Southern Illinois visits Illinois State after Knudsen's 20-point game

Southern Illinois Salukis (3-14, 1-7 MVC) at Illinois State Redbirds (12-7, 6-2 MVC)

Normal, Illinois; Friday, 7:30 p.m. EST

BOTTOM LINE: Illinois State faces Southern Illinois after Elyce Knudsen scored 20 points in Illinois State's 74-58 victory over the Bradley Braves.

The Redbirds have gone 6-3 at home. Illinois State averages 14.4 turnovers per game and is 5-3 when it wins the turnover battle.

The Salukis are 1-7 against MVC opponents. Southern Illinois gives up 74.7 points to opponents and has been outscored by 15.1 points per game.

Illinois State makes 49.0% of its shots from the field this season, which is 5.5 percentage points higher than Southern Illinois has allowed to its opponents (43.5%). Southern Illinois' 35.1% shooting percentage from the field this season is 5.2 percentage points lower than Illinois State has allowed to its opponents (40.3%).

The Redbirds and Salukis meet Friday for the first time in MVC play this season.

TOP PERFORMERS: Shannon Dowell is averaging 15.9 points and 5.1 rebounds for the Redbirds. Knudsen is averaging 13.5 points over the last 10 games.

Kayla Cooper is averaging 8.4 points and 1.7 steals for the Salukis. Gift Uchenna is averaging 16.0 points and 14.9 rebounds while shooting 41.7% over the past 10 games.

LAST 10 GAMES: Redbirds: 7-3, averaging 77.3 points, 35.7 rebounds, 17.4 assists, 5.4 steals and 2.8 blocks per game while shooting 48.7% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 67.8 points per game.

Salukis: 1-9, averaging 59.7 points, 35.1 rebounds, 11.9 assists, 7.2 steals and 3.8 blocks per game while shooting 34.3% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 78.1 points.

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