Murray State plays Southern Illinois after Young's 27-point performance

Southern Illinois Salukis (4-22, 2-15 MVC) at Murray State Racers (19-7, 13-4 MVC)

Murray, Kentucky; Saturday, 3 p.m. EST

BOTTOM LINE: Murray State hosts Southern Illinois after Katelyn Young scored 27 points in Murray State’s 78-67 victory against the Missouri State Bears.

The Racers are 11-2 on their home court. Murray State ranks second in the MVC with 17.9 assists per game led by Haven Ford averaging 5.3.

The Salukis have gone 2-15 against MVC opponents. Southern Illinois is 1-22 in games decided by 10 points or more.

Murray State is shooting 44.9% from the field this season, 0.6 percentage points higher than the 44.3% Southern Illinois allows to opponents. Southern Illinois’ 34.5% shooting percentage from the field this season is 10.6 percentage points lower than Murray State has allowed to its opponents (45.1%).

The matchup Saturday is the first meeting of the season for the two teams in conference play.

TOP PERFORMERS: Young is scoring 21.7 points per game and averaging 6.4 rebounds for the Racers. Halli Poock is averaging 2.5 made 3-pointers over the last 10 games.

Gift Uchenna is averaging 14.6 points, 12.8 rebounds and 2.2 blocks for the Salukis. Kayla Cooper is averaging 11.0 points over the last 10 games.

LAST 10 GAMES: Racers: 7-3, averaging 86.1 points, 33.1 rebounds, 17.6 assists, 7.4 steals and 2.1 blocks per game while shooting 45.2% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 75.2 points per game.

Salukis: 1-9, averaging 53.5 points, 29.8 rebounds, 9.5 assists, 6.6 steals and 4.6 blocks per game while shooting 33.4% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 78.2 points.