Who’s Playing
S. Illinois Salukis @ Illinois State Redbirds
Current Records: S. Illinois 5-9, Illinois State 9-5
How To Watch
What to Know
Illinois State is 2-8 against S. Illinois since January of 2020 but they’ll have a chance to close the gap a little bit on Sunday. Both will face off in a Missouri Valley battle at 4:00 p.m. ET at CEFCU Arena. The Redbirds are strutting in with some offensive muscle as they’ve averaged 78.7 points per game this season.
On Thursday, Illinois State earned a 74-68 win over Murray State.
Illinois State got their victory on the backs of several key players, but it was Caden Boser out in front who went 7 for 9 en route to 17 points. Boser had some trouble finding his footing against UIC on Sunday, so this was a step in the right direction. The team also got some help courtesy of Malachi Poindexter, who went 5 for 9 en route to 17 points.
Meanwhile, S. Illinois’ recent rough patch got a bit rougher on Wednesday after their third straight loss. The match between them and Evansville wasn’t a total blowout, but with S. Illinois falling 68-53 at home it was darn close to turning into one. The matchup marked the Salukis’ lowest-scoring contest so far this season.
S. Illinois’ defeat came about despite a quality game from Kennard Davis, who dropped a double-double on 19 points and ten rebounds. The dominant performance also gave Davis a new career-high in offensive rebounds (five). Jarrett Hensley, on the other hand, was considerably less helpful: he went 0-5 from deep.
Illinois State has been performing well recently as they’ve won five of their last six games, which provided a nice bump to their 9-5 record this season. As for S. Illinois, their loss dropped their record down to 5-9.
Keep an eye on the arc in Sunday’s match: Illinois State has made nailing deep shots look easy this year this season, having averaged 10.4 threes per game. It’s a different story for S. Illinois, though, as they’ve been averaging only 6. Given Illinois State’s sizable advantage in that area, S. Illinois will need to find a way to close that gap.
Illinois State couldn’t quite finish off S. Illinois when the teams last played back in February of 2024 and fell 69-66. Will Illinois State have more luck at home instead of on the road?
Series History
S. Illinois has won 8 out of their last 10 games against Illinois State.
- Feb 10, 2024 – S. Illinois 69 vs. Illinois State 66
- Jan 06, 2024 – S. Illinois 71 vs. Illinois State 64
- Jan 29, 2023 – Illinois State 72 vs. S. Illinois 66
- Jan 14, 2023 – S. Illinois 69 vs. Illinois State 57
- Feb 23, 2022 – S. Illinois 90 vs. Illinois State 69
- Feb 05, 2022 – S. Illinois 75 vs. Illinois State 69
- Feb 14, 2021 – S. Illinois 59 vs. Illinois State 49
- Feb 13, 2021 – Illinois State 80 vs. S. Illinois 55
- Jan 25, 2020 – S. Illinois 58 vs. Illinois State 55
- Jan 04, 2020 – S. Illinois 67 vs. Illinois State 55
