Southern Illinois plays Murray State following Johnson's 27-point game

Sat, Jan 27, 2024
NCAAB News (AP)

Southern Illinois Salukis (13-7, 5-4 MVC) at Murray State Racers (8-12, 5-4 MVC)

Murray, Kentucky; Saturday, 2 p.m. EST

FANDUEL SPORTSBOOK LINE: Racers -3.5; over/under is 135.5

BOTTOM LINE: Southern Illinois faces the Murray State Racers after Xavier Johnson scored 27 points in Southern Illinois' 75-69 victory against the Valparaiso Beacons.

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The Racers are 5-5 on their home court. Murray State is 5-9 against opponents with a winning record.

The Salukis are 5-4 in MVC play. Southern Illinois ranks fourth in the MVC shooting 37.1% from 3-point range.

Murray State is shooting 44.3% from the field this season, 1.1 percentage points higher than the 43.2% Southern Illinois allows to opponents. Southern Illinois averages 8.2 made 3-pointers per game this season, 0.1 more makes per game than Murray State allows.

The matchup Saturday is the first meeting this season for the two teams in conference play.

TOP PERFORMERS: Jacobi Wood is averaging 12.2 points and 4.4 assists for the Racers. Quincy Anderson is averaging 13.1 points over the last 10 games for Murray State.

Johnson is averaging 23.4 points, 6.1 assists and 1.7 steals for the Salukis. Trent Brown is averaging 9.0 points over the last 10 games for Southern Illinois.

LAST 10 GAMES: Racers: 5-5, averaging 70.8 points, 34.4 rebounds, 12.4 assists, 7.5 steals and 3.9 blocks per game while shooting 44.1% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 68.2 points per game.

Salukis: 7-3, averaging 69.9 points, 33.0 rebounds, 14.0 assists, 5.0 steals and 2.2 blocks per game while shooting 45.9% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 63.4 points.

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