Northern Iowa Panthers (15-12, 9-7 MVC) at Illinois State Redbirds (13-14, 7-9 MVC)
Normal, Illinois; Wednesday, 8 p.m. EST
BOTTOM LINE: Illinois State takes on the Northern Iowa Panthers after Malachi Poindexter scored 27 points in Illinois State’s 86-79 win over the Evansville Purple Aces.
The Redbirds are 8-6 on their home court. Illinois State averages 11.2 turnovers per game and is 6-4 when it wins the turnover battle.
The Panthers are 9-7 against MVC opponents. Northern Iowa ranks sixth in the MVC with 23.7 defensive rebounds per game led by Nate Heise averaging 5.5.
Illinois State’s average of 6.0 made 3-pointers per game is 2.0 fewer made shots on average than the 8.0 per game Northern Iowa allows. Northern Iowa has shot at a 45.9% clip from the field this season, 1.3 percentage points higher than the 44.6% shooting opponents of Illinois State have averaged.
The Redbirds and Panthers meet Wednesday for the first time in conference play this season.
TOP PERFORMERS: Darius Burford is shooting 43.3% and averaging 13.2 points for the Redbirds. Myles Foster is averaging 14.4 points over the last 10 games for Illinois State.
Heise is averaging 13.7 points and 6.2 rebounds for the Panthers. Tytan Anderson is averaging 11.8 points and 6.6 rebounds over the past 10 games for Northern Iowa.
LAST 10 GAMES: Redbirds: 5-5, averaging 66.5 points, 32.0 rebounds, 12.1 assists, 5.3 steals and 1.6 blocks per game while shooting 44.3% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 67.0 points per game.
Panthers: 6-4, averaging 68.6 points, 32.2 rebounds, 11.8 assists, 5.1 steals and 3.0 blocks per game while shooting 44.2% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 69.1 points.
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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.
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