Southern Illinois @ Missouri preview

Last Meeting ( Nov 12, 2013 ) Southern Illinois 59, Missouri 72

Missouri looks to win its second straight game when it hosts Southern Illinois in a non-conference affair on Sunday afternoon. The Tigers snapped a three-game losing streak on Dec. 7 with a win over Temple, while the Salukis haven't played since a loss at Southern Miss on the same day.

Southern Illinois has one of the top scoring freshmen in the country in forward Marcus Domask, who is scoring 14.7 points per game along with 4.8 rebounds and 2.8 assists. Domask has had to step forward after Aaron Cook, the team's leading scorer at 15 points a game, broke his hand and was lost for four to six weeks on Nov. 19, with the freshman averaging 18.5 points in the four games since the injury. Missouri is led by guard Mark Smith's 11.8 points and 5.1 rebounds per game, while fellow guard Dru Smith is chipping in with 11.1 points and 4.4 assists. The Tigers have been solid on the defensive end this season, holding opponents to 59 points a game, good for 22nd in the country.

TV: 4 p.m. ET, SEC Network.

ABOUT SOUTHERN ILLINOIS (4-6): Domask has been upping his production to help replace what was lost with Cook's injury, but Cook's replacement, another freshman, Lance Jones, has been playing well also. Over the last three games, Jones is averaging 12 points, 4.3 rebounds and 4.3 assists, though he's also averaged 4 turnovers per contest. That could be a problem against a Missouri team that forces 14.6 turnovers per game, including making 6.7 steals per contest.

ABOUT MISSOURI (5-4): Cuonzo Martin moved sophomore guard Javon Pickett to the bench two games ago against Charleston Southern, and Pickett responded to playing well in the new role, scoring nine points and grabbing six rebounds in 23 minutes. But the encore was even better, as Pickett scored a team-high and season-high 16 points off the bench in the win over Temple. The Tigers are allowing just 59 points per game which ranks 22nd nationally and are 5-0 when holding an opponent to fewer than 60 points.

TIP-INS

1. Southern Illinois held its first nine opponents under 50 percent shooting before Southern Miss connected on 57-percent of its shots.

2. Missouri has hit 74.1 percent of its free throws so far, which would rank as the sixth-highest single-season free-throw percentage in school history.

3. Tigers F Jeremiah Tilmon Jr. is 18th in the country with his .649 field-goal percentage.

PREDICTION: Missouri 66, Southern Illinois 58