Purdue Fort Wayne Mastodons (15-9, 9-5 Horizon) at Cleveland State Vikings (17-8, 7-7 Horizon)
Cleveland; Saturday, 2 p.m. EST
BOTTOM LINE: Cleveland State hosts Purdue Fort Wayne after Izzi Zingaro scored 24 points in Cleveland State’s 78-70 loss to the IU Indianapolis Jaguars.
The Vikings are 12-1 on their home court. Cleveland State is third in the Horizon in team defense, allowing 59.5 points while holding opponents to 37.7% shooting.
The Mastodons are 9-5 in conference games. Purdue Fort Wayne ranks seventh in the Horizon with 23.0 defensive rebounds per game led by Alana Nelson averaging 4.3.
Cleveland State makes 44.2% of its shots from the field this season, which is 4.4 percentage points higher than Purdue Fort Wayne has allowed to its opponents (39.8%). Purdue Fort Wayne scores 11.8 more points per game (71.3) than Cleveland State allows (59.5).
The Vikings and Mastodons square off Saturday for the first time in conference play this season.
TOP PERFORMERS: Zingaro is averaging 16 points and 6.9 rebounds for the Vikings. Jada Leonard is averaging 12.6 points over the last 10 games.
Nelson averages 2.4 made 3-pointers per game for the Mastodons, scoring 17.0 points while shooting 41.7% from beyond the arc. Lili Krasovec is averaging 12.8 points over the past 10 games.
LAST 10 GAMES: Vikings: 5-5, averaging 64.9 points, 33.3 rebounds, 14.0 assists, 7.7 steals and 1.9 blocks per game while shooting 40.5% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 63.8 points per game.
Mastodons: 6-4, averaging 72.9 points, 30.5 rebounds, 12.5 assists, 7.0 steals and 3.4 blocks per game while shooting 45.8% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 65.4 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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