Pierre leads Jacksonville State against Florida International after 20-point showing

Florida International Panthers (7-13, 1-6 CUSA) at Jacksonville State Gamecocks (13-7, 5-2 CUSA)

Jacksonville, Alabama; Thursday, 7 p.m. EST

BOTTOM LINE: Jacksonville State hosts Florida International after Jaron Pierre Jr. scored 20 points in Jacksonville State's 65-59 win over the New Mexico State Aggies.

The Gamecocks have gone 7-0 in home games. Jacksonville State is 1-2 in games decided by less than 4 points.

The Panthers are 1-6 in CUSA play. Florida International is sixth in the CUSA with 13.3 assists per game led by Ashton Williamson averaging 2.8.

Jacksonville State's average of 7.9 made 3-pointers per game this season is just 0.8 more made shots on average than the 7.1 per game Florida International gives up. Florida International has shot at a 44.4% rate from the field this season, 4.5 percentage points greater than the 39.9% shooting opponents of Jacksonville State have averaged.

The matchup Thursday is the first meeting of the season for the two teams in conference play.

TOP PERFORMERS: Pierre is averaging 21.2 points, 5.4 rebounds and 4.3 assists for the Gamecocks. Jamar Franklin is averaging 10.4 points over the last 10 games.

Dashon Gittens is shooting 31.8% from beyond the arc with 1.1 made 3-pointers per game for the Panthers, while averaging 9.1 points and 1.5 steals. Asim Jones is shooting 50.0% and averaging 12.2 points over the past 10 games.

LAST 10 GAMES: Gamecocks: 7-3, averaging 75.3 points, 36.4 rebounds, 12.3 assists, 4.0 steals and 2.9 blocks per game while shooting 44.6% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 71.2 points per game.

Panthers: 3-7, averaging 69.5 points, 29.1 rebounds, 12.3 assists, 9.6 steals and 5.1 blocks per game while shooting 45.0% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 73.3 points.

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

The Associated Press