Utah Valley (8-8, 6-2) vs. New Mexico State (5-6, 2-5)
Eastwood High School Gym, El Paso, Texas; Saturday, 9 p.m. EST
BOTTOM LINE: New Mexico State seeks revenge on Utah Valley after dropping the first matchup in El Paso. The teams last played on Feb. 19, when the Wolverines shot 57.4 percent from the field while limiting New Mexico State’s shooters to just 38.1 percent on the way to the 69-66 victory.
TEAM LEADERSHIP: New Mexico State’s Jabari Rice has averaged 14.1 points and 4.8 rebounds while Donnie Tillman has put up 11 points and 6.1 rebounds. For the Wolverines, Fardaws Aimaq has averaged 15.1 points and 15.6 rebounds while Trey Woodbury has put up 16.6 points and 4.1 assists.
RAMPING IT UP: The Wolverines have scored 78.9 points per game and allowed 72.5 points per game in conference play thus far. Those are both solid improvements over the 71 points scored and 82.8 points allowed per game to non-conference opponents.JUMPING FOR JABARI: Rice has connected on 37.2 percent of the 43 3-pointers he’s attempted and has gone 9 for 25 over his last five games. He’s also made 76.7 percent of his foul shots this season.
UNDEFEATED WHEN: Utah Valley is a perfect 8-0 when its defense holds opponents to a field goal percentage of 41.3 percent or less. The Wolverines are 0-8 when allowing the opposition to shoot any better than that.
ASSIST RATIOS: The Wolverines have recently converted baskets via assists more often than the Aggies. New Mexico State has an assist on 42 of 69 field goals (60.9 percent) across its past three matchups while Utah Valley has assists on 61 of 93 field goals (65.6 percent) during its past three games.
DID YOU KNOW: Utah Valley has attempted the sixth-most free throws in all of Division I. The Wolverines have averaged 24.3 free throws per game, including 27.6 per game against conference foes.
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