Sam Houston faces Middle Tennessee following Hammons' 20-point performance

Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders (13-5, 4-1 CUSA) at Sam Houston Bearkats (8-11, 1-5 CUSA)

Huntsville, Texas; Thursday, 7:30 p.m. EST

BOTTOM LINE: Sam Houston takes on Middle Tennessee after Josiah Hammons scored 20 points in Sam Houston's 70-62 loss to the Jacksonville State Gamecocks.

The Bearkats are 5-1 on their home court. Sam Houston ranks fourth in the CUSA with 9.9 offensive rebounds per game led by Kalifa Sakho averaging 2.6.

The Blue Raiders are 4-1 in CUSA play. Middle Tennessee ranks eighth in the CUSA shooting 31.9% from 3-point range.

Sam Houston averages 8.9 made 3-pointers per game, 2.8 more made shots than the 6.1 per game Middle Tennessee allows. Middle Tennessee averages 7.2 made 3-pointers per game this season, 1.2 fewer made shots on average than the 8.4 per game Sam Houston allows.

The Bearkats and Blue Raiders square off Thursday for the first time in CUSA play this season.

TOP PERFORMERS: Lamar Wilkerson is scoring 19.8 points per game with 3.8 rebounds and 1.9 assists for the Bearkats. Cameron Huefner is averaging 16.3 points and 5.9 rebounds while shooting 45.9% over the past 10 games.

Jestin Porter is averaging 15.6 points and 1.7 steals for the Blue Raiders. Essam Mostafa is averaging 13.1 points over the last 10 games.

LAST 10 GAMES: Bearkats: 4-6, averaging 77.9 points, 34.9 rebounds, 12.5 assists, 6.3 steals and 2.1 blocks per game while shooting 44.6% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 75.1 points per game.

Blue Raiders: 7-3, averaging 76.0 points, 36.7 rebounds, 11.5 assists, 8.1 steals and 4.6 blocks per game while shooting 45.4% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 69.0 points.

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

The Associated Press