Dibba and Southern Illinois host Northern Iowa

Southern Illinois Salukis (5-7, 0-1 MVC) at Northern Iowa Panthers (7-5, 1-0 MVC)

Cedar Falls, Iowa; Sunday, 2 p.m. EST

BOTTOM LINE: Southern Illinois visits Northern Iowa after Ali Abdou Dibba scored 27 points in Southern Illinois' 94-81 loss to the High Point Panthers.

The Panthers are 6-1 on their home court. Northern Iowa ranks second in the MVC in team defense, allowing 66.3 points while holding opponents to 43.3% shooting.

The Salukis are 0-1 in conference play. Southern Illinois ranks fourth in the MVC with 24.7 defensive rebounds per game led by Jarrett Hensley averaging 4.8.

Northern Iowa averages 78.0 points per game, 3.1 more points than the 74.9 Southern Illinois gives up. Southern Illinois has shot at a 45.1% rate from the field this season, 1.8 percentage points higher than the 43.3% shooting opponents of Northern Iowa have averaged.

The Panthers and Salukis square off Sunday for the first time in conference play this season.

TOP PERFORMERS: Trey Campbell is averaging 10 points and 3.5 assists for the Panthers.

Dibba is scoring 15.8 points per game and averaging 4.1 rebounds for the Salukis.

LAST 10 GAMES: Panthers: 5-5, averaging 75.3 points, 28.7 rebounds, 15.3 assists, 6.5 steals and 2.5 blocks per game while shooting 51.1% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 67.4 points per game.

Salukis: 4-6, averaging 72.6 points, 35.7 rebounds, 14.1 assists, 5.7 steals and 3.4 blocks per game while shooting 44.9% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 74.5 points.

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

The Associated Press