Houge leads Jacksonville State against New Mexico State after 20-point outing

Jacksonville State Gamecocks (12-7, 4-2 CUSA) at New Mexico State Aggies (11-8, 4-2 CUSA)

Las Cruces, New Mexico; Saturday, 9 p.m. EST

BOTTOM LINE: Jacksonville State plays New Mexico State after Michael Houge scored 20 points in Jacksonville State's 73-66 victory against the UTEP Miners.

The Aggies have gone 7-2 in home games. New Mexico State is seventh in the CUSA with 12.7 assists per game led by Zawdie Jackson averaging 3.9.

The Gamecocks are 4-2 in conference matchups. Jacksonville State is fifth in the CUSA with 9.9 offensive rebounds per game led by Houge averaging 2.7.

New Mexico State makes 43.3% of its shots from the field this season, which is 3.1 percentage points higher than Jacksonville State has allowed to its opponents (40.2%). Jacksonville State averages 7.9 made 3-pointers per game this season, 1.4 more made shots on average than the 6.5 per game New Mexico State gives up.

The Aggies and Gamecocks face off Saturday for the first time in conference play this season.

TOP PERFORMERS: Christian Cook is scoring 14.7 points per game with 2.2 rebounds and 1.2 assists for the Aggies. Peter Filipovity is averaging 12.8 points and 8.4 rebounds over the past 10 games.

Jaron Pierre Jr. is averaging 21.2 points, 5.4 rebounds and 4.5 assists for the Gamecocks. Houge is averaging 9.1 points and 8.3 rebounds over the last 10 games.

LAST 10 GAMES: Aggies: 7-3, averaging 72.4 points, 32.1 rebounds, 13.2 assists, 7.5 steals and 2.0 blocks per game while shooting 45.4% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 62.7 points per game.

Gamecocks: 7-3, averaging 75.8 points, 36.3 rebounds, 12.0 assists, 4.1 steals and 2.9 blocks per game while shooting 44.9% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 71.9 points.

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

The Associated Press