Belmont visits Southern Illinois after Johnson’s 31-point showing
Belmont Bruins (9-4, 2-0 MVC) at Southern Illinois Salukis (9-4, 1-1 MVC)
Carbondale, Illinois; Tuesday, 8 p.m. EST
FANDUEL SPORTSBOOK LINE: Salukis -5.5; over/under is 147.5
BOTTOM LINE: Southern Illinois plays the Belmont Bruins after Xavier Johnson scored 31 points in Southern Illinois’ 62-50 victory against the UIC Flames.
The Salukis are 8-1 in home games. Southern Illinois ranks sixth in the MVC with 15.0 assists per game led by Johnson averaging 5.8.
The Bruins are 2-0 against MVC opponents. Belmont is 2-0 in games decided by 3 points or fewer.
Southern Illinois’ average of 8.6 made 3-pointers per game this season is only 0.4 more made shots on average than the 8.2 per game Belmont allows. Belmont averages 8.5 made 3-pointers per game this season, 3.7 more made shots on average than the 4.8 per game Southern Illinois gives up.
The Salukis and Bruins face off Tuesday for the first time in MVC play this season.
TOP PERFORMERS: Clarence Rupert is averaging 9.5 points and 6.1 rebounds for the Salukis. Johnson is averaging 2.7 made 3-pointers over the last 10 games for Southern Illinois.
Cade Tyson averages 2.4 made 3-pointers per game for the Bruins, scoring 17.8 points while shooting 39.4% from beyond the arc. Ja’Kobi Gillespie is averaging 16.9 points, 3.8 assists and 2.2 steals over the past 10 games for Belmont.
LAST 10 GAMES: Salukis: 6-4, averaging 73.1 points, 31.6 rebounds, 14.4 assists, 5.1 steals and 3.6 blocks per game while shooting 47.1% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 64.5 points per game.
Bruins: 7-3, averaging 79.6 points, 33.2 rebounds, 15.3 assists, 8.0 steals and 2.6 blocks per game while shooting 49.0% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 78.4 points.
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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.
Credit: Belmont visits Southern Illinois after Johnson’s 31-point showing
