Belmont hosts Illinois State following Sheppard's 35-point game
Illinois State Redbirds (10-14, 5-8 MVC) at Belmont Bruins (16-8, 9-4 MVC)
Nashville, Tennessee; Saturday, 5 p.m. EST
FANDUEL SPORTSBOOK LINE: Belmont -10.5; over/under is 139.5
BOTTOM LINE: Belmont plays the Illinois State Redbirds after Ben Sheppard scored 35 points in Belmont's 83-82 loss to the Murray State Racers.
The Bruins are 8-2 in home games. Belmont ranks fifth in college basketball shooting 39.7% from downtown, led by Drew Friberg shooting 46.2% from 3-point range.
The Redbirds are 5-8 in conference games. Illinois State allows 68.3 points to opponents while being outscored by 2.0 points per game.
TOP PERFORMERS: Sheppard is averaging 19.5 points, 5.4 rebounds and 3.2 assists for the Bruins. Friberg is averaging 12.0 points over the last 10 games for Belmont.
Malachi Poindexter is averaging 9.6 points for the Redbirds. Seneca Knight is averaging 12.8 points over the last 10 games for Illinois State.
LAST 10 GAMES: Bruins: 7-3, averaging 72.0 points, 30.7 rebounds, 15.3 assists, 6.5 steals and 3.8 blocks per game while shooting 45.7% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 69.3 points per game.
Redbirds: 4-6, averaging 65.8 points, 30.1 rebounds, 10.1 assists, 5.8 steals and 2.7 blocks per game while shooting 43.0% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 68.1 points.
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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.