North Dakota (3-9, 3-3) vs. Oral Roberts (5-6, 2-1)
Mabee Center, Tulsa, Oklahoma; Saturday, 8:30 p.m. EST
BOTTOM LINE: Oral Roberts seeks revenge on North Dakota after dropping the first matchup in Tulsa. The teams last met on Jan. 8, when the Fighting Hawks shot 45.2 percent from the field while limiting Oral Roberts to just 38.5 percent en route to a 72-71 victory.
TEAM LEADERSHIP: This game represents an Oklahoma homecoming for Fighting Hawks junior Caleb Nero, who’s averaged 8.6 points this season. Filip Rebraca has also led the way for the visitors by averaging 17.2 points and 6.6 rebounds per game. On the other bench, Kevin Obanor has averaged 21.2 points and 10.3 rebounds while Max Abmas has put up 21.8 points and 4.4 assists.
TAKING IT UP A NOTCH: The Golden Eagles have scored 84 points per game and allowed 76.7 points per game across three conference games. Those are both substantial improvements over the 62.7 points scored and 85 points allowed per game to non-conference foes.
CREATING OFFENSE: Rebraca has either made or assisted on 47 percent of all North Dakota field goals over the last three games. The junior forward has accounted for 24 field goals and four assists in those games.
WINLESS WHEN: The Golden Eagles are 0-6 when they score 80 points or fewer and 5-0 when they exceed 80 points. The Fighting Hawks are 0-7 when allowing 74 or more points and 3-2 on the season, otherwise.
ASSIST DISTRIBUTION: The Fighting Hawks have recently gotten buckets via assists more often than the Golden Eagles. Oral Roberts has 41 assists on 89 field goals (46.1 percent) across its previous three outings while North Dakota has assists on 30 of 60 field goals (50 percent) during its past three games.
DID YOU KNOW: The Oral Roberts offense is ranked 25th nationally by scoring 83.2 points per game this year. North Dakota has only averaged 61.8 points per game, which ranks 247th.
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