Coupet leads Southern Illinois against Drake after 22-point game

Southern Illinois Salukis (16-13, 9-8 MVC) at Drake Bulldogs (21-9, 12-5 MVC)

Des Moines, Iowa; Saturday, 4 p.m. EST

LINE: Drake -6; over/under is 129.5

BOTTOM LINE: Southern Illinois visits the Drake Bulldogs after Ben Coupet Jr. scored 22 points in Southern Illinois' 90-69 win against the Illinois State Redbirds.

The Bulldogs are 13-3 on their home court. Drake is sixth in the MVC shooting 34.4% from downtown, led by Shanquan Hemphill shooting 66.7% from 3-point range.

The Salukis are 9-8 in MVC play. Southern Illinois is ninth in the MVC scoring 64.6 points per game and is shooting 44.6%.

The teams square off for the 10th time this season in MVC play. The Bulldogs won the last meeting 60-59 on Jan. 18. Garrett Sturtz scored 16 points points to help lead the Bulldogs to the win.

TOP PERFORMERS: Roman Penn is averaging 10.6 points and 3.9 assists for the Bulldogs. Tucker DeVries is averaging 9.3 points and 2.6 rebounds while shooting 50.8% over the last 10 games for Drake.

Lance Jones is shooting 45.2% and averaging 14.9 points for the Salukis. Marcus Domask is averaging 9.0 points over the last 10 games for Southern Illinois.

LAST 10 GAMES: Bulldogs: 7-3, averaging 75.7 points, 33.0 rebounds, 12.4 assists, 6.5 steals and 4.6 blocks per game while shooting 52.1% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 64.8 points per game.

Salukis: 6-4, averaging 76.2 points, 26.1 rebounds, 13.2 assists, 5.6 steals and 2.2 blocks per game while shooting 50.4% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 65.6 points.

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