CARBONDALE, Ill. -- — Xavier Johnson's 17 points helped Southern Illinois defeat Illinois State 69-66 on Saturday night.

Johnson also added nine assists for the Salukis (16-9, 8-6 Missouri Valley Conference). Scottie Ebube added 10 points while shooting 5 of 6 from the field, and had seven rebounds. Troy D'Amico finished 3 of 8 from 3-point range to finish with nine points.

The Redbirds (11-14, 5-9) were led by Myles Foster, who recorded 17 points, seven rebounds and three blocks. Malachi Poindexter added 16 points for Illinois State. In addition, Kendall Lewis had 13 points and six rebounds.

Johnson put up 11 points in the first half for Southern Illinois, who led 42-25 at halftime. Southern Illinois used a 7-0 run in the second half to build a 15-point lead at 57-42 with 11:46 left in the half before finishing off the win.

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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.