East Tennessee State Buccaneers (20-8, 12-3 SoCon) at UNC Greensboro Spartans (12-16, 8-7 SoCon)
Greensboro, North Carolina; Saturday, 4 p.m. EST
BOTTOM LINE: UNC Greensboro plays East Tennessee State after Justin Neely scored 35 points in UNC Greensboro’s 91-77 loss to the Western Carolina Catamounts.
The Spartans are 8-5 in home games. UNC Greensboro is 4-10 in games decided by 10 points or more.
The Buccaneers are 12-3 against SoCon opponents. East Tennessee State is the top team in the SoCon giving up just 68.1 points per game while holding opponents to 41.5% shooting.
UNC Greensboro scores 78.6 points, 10.5 more per game than the 68.1 East Tennessee State gives up. East Tennessee State averages 7.5 made 3-pointers per game this season, 3.0 fewer made shots on average than the 10.5 per game UNC Greensboro allows.
The teams square off for the second time this season in SoCon play. East Tennessee State won the last matchup 86-60 on Jan. 10. Blake Barkley scored 24 points to help lead the Buccaneers to the victory.
TOP PERFORMERS: Neely is averaging 18.2 points and 11.7 rebounds for the Spartans. KJ Younger is averaging 2.3 made 3-pointers over the last 10 games.
Jaylen Smith averages 1.6 made 3-pointers per game for the Buccaneers, scoring 9.0 points while shooting 33.8% from beyond the arc. Cam Morris III is averaging 14.4 points, 6.4 rebounds and 1.5 steals over the past 10 games.
LAST 10 GAMES: Spartans: 5-5, averaging 80.2 points, 29.3 rebounds, 13.6 assists, 5.6 steals and 2.0 blocks per game while shooting 46.5% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 82.8 points per game.
Buccaneers: 8-2, averaging 78.6 points, 32.0 rebounds, 14.2 assists, 8.0 steals and 3.2 blocks per game while shooting 47.3% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 71.1 points.
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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.