UIC hosts Southern Illinois following Johnson's 28-point game

Southern Illinois Salukis (14-8, 6-5 MVC) at UIC Flames (8-14, 1-10 MVC)

Chicago; Saturday, 2 p.m. EST

LINE: Salukis -2.5; over/under is 134.5

BOTTOM LINE: Southern Illinois faces the UIC Flames after Xavier Johnson scored 28 points in Southern Illinois' 76-75 overtime loss to the Missouri State Bears.

The Flames are 4-6 in home games. UIC is fifth in the MVC in team defense, giving up 68.5 points while holding opponents to 41.6% shooting.

The Salukis have gone 6-5 against MVC opponents. Southern Illinois has a 2-4 record in games decided by less than 4 points.

UIC averages 8.9 made 3-pointers per game, 4.0 more made shots than the 4.9 per game Southern Illinois allows. Southern Illinois has shot at a 46.5% rate from the field this season, 4.9 percentage points greater than the 41.6% shooting opponents of UIC have averaged.

TOP PERFORMERS: Isaiah Rivera is shooting 41.0% from beyond the arc with 2.0 made 3-pointers per game for the Flames, while averaging 14.3 points. Christian Jones is averaging 12.8 points and 4.1 assists over the past 10 games for UIC.

Johnson is scoring 23.2 points per game and averaging 3.8 rebounds for the Salukis. Trent Brown is averaging 10.4 points and 3.1 rebounds over the last 10 games for Southern Illinois.

LAST 10 GAMES: Flames: 1-9, averaging 65.4 points, 30.5 rebounds, 13.0 assists, 5.0 steals and 4.3 blocks per game while shooting 42.9% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 75.2 points per game.

Salukis: 6-4, averaging 67.7 points, 34.2 rebounds, 12.9 assists, 5.2 steals and 2.2 blocks per game while shooting 44.1% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 65.5 points.

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