Mississippi Valley State (1-18, 1-10) vs. Texas Southern (8-8, 5-3)
Health & PE Center, Houston; Wednesday, 4 p.m. EST
BOTTOM LINE: Texas Southern looks for its ninth straight win in the head-to-head series over Mississippi Valley State. In its last eight wins against the Delta Devils, Texas Southern has won by an average of 14 points. Mississippi Valley State’s last win in the series came on Jan. 23, 2017, a 103-89 victory.
TEAM LEADERS: Texas Southern’s Michael Weathers has averaged 14.1 points, 5.3 rebounds and 2.5 steals while John Walker III has put up 11.8 points and 5.3 rebounds. For the Delta Devils, Keiondre Jefferson has averaged 13.8 points and 7.8 rebounds while Caleb Hunter has put up 11.4 points.
TAKE IT UP A NOTCH: The Tigers have scored 72.9 points per game and allowed 65.4 points per game in conference play thus far. Those are both noticeable improvements over the 56.1 points scored and 77 points given up per game to non-conference foes.
FACILITATING THE OFFENSE: Hunter has made or assisted on 44 percent of all Mississippi Valley State field goals over the last five games. The sophomore guard has accounted for 25 field goals and 21 assists in those games.
ASSIST RATIOS: The Delta Devils have recently created baskets via assists more often than the Tigers. Texas Southern has 45 assists on 82 field goals (54.9 percent) over its past three outings while Mississippi Valley State has assists on 32 of 58 field goals (55.2 percent) during its past three games.
DETERMINED DEFENSE: The stout Texas Southern defense has held opposing offenses to a field goal percentage of 39.9 percent, the 23rd-lowest mark in Division I. Mississippi Valley State has allowed opponents to shoot 49.4 percent through 19 games (ranking the Delta Devils 340th).
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