West Cook News

Salukis and Drake Set to Battle on National TV Saturday Afternoon

 It's a marquee matchup Saturday afternoon in Des Moines as Southern Illinois and Drake battle for the top spot in the Missouri Valley Conference. The game will air nationally on ESPNU with tipoff set for 1 p.m. CT from the Knapp Center.
 
THE BROADCAST
• The game will be available on ESPNU with James Westling (play-by-play) and Kevin Lehman (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
• Southern Illinois and Drake will battle for a spot at the top of the Missouri Valley Conference; currently in a three-way tie with Bradley at 11-4 in Valley action entering Saturday. 
• The Salukis beat Drake on January 4 in Carbondale, 53-49. In the win, Southern overcame a 13-point first-half deficit before holding Drake to just 19 second-half points. SIU held Tucker DeVries and Roman Penn in check, giving up just 11 points to DeVries on 4-for-13 shooting while holding Penn to 1-for-15 from the floor and two points.
• Marcus Domask scored a game-high 21 points, including the final 15 points for the Salukis as SIU closed out the game on a 19-6 run.
• 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 19-7 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.
• The Salukis rank second in the MVC in fast break points averaging 10.9 per game.
 
TRENDING
• Marcus Domask is the MVC's active leader in scoring with 1,510 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 192.
• 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 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's seven-game home winning streak against MVC opponents is its longest since the 2017-18 season.
• Southern Illinois is ranked No. 13 in the latest CollegeInsider.com men's basketball mid-major poll.
 
LAST TIME OUT
• Centers Scottie Ebube and JD Muila combined to go 7-for-7 from the field. 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.
• 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 nine in its last two games combined.
• Southern walked away with a win over UIC despite a 23-shot difference in the box score. SIU matched a season-high with 21 turnovers in the game while UIC picked up 13 offensive boards.
 
A DYNAMIC DUO
• Marcus Domask (12th-1,510) and Lance Jones (17th-1,427) each rank in the top-20 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 25 games this season to lead SIU. He has scored 20 or more eight times, 30 or more three times. His 17.2 points per game rank fifth in the MVC.
• Lance Jones leads the Salukis with 57 3-pointers this season and 33 in Valley play. The senior has made 192 threes over his career to rank sixth in program history.
• Lance Jones is four steals short of entering SIU's Top-5.
 
IT STARTS ON DEFENSE
• SIU's 61.1 points allowed per game ranks 12th nationally. The Salukis have held conference opponents to just 60.6 points per game and seven of its 15 Valley opponents to 57 points or fewer.
• SIU's 7.7 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 46 and 41 respectively.

THE MATCHUP
• Saturday's meeting with the Bulldogs will be the 102nd between the two programs. Southern Illinois leads the all-time series 61-40 and snapped a five-game skid to Drake on January 4 at home, winning 53-49. SIU is 23-26 against Drake in Des Moines. Bryan Mullins is 3-5 in his career against the Bulldogs. 

Original source can be found here