GAME NOTES
2019-20 Regular Season
North Carolina Central (2-4, 0-0 MEAC)
At
Southern Illinois (2-4, 0-0 Missouri Valley)
Tuesday, Nov. 26, 2019 – 7:00 p.m. CT
Banterra Center – Carbondale, Ill.
Video: ESPN+
Audio: Saluki Sports Network
Stats: SIUSalukis.com
 
Complete Game Notes (PDF)
 
STARTING FIVE:
1. NCCU begins its 87th season of men's basketball with over 1,200 wins.
2. LeVelle Moton is coaching his 11th season with NCCU, and is just the third coach in program history with 10+ seasons.
3. NCCU will face seven opponents for the first time during non-conference play.
4. NCCU went 5-9 in non-conference play during the 2018-19 season.
5. NCCU is 16-1 at home during non-conference play since 2016.
 
SCOUTING THE SALUKIS
Southern Illinois enters this matchup with a 2-4 record, but started the season 2-0 with wins over Illinois Wesleyan and UTSA.  The Salukis are paced by Aaron Cook who is one of the top defenders in the nation, ranking top-five in steals with 19 this season.  He also leads the club with 15.0 points and 3.3 assists per contest.  However, Barret Benson will be asked to step up in his absence due to injury, and he's averaging 12.0 points and 4.8 boards per outing.
 
LAST FIVE VS SOUTHERN ILLINOIS:
First Meeting.
 
NCCU vs. MISSOURI VALLEY CONFERENCE
The Eagles have battled just two teams from the Missouri Valley Conference as it currently stands since moving to the NCAA Division I level, and have fallen in all four contests.  The Eagles also faced Wichita State twice before the Shockers moved to the American Athletic Conference, and were defeated both times.
11/30/07........................ at Drake.............               48-85 L
12/06/08........................ at Drake.............               46-89 L
12/19/12........................ at Drake.............               69-72 L
11/13/17........................ at Evansville.......               55-68 L
 
MEAC TOURNAMENT THREE-PEAT
NCCU has won the MEAC Tournament for the third consecutive year, and became the first MEAC school to clinch three-straight bids since North Carolina A&T won seven consecutively from 1982-88.  The Eagles have now captured the tournament crown for the fourth time in the eight years that they have been eligible for the MEAC Tournament since transitioning to Division I.

PARTY LIKE IT'S 1989
NCCU recently celebrated the 30th anniversary of its 1989 NCAA Division II National Championship, where it defeated Southeast Missouri State, 73-45, setting a record for the largest margin of victory in the title game that still stands to this day.
 
TRIPLE THREAT
Senior guard Randy Miller Jr. put up a remarkable 21 points with five made threes in back-to-back games at Cincinnati and Bowling Green last season, and made five or more treys in a game three times during the 2018-19 season.  Over the two games, Miller was 10-for-15 (66.7%) from the arc, and 15-for-23 (65.2%) from the floor.  Later in the season, Miller went 7-for-8 from downtown with 27 points against Morgan State to become the first Eagle to hit 7+ treys in a game since Patrick Cole against North Carolina A&T on Jan. 28, 2017.
 
TWO'S COMPANY
NCCU returns just two starters from the 2018-19 club, Randy Miller Jr. and Jordan Perkins.  In total, four Eagles come back for the 2019-20 campaign, including Jibri Blount and Nicolas Fennell.  Perkins and Miller contributed 559 of the Eagles' 2,429 points last year (16.4 ppg), and with Blount and Fennell the quartet comprised 856 points last year (25.2 ppg).
 
THREE'S A CROWD
Miller and Perkins both landed on the Preseason All-MEAC list, along with Blount for their contributions to the Eagles' 2019 tournament championship run.  Miller earned second team honors after averaging 13.3 points per game and finished top-10 in the MEAC by shooting 37.1 percent from the arc with 66 made triples.  Blount averaged 10.1 points and 4.4 boards off the bench last year, and reached a season-high with a 34-point explosion at Howard.  Perkins averaged 4.3 assists per contest and finished sixth in the MEAC in that category, and also was ranked fourth in the league with a 2.0 assist-to-turnover ratio.  Perkins also motored the Eagles with a team-high 125 assists, and a team second-most 25 steals.