Valparaiso Beacons (6-7, 0-2 MVC) at Southern Illinois Salukis (6-8, 0-3 MVC)
Carbondale, Illinois; Thursday, 3 p.m. EST
BOTTOM LINE: Rakim Chaney and Valparaiso take on Quel’Ron House and Southern Illinois on Thursday.
The Salukis are 4-1 in home games. Southern Illinois is eighth in the MVC with 14.0 assists per game led by House averaging 2.9.
The Beacons are 0-2 against MVC opponents. Valparaiso is 1-6 against opponents with a winning record.
Southern Illinois’ average of 4.5 made 3-pointers per game is 1.9 fewer made shots on average than the 6.4 per game Valparaiso allows. Valparaiso has shot at a 40.9% clip from the field this season, 1.8 percentage points below the 42.7% shooting opponents of Southern Illinois have averaged.
The matchup Thursday is the first meeting this season for the two teams in conference play.
TOP PERFORMERS: Rolyns Aligbe is averaging 9.6 points and 6.4 rebounds for the Salukis. Drew Steffe is averaging 1.8 made 3-pointers over the last 10 games.
Chaney is shooting 39.3% from beyond the arc with 1.8 made 3-pointers per game for the Beacons, while averaging 10.8 points, 3.2 assists and 1.6 steals. Owen Dease is shooting 57.7% and averaging 12.3 points over the past 10 games.
LAST 10 GAMES: Salukis: 4-6, averaging 75.5 points, 33.5 rebounds, 12.9 assists, 8.8 steals and 2.9 blocks per game while shooting 46.9% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 74.2 points per game.
Beacons: 4-6, averaging 73.5 points, 35.1 rebounds, 13.1 assists, 6.1 steals and 4.3 blocks per game while shooting 42.7% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 67.9 points.
___
The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.