Bradley (12-5, 4-2) at Southern Illinois (12-5, 4-2) – 8:00 PM ET (ESPN+)
Tonight’s UTR Game of the Day takes us to Carbondale, Illinois for a matchup of two leading contenders in the Missouri Valley Conference as the Bradley Braves travel downstate to visit the Southern Illinois Salukis. The Braves started the season with a 6-game winning streak and then ran into a 5-game losing streak that included a pair of losses to begin conference play. The Braves have since won 6 straight again, including wins against the bottom 4 teams in the conference. Duke Deen led Bradley with 26 points in their 77-59 victory against Illinois-Chicago.
Southern Illinois entered the weekend on a 6-game winning streak, but that was interrupted thanks to a 76-58 loss at home against Drake. While they also took advantage of the bottom of the league, SIU did get a 73-63 victory against Belmont during their winning streak. While Barry Hinson is no longer roaming the SIU sidelines, there are rumors that a few bottles of BBQ sauce are still lying around: