Northern Iowa Panthers (12-6, 4-3 MVC) at Valparaiso Beacons (8-10, 2-5 MVC)
Valparaiso, Indiana; Saturday, 3 p.m. EST
BOTTOM LINE: Northern Iowa visits Valparaiso after Trey Campbell scored 21 points in Northern Iowa’s 69-61 loss to the UIC Flames.
The Beacons are 7-3 in home games. Valparaiso is 1-2 in one-possession games.
The Panthers have gone 4-3 against MVC opponents. Northern Iowa ranks seventh in the MVC with 23.7 defensive rebounds per game led by Leon Bond III averaging 4.8.
Valparaiso averages 71.9 points, 11.8 more per game than the 60.1 Northern Iowa allows. Northern Iowa has shot at a 45.7% rate from the field this season, 2.3 percentage points above the 43.4% shooting opponents of Valparaiso have averaged.
The Beacons and Panthers match up Saturday for the first time in conference play this season.
TOP PERFORMERS: Owen Dease is averaging 14.1 points for the Beacons. JT Pettigrew is averaging 13.5 points over the last 10 games.
Campbell is shooting 32.4% from beyond the arc with 1.9 made 3-pointers per game for the Panthers, while averaging 13.6 points, 3.8 assists and 1.9 steals. Bond is shooting 43.8% and averaging 10.9 points over the last 10 games.
LAST 10 GAMES: Beacons: 3-7, averaging 73.1 points, 31.9 rebounds, 12.2 assists, 5.1 steals and 2.8 blocks per game while shooting 42.6% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 73.5 points per game.
Panthers: 5-5, averaging 65.2 points, 29.4 rebounds, 14.2 assists, 6.5 steals and 3.2 blocks per game while shooting 44.3% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 63.8 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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