Southern Illinois Salukis @ Belmont Bruins
Belmont hosts Southern Illinois following Lundblade's 25-point showing
Southern Illinois Salukis (7-8, 1/3 MVC) at Belmont Bruins (13-2, 3-1 MVC)
Nashville, Tennessee; Sunday, 5 p.m. EST
BOTTOM LINE: Belmont faces Southern Illinois after Tyler Lundblade scored 25 points in Belmont's 88-78 victory over the Bradley Braves.
The Bruins have gone 6-1 in home games. Belmont ranks second in the MVC in rebounding with 35.7 rebounds. Sam Orme paces the Bruins with 6.8 boards.
The Salukis are 1/3 in conference matchups. Southern Illinois has a 4-1 record in games decided by 10 points or more.
Belmont averages 10.8 made 3-pointers per game, 2.7 more made shots than the 8.1 per game Southern Illinois gives up. Southern Illinois has shot at a 48.2% clip from the field this season, 10.7 percentage points above the 37.5% shooting opponents of Belmont have averaged.
The Bruins and Salukis meet Sunday for the first time in MVC play this season.
TOP PERFORMERS: Lundblade is scoring 17.2 points per game with 2.2 rebounds and 1.7 assists for the Bruins. Nic McClain is averaging 10.6 points and 6.2 assists over the past 10 games.
Quel'Ron House is averaging 14.5 points and 1.6 steals for the Salukis. Drew Steffe is averaging 10.6 points over the last 10 games.
LAST 10 GAMES: Bruins: 8-2, averaging 85.8 points, 33.8 rebounds, 19.6 assists, 6.1 steals and 3.8 blocks per game while shooting 52.8% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 72.7 points per game.
Salukis: 4-6, averaging 75.1 points, 34.7 rebounds, 12.5 assists, 8.5 steals and 3.0 blocks per game while shooting 46.3% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 75.3 points.
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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.
Game Information
2025-26 Missouri Valley Conference Standings
| Team | CONF | GB | OVR |
|---|---|---|---|
| Illinois State | 4-0 | - | 12-3 |
| Murray State | 4-0 | - | 12-3 |
| Northern Iowa | 3-0 | 0.5 | 11-3 |
| Belmont | 3-1 | 1 | 13-2 |
| Bradley | 3-1 | 1 | 10-5 |
| Drake | 1-2 | 2.5 | 7-7 |
| Indiana State | 1-3 | 3 | 8-7 |
| Southern Illinois | 1-3 | 3 | 7-8 |
| Valparaiso | 0-3 | 3.5 | 6-8 |
| UIC | 0-3 | 3.5 | 5-9 |
| Evansville | 0-4 | 4 | 4-11 |

