NC Central (2-4) vs. Southern Illinois (2-4)
SIU Arena, Carbondale, Illinois; Tuesday, 8 p.m. EST
BOTTOM LINE: NC Central squares up against Southern Illinois in a non-conference matchup. NC Central easily beat Bluefield State by 24 at home on Thursday, while Southern Illinois fell to Murray State on the road on Tuesday, 79-66.
SQUAD LEADERSHIP: Southern Illinois' Aaron Cook has averaged 15 points and 3.2 steals while Marcus Domask has put up 12.2 points. For the Eagles, Jibri Blount has averaged 14.3 points and 9.2 rebounds while Randy Miller, Jr. has put up 16.3 points.
KEY FACILITATOR: Cook has directly created 43 percent of all Southern Illinois field goals over the last five games. The junior guard has 32 field goals and 15 assists in those games.
STREAK STATS: NC Central has lost its last four road games, scoring 57.3 points, while allowing 76 per game.
ASSIST RATIOS: The Eagles have recently used assists to create buckets more often than the Salukis. Southern Illinois has 28 assists on 65 field goals (43.1 percent) across its previous three outings while NC Central has assists on 33 of 64 field goals (51.6 percent) during its past three games.
DID YOU KNOW: Southern Illinois has committed a turnover on just 17.1 percent of its possessions this season, which is the second-lowest percentage among all MVC teams. The Salukis have turned the ball over only 11.2 times per game this season.
