Dent and Northern Illinois host Ohio

Northern Illinois Huskies (4-10, 0-2 MAC) at Ohio Bobcats (8-6, 2-0 MAC)

Athens, Ohio; Saturday, 1 p.m. EST

BETMGM SPORTSBOOK LINE: Bobcats -20.5; over/under is 148.5

BOTTOM LINE: Northern Illinois takes on Ohio after James Dent Jr. scored 21 points in Northern Illinois' 68-50 loss to the Kent State Golden Flashes.

The Bobcats have gone 5-0 at home. Ohio is third in the MAC scoring 78.9 points while shooting 46.8% from the field.

The Huskies are 0-2 against MAC opponents. Northern Illinois is 2-8 against opponents with a winning record.

Ohio scores 78.9 points per game, 4.9 more points than the 74.0 Northern Illinois allows. Northern Illinois' 40.7% shooting percentage from the field this season is 4.0 percentage points lower than Ohio has allowed to its opponents (44.7%).

The matchup Saturday is the first meeting this season between the two teams in conference play.

TOP PERFORMERS: AJ Clayton is averaging 16.4 points, 6.6 rebounds and 1.9 blocks for the Bobcats.

Dent averages 2.3 made 3-pointers per game for the Huskies, scoring 12.7 points while shooting 36.8% from beyond the arc.

LAST 10 GAMES: Bobcats: 7-3, averaging 79.9 points, 31.5 rebounds, 16.7 assists, 8.6 steals and 3.6 blocks per game while shooting 47.6% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 69.7 points per game.

Huskies: 2-8, averaging 68.5 points, 29.8 rebounds, 12.8 assists, 7.0 steals and 2.8 blocks per game while shooting 37.8% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 77.7 points.

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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.

The Associated Press