The Southern Illinois men’s basketball team opens Missouri Valley Conference play with a home game against Missouri State on Wednesday, January 2, at 7 p.m. in SIU Arena. Special $10 tickets are available in the Dawg Pound while students are on break. The game is the inaugural Mayor’s Cup Challenge.  The local community who sells the most tickets wins $500 for a community service project of its choice. 

Southern Illinois (7-6, 0-0 MVC) vs. Missouri State (6-7, 0-0 MVC) || Wednesday, January 2 || 7 p.m. || SIU Arena

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Tickets » SIUSalukis.com/tickets or call 877-SALUKIS
Watch » ESPN+ with Darren Kinnard and Mike Trude
Listen » Saluki Sports Network with Mike Reis and Connor Onion (Stream available through TuneIn)
Stats » SIUSalukis.com/MBB/LiveStats
Game Notes » Southern Illinois (PDF)
Press Conference » Watch Coach Hinson’s Press Conference on YouTube

THE RUNDOWN

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• Southern Illinois opens Missouri Valley Conference play against Missouri State at 7 p.m. on Wednesday night at SIU Arena.
• Saluki Athletics donated more than 3,500 hours of community service to Carbondale and the surrounding area during Fall 2018, which ranked second in the nation.
• While students are on break, special discounted tickets are available in the Dawg Pound for $10.
• SIU has an active eight-game winning streak against Missouri State, the longest winning streak for either school in the series.
• The last six games in the series have been decided by 10 points or fewer, with two of the last four meetings going to overtime.
• SIU was 7-2 at home vs. MVC teams last season, the program’s best mark since going 8-1 in 2007-08.
• SIU has assisted on 61 percent of its field goals, which ranks 19th nationally.
• Thik Bol has 97 career blocks. With three more blocks, he will become the sixth player in program history to block 100 career shots.
• In the MVC, SIU is…
  • 1st in blocks per games (4.3)
  • 2nd in 3-point field goal percentage (37.7)
  • 3rd in assists/game (15.3)
  • 3rd in FG% defense (.417)
  • 3rd in scoring defense (68.8)

GAME PREVIEW

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• Southern Illinois opens Missouri Valley Conference play against Missouri State at 7 p.m. on Wednesday night at SIU Arena.
• Special $10 tickets are available in the student section during Christmas break–Jan. 2, and Jan. 12.
• Missouri State is 6-0 at home and 0-7 away from Springfield.
• SIU has won two of its last three MVC openers, including last year’s 56-53 win at Northern Iowa.
• Missouri State is led by Tulio Da Silva, who is averaging 16.0 ppg. Jarred Dixon (14.5) and Keandre Cook (13.8) are also averaging double figures.
• Nobody on Missouri State’s roster has started all 13 games.
• KenPom projects an incredibly tight and competitive MVC race, forecasting all 10 teams to finish within five games, ranging from 12-6 to 7-11.
• The game is the inaugural Mayor’s Cup Challenge.  The local community who sells the most tickets wins $500 for a community service project of its choice.