Northern Illinois faces Ball State, aims to stop home skid

Ball State Cardinals (9-9, 3-3 MAC) at Northern Illinois Huskies (4-14, 0-6 MAC)

DeKalb, Illinois; Saturday, 4:30 p.m. EST

BETMGM SPORTSBOOK LINE: Cardinals -6.5; over/under is 148

BOTTOM LINE: Northern Illinois is looking to end its three-game home slide with a win against Ball State.

The Huskies have gone 4-4 in home games. Northern Illinois has a 4-10 record in games decided by 10 or more points.

The Cardinals are 3-3 in conference play. Ball State averages 76.2 points while outscoring opponents by 2.8 points per game.

Northern Illinois is shooting 40.8% from the field this season, 2.4 percentage points lower than the 43.2% Ball State allows to opponents. Ball State has shot at a 46.5% rate from the field this season, 1.5 percentage points greater than the 45.0% shooting opponents of Northern Illinois have averaged.

The Huskies and Cardinals meet Saturday for the first time in conference play this season.

TOP PERFORMERS: James Dent Jr. is shooting 35.4% from beyond the arc with 2.2 made 3-pointers per game for the Huskies, while averaging 12.7 points and 5.1 rebounds. Quentin Jones is shooting 46.2% and averaging 16.8 points over the last 10 games.

Jermahri Hill is averaging 16.3 points and 3.2 assists for the Cardinals. Payton Sparks is averaging 15 points and 9.8 rebounds over the last 10 games.

LAST 10 GAMES: Huskies: 2-8, averaging 71.9 points, 28.0 rebounds, 12.8 assists, 6.6 steals and 3.0 blocks per game while shooting 41.1% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 78.0 points per game.

Cardinals: 6-4, averaging 79.0 points, 31.0 rebounds, 14.7 assists, 5.3 steals and 2.3 blocks per game while shooting 49.4% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 75.8 points.

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

The Associated Press