Ohio Bobcats (14-13, 8-6 MAC) at Northern Illinois Huskies (9-16, 4-9 MAC)
DeKalb, Illinois; Saturday, 3 p.m. EST
BOTTOM LINE: Northern Illinois hosts Ohio after Gianni Cobb scored 23 points in Northern Illinois’ 72-70 win over the Buffalo Bulls.
The Huskies have gone 6-4 in home games. Northern Illinois is eighth in the MAC with 21.4 defensive rebounds per game led by Taj Walters averaging 3.7.
The Bobcats have gone 8-6 against MAC opponents. Ohio is eighth in the MAC scoring 77.3 points per game and is shooting 46.6%.
Northern Illinois is shooting 41.7% from the field this season, 3.8 percentage points lower than the 45.5% Ohio allows to opponents. Ohio averages 77.3 points per game, 1.1 more than the 76.2 Northern Illinois allows.
The teams square off for the second time in conference play this season. Ohio won the last matchup 80-77 on Jan. 21. Jackson Paveletzke scored 23 points to help lead the Bobcats to the win.
TOP PERFORMERS: Makhai Valentine is averaging 13.9 points and 5.4 rebounds for the Huskies. Cobb is averaging 11.5 points over the last 10 games.
Ajay Sheldon averages 2.0 made 3-pointers per game for the Bobcats, scoring 7.6 points while shooting 38.6% from beyond the arc. Paveletzke is averaging 16.7 points and six assists over the last 10 games.
LAST 10 GAMES: Huskies: 4-6, averaging 65.0 points, 30.1 rebounds, 12.3 assists, 5.6 steals and 2.3 blocks per game while shooting 39.5% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 73.3 points per game.
Bobcats: 4-6, averaging 75.9 points, 28.0 rebounds, 12.2 assists, 5.4 steals and 4.0 blocks per game while shooting 45.0% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 79.1 points.
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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.