Southern Utah Thunderbirds (7-12, 2-6 WAC) at Abilene Christian Wildcats (8-11, 3-5 WAC)
Abilene, Texas; Saturday, 4 p.m. EST
BOTTOM LINE: Southern Utah visits the Abilene Christian Wildcats after Dominique Ford scored 23 points in Southern Utah's 73-70 victory over the Tarleton State Texans.
The Wildcats have gone 5-3 at home. Abilene Christian ranks fifth in the WAC with 35.4 points per game in the paint led by Ali Abdou Dibba averaging 9.7.
The Thunderbirds are 2-6 in conference matchups. Southern Utah gives up 78.1 points to opponents while being outscored by 1.4 points per game.
Abilene Christian is shooting 43.6% from the field this season, 5.4 percentage points lower than the 49.0% Southern Utah allows to opponents. Southern Utah averages 76.7 points per game, 1.7 more than the 75.0 Abilene Christian gives up to opponents.
The Wildcats and Thunderbirds face off Saturday for the first time in conference play this season.
TOP PERFORMERS: Hunter Jack Madden is shooting 44.0% from beyond the arc with 1.9 made 3-pointers per game for the Wildcats, while averaging 12.3 points. Dibba is averaging 17.9 points and 5.6 rebounds over the last 10 games for Abilene Christian.
Ford is scoring 16.8 points per game with 3.8 rebounds and 2.1 assists for the Thunderbirds. Zion Young is averaging 12.8 points over the past 10 games for Southern Utah.
LAST 10 GAMES: Wildcats: 5-5, averaging 80.4 points, 36.8 rebounds, 14.0 assists, 7.7 steals and 1.7 blocks per game while shooting 46.2% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 75.7 points per game.
Thunderbirds: 4-6, averaging 76.9 points, 34.1 rebounds, 12.1 assists, 6.7 steals and 3.4 blocks per game while shooting 41.9% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 78.4 points.
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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.
