Evansville Purple Aces (4-9, 0-2 MVC) at Illinois State Redbirds (7-6, 1-1 MVC)
Normal, Illinois; Saturday, 5 p.m. EST
BOTTOM LINE: Illinois State hosts Evansville after Nevaeh Thomas scored 25 points in Illinois State’s 96-69 victory over the Indiana State Sycamores.
The Redbirds are 3-2 in home games. Illinois State is fourth in the MVC scoring 77.2 points while shooting 49.0% from the field.
The Purple Aces have gone 0-2 against MVC opponents. Evansville is eighth in the MVC with 8.9 offensive rebounds per game led by Maggie Hartwig averaging 2.5.
Illinois State makes 49.0% of its shots from the field this season, which is 7.5 percentage points higher than Evansville has allowed to its opponents (41.5%). Evansville’s 37.1% shooting percentage from the field this season is 3.4 percentage points lower than Illinois State has given up to its opponents (40.5%).
The Redbirds and Purple Aces square off Saturday for the first time in conference play this season.
TOP PERFORMERS: Shannon Dowell is scoring 15.8 points per game and averaging 4.5 rebounds for the Redbirds.
Hartwig is averaging 17.5 points and 8.9 rebounds for the Purple Aces.
LAST 10 GAMES: Redbirds: 5-5, averaging 78.0 points, 36.4 rebounds, 14.0 assists, 5.1 steals and 2.7 blocks per game while shooting 49.7% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 68.7 points per game.
Purple Aces: 2-8, averaging 61.6 points, 31.6 rebounds, 12.2 assists, 7.9 steals and 3.2 blocks per game while shooting 37.0% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 70.8 points.
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