Southern Illinois hosts Murray State after Ford's 22-point outing

Murray State Racers (14-2, 5-0 MVC) at Southern Illinois Salukis (3-11, 1-5 MVC)

Carbondale, Illinois; Thursday, 7 p.m. EST

BOTTOM LINE: Murray State faces Southern Illinois after Haven Ford scored 22 points in Murray State's 95-67 win over the Drake Bulldogs.

The Salukis are 3-3 on their home court. Southern Illinois is eighth in the MVC with 22.7 defensive rebounds per game led by Jeniah Thompson averaging 4.6.

The Racers are 5-0 in conference games. Murray State ranks seventh in the MVC shooting 29.5% from 3-point range.

Southern Illinois scores 63.9 points per game, 12.6 fewer points than the 76.5 Murray State gives up. Murray State averages 7.8 made 3-pointers per game this season, 0.9 more makes per game than Southern Illinois gives up.

The Salukis and Racers meet Thursday for the first time in MVC play this season.

TOP PERFORMERS: Alayna Kraus is scoring 14.4 points per game and averaging 3.1 rebounds for the Salukis. Indya Green is averaging 11.9 points and 7.2 rebounds over the last 10 games.

Sharnecce Currie-Jelks is averaging 20.1 points, 12.2 rebounds and 1.5 blocks for the Racers. Halli Poock is averaging 21.8 points and 4.9 assists over the past 10 games.

LAST 10 GAMES: Salukis: 2-8, averaging 65.4 points, 33.6 rebounds, 11.8 assists, 8.7 steals and 2.6 blocks per game while shooting 37.7% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 73.1 points per game.

Racers: 10-0, averaging 86.8 points, 38.5 rebounds, 14.4 assists, 7.5 steals and 3.3 blocks per game while shooting 43.5% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 74.4 points.

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