Sam Houston Bearkats (10-7, 2-4 CUSA) at Florida International Panthers (9-8, 2-4 CUSA)
Miami; Saturday, 2 p.m. EST
BOTTOM LINE: Florida International hosts Sam Houston after Zawdie Jackson scored 25 points in Florida International’s 89-86 loss to the Kennesaw State Owls.
The Panthers are 9-2 on their home court. Florida International is second in the CUSA scoring 84.9 points while shooting 46.8% from the field.
The Bearkats are 2-4 against CUSA opponents. Sam Houston ranks fifth in college basketball with 12.8 offensive rebounds per game led by Veljko Ilic averaging 3.5.
Florida International averages 84.9 points, 10.1 more per game than the 74.8 Sam Houston allows. Sam Houston has shot at a 46.2% rate from the field this season, 3.4 percentage points higher than the 42.8% shooting opponents of Florida International have averaged.
The matchup Saturday is the first meeting this season for the two teams in conference play.
TOP PERFORMERS: Eric Dibami is averaging 9.3 points, 6.9 rebounds and 1.6 blocks for the Panthers. Corey Stephenson is averaging 2.0 made 3-pointers over the last 10 games.
Ilic is averaging 10.7 points and 7.6 rebounds for the Bearkats. Po’Boigh King is averaging 2.6 made 3-pointers over the last 10 games.
LAST 10 GAMES: Panthers: 5-5, averaging 85.6 points, 33.6 rebounds, 16.7 assists, 9.7 steals and 4.7 blocks per game while shooting 49.2% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 78.6 points per game.
Bearkats: 5-5, averaging 82.6 points, 39.3 rebounds, 15.1 assists, 7.4 steals and 2.1 blocks per game while shooting 45.5% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 75.6 points.
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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.