No. 5 seed Southern (8-10, 8-6) vs. No. 4 seed Grambling State (11-11, 9-6)
Southwestern Athletic Conference Tourney Quarterfinals, Bartow Arena, Birmingham, Alabama; Thursday, 9:30 p.m. EST
BOTTOM LINE: Southern and Grambling State are set to do battle in the quarterfinals of the SWAC tournament. The teams split the regular season series at one win apiece. The teams last played each other on Feb. 6, when the Tigers shot 51.9 percent from the field while limiting Southern to just 41.9 percent on their way to a 72-69 victory.
SAVVY SENIORS: Grambling State has relied heavily on its seniors this year. Cameron Christon, Trevell Cunningham, Prince Moss and Terreon Randolph have combined to account for 52 percent of the team’s scoring this year and 60 percent of all Tigers points over the last five games.
CREATING OFFENSE: Jayden Saddler has directly created 41 percent of all Southern field goals over the last five games. Saddler has 26 field goals and 27 assists in those games.
SLIPPING AT 75: Grambling State is 0-5 this year when it allows 75 points or more and 11-6 when holding opponents to fewer than 75.
ASSIST RATIOS: The Tigers have recently used assists to create buckets more often than the Jaguars. Grambling State has 56 assists on 80 field goals (70 percent) over its past three outings while Southern has assists on 40 of 77 field goals (51.9 percent) during its past three games.
DID YOU KNOW: Grambling State has attempted the second-most free throws among all SWAC teams. The Tigers have averaged 23.1 free throws per game this season and 25.4 per game over their last five games.
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