• Marcus Domask and Lance Jones combined to score the final 20 points in a win on the road against Murray State. Against Drake, Domask scored the final 15 points of the game to defeat DU.
• Lance Jones leads the Salukis with 49 3-pointers this season and 25 in Valley play. The senior has made 184 threes over his career to rank sixth in program history.
 
IT STARTS ON DEFENSE
• SIU's 60.7 points allowed per game leads the MVC and ranks 14th nationally.
• Southern Illinois has held conference opponents to just 59.6 points per game and six of its 11 Valley opponents to 57 points or fewer.
• The Salukis are holding opponents to just 31.9 percent from behind the arc -- ranking fifth in the MVC.
• SIU's 7.9 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 40 and 37 respectively. Jones leads the team with 1.8 steals per game and has recorded multiple steals in 13 games this season including a career-high six coming at UE. Johnson is averaging 1.7 steals per contest and has 11 steals in his last five games.
 
THE MATCHUP
• Southern Illinois takes to the road for one of its oldest rivals Sunday when the Salukis take on Illinois State for the 165th meeting between the two programs. The Salukis lead the all-time series with ILS, 86-78, winning the last four matchups and seven of the last eight games. Overall, SIU is 53-20 at home against Illinois State, 26-50 on the road, 7-8 on neutral courts, and 5-5 when matched up in the MVC Tournament. Head coach Bryan Mullins is 6-1 in his coaching career against the Redbirds with the lone loss coming in 2020 at home.
 
• Illinois State enters Sunday's game at 8-14 overall and 3-8 in the Missouri Valley Conference. After winning two-straight games before playing SIU in Carbondale on January 14, the Redbirds have dropped their last four games. ILS is 5-5 inside CEFCU Arena this season. 

Original source can be found here