GAME NOTES: Following a win over Illinois-Chicago on the opening day of the Men Against Breast Cancer Classic, the Yale Bulldogs will turn around and face the Southern Illinois Salukis at the M.A.C. Center Saturday.

Yale has won two games in a row, with the 70-58 victory over UIC on Friday being the most recent. The team's only loss came in the season opener against Quinnipiac in a double-overtime contest.

Southern Illinois opened its three-game tournament Friday evening with a contest against the host Kent State Golden Flashes. Kent State cruised to a 74-51 win over the Salukis, who had just defeated Tennessee State, 84-67, on Tuesday.

The contest between Yale and Southern Illinois on Saturday represents the first meeting between the programs in their respective histories.

Yale ran to a 40-26 advantage over Illinois-Chicago at the end of the first half Friday, and was able to set things on cruise control in the second half en route to the 12-point win. The Bulldogs shot 44.2 percent from the floor, adding a 45 percent rate from 3-point range. Justin Sears led Yale with 16 points in the game, adding in six rebounds. Javier Duren chipped in with 15 points, eight rebounds and six assists, and Armani Cotton contributed 11. Jack Montague rounded out the double-digit scorers with 10 points for the Bulldogs. Yale had the edge in rebounding in the contest, 33-26.

Duren leads the Bulldogs in scoring through three contests with 16.7 ppg, connecting on 45.7 percent of his shot tries from the floor. His 5.0 apg average is a team high, and he adds in 5.7 rpg for good measure. Sears, who is second on the team with 14.3 ppg, is Yale's top rebounder at 8.0 rpg for a team that is bringing down 41.3 total rpg. Montague's 13.3 ppg average is the third and final one in double figures for Yale, which as a unit is scoring 84.0 ppg.

Southern Illinois couldn't do much defensively to contain Kent State in the team's Friday loss. The Golden Flashes connected on 51.6 percent of their field goals in the first half, then made another 50 percent in the second half. Meanwhile, the Salukis hit just 28 percent of their shots in the second period. Sean O'Brien and Anthony Beane each chipped in with a team-best 12 points in the loss, while Jordan Caroline contributed 11 points and eight rebounds.

Through three games, Beane is the team's leading scorer, averaging 19.3 ppg on 51.4 percent shooting. As a team, Southern Illinois has managed just 64.7 ppg through the three contests, but has allowed 67.7 ppg to opponents. O'Brien finds himself second on the team with a 14.0 ppg average, and is the only other double-digit scorer on the team. O'Brien's 8.7 rpg mark is also a team best, though Bola Olaniyan's 6.7 rpg average isn't too far off the pace.

The Salukis haven't been able to find the offense necessary to pick up wins, save for a contest against the Ohio Valley Conference Tennessee State Tigers. Yale, on the other hand, has been steam rolling its most recent opponents offensively. The Bulldogs will face a tougher defensive test against the Salukis, but should still be able to get the contributions for a victory.