The Southern Illinois Salukis are fourth in the Missouri Valley Conference and are looking to climb even further up the standings on Sunday as they prepare to face the Evansville Purple Aces.
Southern Illinois Salukis (-3.5, 142.5) vs. Evansville Purple Aces
The Salukis have a clear number one option in Xavier Johnson, who ranks third among qualifying Division I players in points per game with 22.3 points to go with 6.1 assists and 1.5 steals per game.
With such a heavy workload for Johnson and the rest of the starting five, Southern Illinois runs one of the slowest offenses in the nation, ranking 324th in total possessions per game while trying to maximize it by playing tough defense.
Opposing three-pointers have been a rarity against Southern Illinois this season, ranking 13th in the nation in opponent 3-point shooting percentage at 29.5%. Now it faces an Evansville team that entered the weekend ranked 24th in 3-point shooting percentage at home at 39.7%.
While Evansville has been allowing a lot of open perimeter looks, ranking 323rd in opponent 3-point shooting percentage, the number lowers to a more respectable 34.3% when playing at home compared to 37.9% in road games.
Evansville’s overall defense has been better at home, too, allowing 12.4 points per 100 possessions fewer at home than in a road or neutral court environment, which will be much-needed as the team ranks 230th in points scored on a per-possession basis.
The Purple Aces are doing the little things to prevent easy points as well — ranking 34th in fewest free throws attempted per play on defense and allowing opponents to grab offensive rebounds on just 22.3% of missed shots in home games, which ranks 50th in the nation.
With Southern Illinois ranked 39th in the nation in the percentage of opponents missed shots in road games that result in offensive rebounds, it will lead to a scarce amount of scoring chances and a low-scoring game on Sunday.
The Play: Southern Illinois vs. Evansville Under 142.5
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