Niagara (6-7, 5-6) vs. Quinnipiac (3-6, 1-4)
People’s United Center, Hamden, Connecticut; Saturday, 4 p.m. EST
BOTTOM LINE: Niagara looks to extend Quinnipiac’s conference losing streak to five games. Quinnipiac’s last MAAC win came against the Manhattan Jaspers 84-79 on Jan. 8. Niagara beat Quinnipiac by three points on the road in its last outing.
STEPPING UP: Marcus Hammond is averaging 14.1 points and 6.3 rebounds to lead the charge for the Purple Eagles. Kobi Nwandu is also a key contributor, putting up 12.7 points per game. The Bobcats have been led by Jacob Rigoni, who is averaging 11 points and seven rebounds.
RAMPING IT UP A NOTCH: The Purple Eagles have scored 63.5 points per game and allowed 61.2 points per game across 11 conference games. Those are both solid improvements over the 57.5 points scored and 70 points allowed per game to non-conference foes.MIGHTY MARCUS: Hammond has connected on 33.3 percent of the 81 3-pointers he’s attempted and has made 8 of 32 over the last five games. He’s also converted 76.9 percent of his foul shots this season.
WINLESS WHEN: Quinnipiac is 0-5 this year when it scores 63 points or fewer and 3-1 when it scores at least 64.
ACCOUNTING FOR ASSISTS: The Bobcats have recently gotten buckets via assists more often than the Purple Eagles. Quinnipiac has 29 assists on 66 field goals (43.9 percent) across its past three outings while Niagara has assists on 24 of 57 field goals (42.1 percent) during its past three games.
DID YOU KNOW: The Niagara offense has recorded a turnover on only 15.8 percent of its possessions, which is the 30th-lowest rate in the nation. The Quinnipiac defense has forced opposing teams to turn the ball over on just 16 percent of all possessions (ranked 328th among Division I teams).
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