McNeese Cowboys (22-3, 11-1 Southland) at Nicholls State Colonels (13-11, 8-3 Southland)
Thibodaux, Louisiana; Saturday, 4 p.m. EST
FANDUEL SPORTSBOOK LINE: Cowboys -10.5; over/under is 141
BOTTOM LINE: Nicholls State hosts the McNeese Cowboys after Diante Smith scored 20 points in Nicholls State's 67-63 win against the Texas A&M-CC Islanders.
The Colonels are 8-1 on their home court. Nicholls State averages 12.0 turnovers per game and is 5-3 when it turns the ball over less than its opponents.
The Cowboys are 11-1 against Southland opponents. McNeese is fourth in the Southland with 36.4 rebounds per game led by Christian Shumate averaging 9.6.
Nicholls State's average of 7.8 made 3-pointers per game this season is just 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 matchup Saturday is the first meeting of the season for the two teams in conference play.
TOP PERFORMERS: Smith is scoring 15.4 points per game and averaging 6.6 rebounds for the Colonels. Byron Ireland is averaging 13.1 points and 4.8 rebounds over the last 10 games for Nicholls State.
Shahada Wells is shooting 49.3% and averaging 17.3 points for the Cowboys. DJ Richards is averaging 2.6 made 3-pointers over the last 10 games for McNeese.
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.
___
The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.
