Illinois State Redbirds (19-10, 13-5 MVC) at Missouri State Bears (22-7, 14-4 MVC)
Springfield, Missouri; Thursday, 7:30 p.m. EST
BOTTOM LINE: Illinois State plays Missouri State after Elyce Knudsen scored 24 points in Illinois State’s 90-68 victory against the Valparaiso Beacons.
The Bears have gone 12-0 at home. Missouri State scores 73.3 points and has outscored opponents by 10.2 points per game.
The Redbirds are 13-5 in conference matchups. Illinois State has a 2-2 record in games decided by 3 points or fewer.
Missouri State makes 43.9% of its shots from the field this season, which is 3.5 percentage points higher than Illinois State has allowed to its opponents (40.4%). Illinois State has shot at a 48.0% clip from the field this season, 7.2 percentage points above the 40.8% shooting opponents of Missouri State have averaged.
The Bears and Redbirds face off Thursday for the first time in MVC play this season.
TOP PERFORMERS: Lacy Stokes is scoring 13.6 points per game with 4.7 rebounds and 4.2 assists for the Bears. Kyrah Daniels is averaging 13.4 points and 4.9 rebounds while shooting 41.7% over the past 10 games.
Knudsen averages 2.4 made 3-pointers per game for the Redbirds, scoring 13.6 points while shooting 41.3% from beyond the arc. Shannon Dowell is shooting 48.7% and averaging 15.3 points over the last 10 games.
LAST 10 GAMES: Bears: 7-3, averaging 73.7 points, 34.3 rebounds, 15.9 assists, 8.4 steals and 2.4 blocks per game while shooting 43.0% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 65.3 points per game.
Redbirds: 7-3, averaging 71.4 points, 34.0 rebounds, 16.3 assists, 4.4 steals and 2.6 blocks per game while shooting 46.0% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 66.1 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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