Missouri State Bears (7-9, 0-5 MVC) at Southern Illinois Salukis (5-11, 0-5 MVC)

Carbondale, Illinois; Saturday, 7 p.m. EST

BOTTOM LINE: Southern Illinois hosts Missouri State after Ali Abdou Dibba scored 33 points in Southern Illinois’ 90-86 loss to the Belmont Bruins.

The Salukis are 3-3 on their home court. Southern Illinois has a 3-10 record against opponents over .500.

The Bears have gone 0-5 against MVC opponents. Missouri State ranks eighth in the MVC scoring 31.0 points per game in the paint led by Michael Osei-Bonsu averaging 8.4.

Southern Illinois is shooting 44.1% from the field this season, 3.0 percentage points lower than the 47.1% Missouri State allows to opponents. Missouri State averages 70.9 points per game, 5.4 fewer points than the 76.3 Southern Illinois gives up.

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

TOP PERFORMERS: Dibba is scoring 15.9 points per game with 4.3 rebounds and 1.9 assists for the Salukis.

Dez White is shooting 37.6% from beyond the arc with 2.6 made 3-pointers per game for the Bears, while averaging 15.8 points.

LAST 10 GAMES: Salukis: 3-7, averaging 69.2 points, 30.6 rebounds, 13.1 assists, 6.5 steals and 3.1 blocks per game while shooting 43.8% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 75.9 points per game.

Bears: 3-7, averaging 64.6 points, 27.8 rebounds, 12.0 assists, 7.3 steals and 1.3 blocks per game while shooting 44.1% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 69.7 points.

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