Southern Illinois takes on Valparaiso, looks to stop 5-game slide

Audio By Carbonatix

Valparaiso Beacons (0-16, 0-5 MVC) at Southern Illinois Salukis (2-11, 0-5 MVC)

Carbondale, Illinois; Saturday, 3 p.m. EST

BOTTOM LINE: Southern Illinois heads into the matchup against Valparaiso after losing five in a row.

The Salukis have gone 2-3 in home games. Southern Illinois is 2-5 when it turns the ball over less than its opponents and averages 15.0 turnovers per game.

The Beacons are 0-5 against MVC opponents. Valparaiso has a 0-10 record against teams above .500.

Southern Illinois averages 61.3 points per game, 17.8 fewer points than the 79.1 Valparaiso allows. Valparaiso's 31.9% shooting percentage from the field this season is 13.7 percentage points lower than Southern Illinois has given up to its opponents (45.6%).

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

TOP PERFORMERS: Indya Green is averaging 9.8 points and seven rebounds for the Salukis. Alayna Kraus is averaging 14.7 points over the last 10 games.

Kamryn Winch is averaging 3.9 points and 5.8 rebounds for the Beacons. Allia von Schlegell is averaging 11.1 points over the last 10 games.

LAST 10 GAMES: Salukis: 1-9, averaging 61.8 points, 31.7 rebounds, 10.8 assists, 7.8 steals and 2.7 blocks per game while shooting 36.6% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 74.7 points per game.

Beacons: 0-10, averaging 51.8 points, 29.8 rebounds, 9.6 assists, 6.1 steals and 3.4 blocks per game while shooting 31.9% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 77.3 points.

___

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