No. 4 seed Mississippi State (15-14) vs. No. 1 seed Saint Louis (14-6)
NIT First Round, Comerica Center, Frisco, Texas; Saturday, 4 p.m. EDT
BOTTOM LINE: Mississippi State and Saint Louis will go at it in the first round of the NIT. Saint Louis lost 71-53 to Saint Bonaventure on March 6, while Mississippi State came up short in an 85-48 game against Alabama last week.
SUPER SENIORS: Saint Louis’ Jordan Goodwin, Javonte Perkins and Hasahn French have combined to account for 52 percent of the team’s scoring this season, including 60 percent of all Billikens points over the last five games.DOMINANT D.J.: D.J. Stewart Jr. has connected on 32.8 percent of the 131 3-pointers he’s attempted and has made 6 of 28 over the last five games. He’s also converted 79.6 percent of his free throws this season.
ASSIST RATIOS: The Billikens have recently used assists to create buckets more often than the Bulldogs. Saint Louis has an assist on 49 of 79 field goals (62 percent) across its past three outings while Mississippi State has assists on 33 of 75 field goals (44 percent) during its past three games.
DID YOU KNOW: Both Mississippi State and Saint Louis are ranked at the top of college basketball when it comes to offensive rebounding. The Bulldogs are ranked ninth among Division I teams with an offensive rebounding percentage of 36.4, while the Billikens are ranked 10th with an offensive rebound percentage of 36.4.
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