Belmont Bruins (20-11, 16-5 MVC) vs. Missouri State Bears (24-7, 17-4 MVC)
Evansville, Indiana; Saturday, 5 p.m. EDT
BOTTOM LINE: Missouri State plays Belmont in the MVC Tournament.
The Bears are 17-4 against MVC opponents and 7-3 in non-conference play. Missouri State is 20-2 when it turns the ball over less than its opponents and averages 13.6 turnovers per game.
The Bruins are 16-5 against MVC opponents. Belmont averages 71.2 points and has outscored opponents by 7.5 points per game.
Missouri State makes 43.7% of its shots from the field this season, which is 4.9 percentage points higher than Belmont has allowed to its opponents (38.8%). Belmont scores 8.9 more points per game (71.2) than Missouri State allows (62.3).
The teams meet for the third time this season. The Bruins won 67-61 in the last matchup on March 1. Jailyn Banks led the Bruins with 21 points, and Kyrah Daniels led the Bears with 19 points.
TOP PERFORMERS: Lacy Stokes is scoring 13.6 points per game and averaging 4.7 rebounds for the Bears. Kaemyn Bekemeier is averaging 2.0 made 3-pointers over the last 10 games.
Kendal Cheesman is shooting 38.5% from beyond the arc with 2.1 made 3-pointers per game for the Bruins, while averaging 12.3 points and 8.1 rebounds. Banks is shooting 42.2% and averaging 11.6 points over the past 10 games.
LAST 10 GAMES: Bears: 8-2, averaging 74.5 points, 34.0 rebounds, 14.7 assists, 8.7 steals and 3.0 blocks per game while shooting 43.3% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 62.6 points per game.
Bruins: 6-4, averaging 72.3 points, 34.4 rebounds, 14.8 assists, 8.1 steals and 3.1 blocks per game while shooting 43.9% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 62.7 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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