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S. Illinois Salukis @ Austin Peay Governors

Current Records: S. Illinois 4-6, Austin Peay 4-5

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The S. Illinois Salukis are taking a road trip to face off against the Austin Peay Governors at 5:00 p.m. ET on Saturday at F&M Bank Arena. The Governors have the home-court advantage, but the Salukis are expected to win by three points.

S. Illinois will head into Saturday's match on the come-up: they were handed a 23-point loss in their previous outing, but they didn't let that bad energy affect their game against Southern Indiana on Saturday. S. Illinois came out on top in a nail-biter against Southern Indiana , sneaking past 73-70. For those keeping track at home, that's the closest victory the Salukis have posted since February 10th.

S. Illinois got their win on the backs of several key players, but it was Ali Dibba out in front who went 7 for 12 en route to 19 points plus three steals. Dibba had some trouble finding his footing against Bradley last Tuesday, so this was a nice turnaround. Jarrett Hensley was another key player, dropping a double-double on 16 points and 11 rebounds.

Meanwhile, Austin Peay's recent rough patch got a bit rougher on Sunday after their third straight defeat. They wound up on the wrong side of a bruising 72-47 walloping at the hands of Samford. The game marked the Governors' lowest-scoring contest so far this season.

Perhaps unsurprisingly given the score, Austin Peay struggled to work together and finished the game with only eight assists. They were crushed by their opponents in that department as Samford racked up 18.

S. Illinois' victory bumped their record up to 4-6. As for Austin Peay, they now have a losing record at 4-5.

Saturday's matchup is shaping up to be a scrappy match: S. Illinois has crashing the boards this season, having averaged 38.6 rebounds per game. It's a different story for Austin Peay, though, as they've been averaging only 31.2. Given S. Illinois' sizable advantage in that area, Austin Peay will need to find a way to close that gap.

S. Illinois couldn't quite finish off Austin Peay when the teams last played back in December of 2023 and fell 70-68. Can S. Illinois avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.

Odds

S. Illinois is a 3-point favorite against Austin Peay, according to the latest college basketball odds.

The oddsmakers had a good feel for the line for this one, as the game opened with the Salukis as a 2.5-point favorite.


The over/under is 133 points.

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Series History

Austin Peay and S. Illinois both have 1 win in their last 2 games.

  • Dec 12, 2023 - Austin Peay 70 vs. S. Illinois 68
  • Nov 12, 2021 - S. Illinois 73 vs. Austin Peay 55