Planutis and Mercyhurst host Cent. Conn. St.

Central Connecticut State Blue Devils (10-4, 1-0 NEC) at Mercyhurst Lakers (7-9, 1-0 NEC)

Erie, Pennsylvania; Sunday, 1 p.m. EST

BETMGM SPORTSBOOK LINE: Blue Devils -8.5; over/under is 129.5

BOTTOM LINE: Mercyhurst hosts Cent. Conn. St. after Jeff Planutis scored 23 points in Mercyhurst's 76-69 victory against the Stonehill Skyhawks.

The Lakers have gone 5-1 at home. Mercyhurst gives up 68.9 points and has been outscored by 2.3 points per game.

The Blue Devils are 1-0 in NEC play. Cent. Conn. St. is 2-0 in games decided by 3 points or fewer.

Mercyhurst's average of 6.1 made 3-pointers per game is 1.6 fewer made shots on average than the 7.7 per game Cent. Conn. St. allows. Cent. Conn. St. has shot at a 48.6% rate from the field this season, 1.9 percentage points above the 46.7% shooting opponents of Mercyhurst have averaged.

The Lakers and Blue Devils match up Sunday for the first time in conference play this season.

TOP PERFORMERS: Planutis is shooting 47.5% and averaging 15.0 points for the Lakers.

Devin Haid is shooting 31.7% from beyond the arc with 1.4 made 3-pointers per game for the Blue Devils, while averaging 12.9 points, 5.4 rebounds and 1.7 steals.

LAST 10 GAMES: Lakers: 3-7, averaging 61.7 points, 23.9 rebounds, 10.5 assists, 7.1 steals and 2.8 blocks per game while shooting 42.2% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 71.8 points per game.

Blue Devils: 8-2, averaging 72.0 points, 32.7 rebounds, 15.1 assists, 8.3 steals and 4.1 blocks per game while shooting 48.6% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 64.5 points.

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

The Associated Press