Belmont (9-4, 2-0) at Southern Illinois (9-4, 1-1) – 8:00 PM ET (ESPN+)
Tonight’s UTR Game of the Day has Belmont make the trip along Interstate 24 to Carbondale, Illinois for a trip to Southern Illinois. Belmont comes into tonight having won 7 of their past 8 games; they’ve opened up play in the Valley with conference wins against Northern Iowa at home and against Valparaiso on the road. Cade Tyson averages 17.8 points a game for the Bruins.
The Salukis had rough sailing in their conference opener with a 29-point loss to Indiana State. Recently, they’ve put together a modest 3-game winning streak that includes a home win against Illinois-Chicago to improve to 1-1 in the Valley. Southern Illinois also has wins against Saint Louis and Oklahoma State in nonconference play. Xavier Johnson is averaging a whopping 24.6 points a game for the Salukis.