Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders (16-14, 10-9 CUSA) at Missouri State Bears (14-16, 8-11 CUSA)
Springfield, Missouri; Saturday, 3 p.m. EST
BOTTOM LINE: Middle Tennessee plays Missouri State after Tre Green scored 25 points in Middle Tennessee’s 73-67 win against the Florida International Panthers.
The Bears are 11-6 in home games. Missouri State ranks fourth in the CUSA with 14.4 assists per game led by Keith Palek III averaging 3.5.
The Blue Raiders are 10-9 in CUSA play. Middle Tennessee scores 75.7 points while outscoring opponents by 2.8 points per game.
Missouri State’s average of 7.6 made 3-pointers per game this season is only 0.9 more made shots on average than the 6.7 per game Middle Tennessee gives up. Middle Tennessee has shot at a 44.5% rate from the field this season, 0.8 percentage points below the 45.3% shooting opponents of Missouri State have averaged.
The teams meet for the second time in conference play this season. Middle Tennessee won 90-87 in the last matchup on Jan. 17. Torey Alston led Middle Tennessee with 22 points, and Palek led Missouri State with 20 points.
TOP PERFORMERS: Palek is averaging 18.1 points, 6.5 rebounds and 3.5 assists for the Bears. Kobi Williams is averaging 2.5 made 3-pointers over the last 10 games.
Kamari Lands is scoring 13.7 points per game and averaging 3.7 rebounds for the Blue Raiders. Alston is averaging 14.9 points and 8.1 rebounds over the last 10 games.
LAST 10 GAMES: Bears: 2-8, averaging 75.8 points, 28.8 rebounds, 14.8 assists, 6.9 steals and 3.2 blocks per game while shooting 43.9% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 77.4 points per game.
Blue Raiders: 5-5, averaging 78.6 points, 32.6 rebounds, 14.6 assists, 6.3 steals and 3.5 blocks per game while shooting 45.2% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 77.4 points.
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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.