Florida International Panthers (13-14, 6-10 CUSA) at Sam Houston Bearkats (19-8, 11-5 CUSA)
Huntsville, Texas; Thursday, 9 p.m. EST
BOTTOM LINE: Florida International plays Sam Houston after Julian Mackey scored 22 points in Florida International’s 70-67 victory against the Missouri State Bears.
The Bearkats have gone 11-1 at home. Sam Houston is the CUSA leader with 36.7 rebounds per game led by Kashie Natt averaging 7.4.
The Panthers have gone 6-10 against CUSA opponents. Florida International is third in the CUSA scoring 81.4 points per game and is shooting 45.7%.
Sam Houston makes 46.7% of its shots from the field this season, which is 3.8 percentage points higher than Florida International has allowed to its opponents (42.9%). Florida International averages 7.5 made 3-pointers per game this season, 0.4 fewer makes per game than Sam Houston gives up.
The teams meet for the second time in conference play this season. Sam Houston won 76-63 in the last matchup on Jan. 17. Jacobe Coleman led Sam Houston with 14 points, and Mackey led Florida International with 23 points.
TOP PERFORMERS: Natt is averaging 10.8 points, 7.4 rebounds and two steals for the Bearkats. Po’Boigh King is averaging 17.3 points over the last 10 games.
Corey Stephenson is scoring 17.9 points per game with 6.3 rebounds and 1.7 assists for the Panthers. Zawdie Jackson is averaging 12.8 points and 2.3 rebounds while shooting 46.3% over the last 10 games.
LAST 10 GAMES: Bearkats: 9-1, averaging 79.6 points, 32.9 rebounds, 16.0 assists, 6.4 steals and 3.4 blocks per game while shooting 47.5% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 72.6 points per game.
Panthers: 4-6, averaging 75.5 points, 34.7 rebounds, 11.1 assists, 9.0 steals and 3.9 blocks per game while shooting 43.6% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 76.8 points.
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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.