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Stephen J. Cullen, representing Oren Hulsh, speaks to the seven justices of the Illinois Supreme Court as two oral arguments are heard on the SIU campus in the student center March 18, 2025 in Carbondale, Illinois.

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Kennard David Jr. (30) looks to pass the ball to Saluki Rolyns Aligbe (0) while being blocked by Indiana State’s Sycamores, Jaden Daughtery (23) and Bruno Alocen (14) during the Arch Madness Conference in St. Louis, Missouri on Mar. 6, 2025. Emily Brinkman | @erb_photo_

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Salukis set to face Indiana State in Arch Madness

By Ryan Grieser, Sports Reporter

March 3, 2025

Emily Brinkman| erb_photo_

Saluki’s huddle at their home game against Belmont’s Bruins, Feb. 15, 2025 at the Banteera Center in Carbondale, Illinois.

At least the Salukis are familiar with their opponent entering Arch Madness.

SIU, the eight seed, will face off with Indiana State, the nine seed, at noon on March 6 at the Enterprise Center in St. Louis, IL.

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The Dawgs are coming off of a 95-77 loss to those same Sycamores. Both hold identical 8-12 records in the Missouri Valley Conference, but SIU held the tiebreaker, a higher NET ranking, to earn the higher seed and be the “home” team.

As is expected when teams have identical records, their Valley records are remarkably similar. Both SIU and Indiana State lost to Bradley and Belmont twice, beat Missouri State twice and went 1-1 against Illinois State, Evansville and Valparaiso.

Indiana State also went 0-2 against the University of Northern Iowa and Drake and 1-1 against Murray State. SIU went 1-1 against UNI, 0-1 vs Drake and 0-2 vs Murray State.

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The Salukis benefitted from playing and beating the University of Illinois Chicago twice and winning both matchups rather than facing the number one seed, Drake, twice.

Indiana State’s high-powered offense, which was on full display in their game against SIU, is ranked second in the conference at 79.94 points per game. However, their defense holds them back; they rank dead last in the Valley by nearly 2 points in points allowed per game at 79.32.

The Sycamores gave up 85 or more points in conference play eight times, including 118 in a Jan. 5 matchup with Bradley. That total was the most points allowed by any team in the MVC, including non-league play.

SIU’s offense ranks eighth at 73.10 points per game and ninth in scoring defense, as the Dawgs give up 74.29 points per game.

Samage Teel ranks second in the MVC at 17.1 points per game, but Ali Dibba and Kennard Davis are ranked third and fourth, respectively in points per game with 16.77 and 16.30.

The winner of the SIU-Indiana State game will move to face the number one seeded Drake at noon on March 7.

Sports reporter Ryan Grieser can be reached at [email protected]. To stay up to date all your southern Illinois news, be sure to follow The Daily Egyptian on Facebook.