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McNeese Cowboys (22-3, 11-1 Southland) at Nicholls State Colonels (13-11, 8-3 Southland)
Thibodaux, Louisiana; Saturday, 4 p.m. EST
BOTTOM LINE: Nicholls State faces the McNeese Cowboys after Diante Smith scored 20 points in Nicholls State’s 67-63 victory over the Texas A&M-CC Islanders.
The Colonels are 8-1 in home games. Nicholls State has a 4-10 record against opponents over .500.
The Cowboys have gone 11-1 against Southland opponents. McNeese is fourth in the Southland with 9.6 offensive rebounds per game led by Christian Shumate averaging 3.5.
Nicholls State’s average of 7.8 made 3-pointers per game this season is only 0.1 fewer made shots on average than the 7.9 per game McNeese allows. McNeese has shot at a 49.4% clip from the field this season, 6.0 percentage points higher than the 43.4% shooting opponents of Nicholls State have averaged.
The Colonels and Cowboys match up Saturday for the first time in conference play this season.
TOP PERFORMERS: Smith is scoring 15.4 points per game with 6.6 rebounds and 3.1 assists for the Colonels.
Shahada Wells is averaging 17.3 points, 4.7 assists and 2.9 steals for the Cowboys.
LAST 10 GAMES: Colonels: 7-3, averaging 72.3 points, 34.6 rebounds, 10.2 assists, 6.7 steals and 4.7 blocks per game while shooting 45.5% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 71.8 points per game.
Cowboys: 9-1, averaging 82.5 points, 33.6 rebounds, 16.2 assists, 10.9 steals and 3.3 blocks per game while shooting 49.8% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 64.0 points.
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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.
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