Nicholls State (6-5, 4-1) vs. Houston Baptist (2-10, 1-3)
Sharp Gymnasium, Houston; Wednesday, 8 p.m. EST
BOTTOM LINE: Nicholls State looks for its fifth straight conference win against Houston Baptist. Nicholls State’s last Southland loss came against the Sam Houston Bearkats 84-81 on Jan. 2. Houston Baptist lost 87-80 to Sam Houston in its most recent game.
TEAM LEADERSHIP: Pedro Castro is averaging 13.6 points and 7.3 rebounds to lead the way for the Huskies. Za-Ontay Boothman is also a top contributor, accounting for 12.4 points per game. The Colonels are led by Ty Gordon, who is averaging 14.1 points and 4.4 assists.
RAMPING IT UP: The Huskies have scored 76.8 points per game and allowed 79.3 points per game across four conference games. Those are both solid improvements over the 67.8 points scored and 88 points given up per game to non-conference opponents.
SPARKING THE OFFENSE: Gordon has either made or assisted on 42 percent of all Nicholls State field goals over the last three games. The senior guard has accounted for 16 field goals and 22 assists in those games.
WINLESS WHEN: Houston Baptist is 0-10 this year when it scores 80 points or fewer and 2-0 when it scores at least 81.
ASSIST DISTRIBUTION: The Huskies have recently created buckets via assists more often than the Colonels. Houston Baptist has an assist on 48 of 75 field goals (64 percent) over its previous three outings while Nicholls State has assists on 41 of 90 field goals (45.6 percent) during its past three games.
DID YOU KNOW: Houston Baptist has made 9.3 3-pointers per game as a team this year, which is second-best among Southland teams.
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