CARBONDALE, Ill. — The Southern Illinois men’s basketball team looks to extend its win streak to four games Saturday, but the Richmond Spiders stand in the way.
The Salukis (6-4) face the Spiders (8-1) at 5 p.m. CST on Saturday, Dec. 13, at Robins Center in Richmond, Virginia.
Game Details
Matchup: SIU at Richmond
Time: 5 p.m. CST
Location: Robins Center, Richmond, Virginia
Live Stats: Saluk.is/48Inmm3
Watch on ESPN+: Saluk.is/48Lp2ev
Listen: Saluk.is/48WCQVn
App: Saluk.is/SalukisApp
Scouting the Spiders
Richmond enters red-hot, riding an 8-1 record and fresh off an 86-77 home win over Old Dominion.
The Spiders’ roster includes three redshirt freshmen and two graduate students. Freshman Aiden Argabright has earned Atlantic 10 rookie of the week honors twice this season. He averages 11.3 points per game and is one of three Richmond players scoring in double figures.
Richmond’s scoring margin is +15.1 points per game, compared with SIU’s +6.6. Blowout wins over Southern Virginia, VMI and Gardner-Webb have fueled that advantage.
The Spiders allow 69.7 points per game, tied for 102nd nationally. Offensively, they average 84.8 points, tied with Colorado State for 69th.
Richmond’s lone loss came against Furman, 73-72, at the ESPN Events Invitational in Kissimmee, Florida, on Thanksgiving. The Spiders also defeated Missouri Valley Conference leader Belmont, 84-76, in Nashville, Tennessee.
After facing SIU, Richmond travels to North Carolina to play Elon on Wednesday, Dec. 17.
Richmond ranks No. 88 in the latest NET ratings and No. 100 in KenPom.
The Dawgs
Nine Salukis average more than 13 minutes per game. Quel’Ron House leads the team with 14.2 points per game. Seven others average more than seven points, including Sykes (10.0), Drew Steffe (9.4), Isaiah Stafford (8.7), Prince Aligbe (8.2), Rolyns Aligbe (8.0), Damien Mayo Jr. (7.6) and Haynes (7.4). Max Pikaar logged a season-high 25 minutes in Wednesday’s 83-54 win over UT Martin.
After a cold start from 3-point range, SIU has heated up during its three-game win streak, shooting 41% (21-for-51). Steffe has gone 11-for-22, while Mayo Jr. hit 4 of 6 at High Point on Dec. 3.
The Salukis average 80 points and nearly 40 rebounds per game, outrebounding opponents by more than four boards.
SIU ranks No. 113 in NET ratings and No. 117 in KenPom.
Last Time Out
On Wednesday, SIU topped UT Martin, 83-54. In the final seconds of the first half, freshman guard Jalen Haynes went coast-to-coast for a buzzer-beating slam that extended the Salukis’ halftime lead to 34-27. The clip of the play has been viewed nearly 2 million times on social media.
SIU dominated the second half, with senior Davion Sykes scoring a team-high 17 points. Defensively, the Salukis held UT Martin to 34 percent shooting from the field and 25 percent from 3-point range. SIU improved to 4-0 at Banterra Center this season.
