Southern Illinois Salukis (5-12, 3-6 MVC) at Murray State Racers (17-3, 8-1 MVC)
Murray, Kentucky; Thursday, 7 p.m. EST
BOTTOM LINE: Murray State plays Southern Illinois after Halli Poock scored 26 points in Murray State’s 89-88 victory over the Drake Bulldogs.
The Racers have gone 9-0 in home games. Murray State averages 84.0 points while outscoring opponents by 7.8 points per game.
The Salukis have gone 3-6 against MVC opponents. Southern Illinois is 4-10 in games decided by 10 or more points.
Murray State averages 84.0 points, 10.8 more per game than the 73.2 Southern Illinois gives up. Southern Illinois averages 3.9 made 3-pointers per game this season, 2.0 fewer made shots on average than the 5.9 per game Murray State allows.
The matchup Thursday is the first meeting this season between the two teams in conference play.
TOP PERFORMERS: Poock is shooting 30.2% from beyond the arc with 2.1 made 3-pointers per game for the Racers, while averaging 20.7 points and 4.1 assists. Haven Ford is averaging 17.5 points, 5.3 rebounds, 3.4 assists and 1.5 steals over the past 10 games.
Alayna Kraus averages 1.4 made 3-pointers per game for the Salukis, scoring 14.4 points while shooting 31.5% from beyond the arc. Indya Green is averaging 14.1 points and 8.3 rebounds over the past 10 games.
LAST 10 GAMES: Racers: 9-1, averaging 85.8 points, 38.2 rebounds, 14.2 assists, 7.3 steals and 3.4 blocks per game while shooting 43.1% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 74.9 points per game.
Salukis: 4-6, averaging 70.8 points, 34.8 rebounds, 12.5 assists, 8.2 steals and 2.5 blocks per game while shooting 41.2% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 73.6 points.
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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.