Deen and Bradley host Southern Illinois

Bradley Braves (12-5, 4-2 MVC) at Southern Illinois Salukis (12-5, 4-2 MVC)

Carbondale, Illinois; Wednesday, 8 p.m. EST

BOTTOM LINE: Bradley plays the Southern Illinois Salukis after Duke Deen scored 26 points in Bradley's 77-59 victory over the UIC Flames.

The Salukis have gone 9-2 at home. Southern Illinois is the best team in the MVC in team defense, allowing 64.5 points while holding opponents to 42.7% shooting.

The Braves are 4-2 against conference opponents. Bradley is 2-1 in games decided by 3 points or fewer.

Southern Illinois averages 8.4 made 3-pointers per game, 2.0 more made shots than the 6.4 per game Bradley gives up. Bradley averages 8.8 made 3-pointers per game this season, 4.1 more made shots on average than the 4.7 per game Southern Illinois allows.

The Salukis and Braves meet Wednesday for the first time in MVC play this season.

TOP PERFORMERS: Xavier Johnson is scoring 23.8 points per game and averaging 3.8 rebounds for the Salukis. Trent Brown is averaging 2.0 made 3-pointers over the last 10 games for Southern Illinois.

Connor Hickman is shooting 43.6% from beyond the arc with 2.6 made 3-pointers per game for the Braves, while averaging 14.9 points and 3.2 assists. Deen is averaging 14.4 points and 4.3 assists over the past 10 games for Bradley.

LAST 10 GAMES: Salukis: 7-3, averaging 70.4 points, 31.6 rebounds, 14.7 assists, 4.6 steals and 2.7 blocks per game while shooting 46.5% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 64.1 points per game.

Braves: 6-4, averaging 74.4 points, 36.8 rebounds, 13.5 assists, 8.7 steals and 3.7 blocks per game while shooting 46.8% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 63.8 points.

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