Belmont Bruins (12-10, 5-6 MVC) at Missouri State Bears (13-9, 5-6 MVC)
Springfield, Missouri; Saturday, 2 p.m. EST
FANDUEL SPORTSBOOK LINE: Bears -4; over/under is 149
BOTTOM LINE: Belmont visits the Missouri State Bears after Malik Dia scored 22 points in Belmont’s 78-72 loss to the Indiana State Sycamores.
The Bears are 6-3 in home games. Missouri State leads the MVC with 26.7 defensive rebounds per game led by Donovan Clay averaging 4.7.
The Bruins are 5-6 in MVC play. Belmont is 2-0 in games decided by less than 4 points.
Missouri State’s average of 7.5 made 3-pointers per game is 1.3 fewer made shots on average than the 8.8 per game Belmont gives up. Belmont scores 6.5 more points per game (76.9) than Missouri State allows to opponents (70.4).
The Bears and Bruins meet Saturday for the first time in MVC play this season.
TOP PERFORMERS: Alston Mason is scoring 18.1 points per game with 3.2 rebounds and 4.0 assists for the Bears. Clay is averaging 13.4 points and 5.0 rebounds while shooting 47.3% over the past 10 games for Missouri State.
Dia is averaging 17.5 points and 5.8 rebounds for the Bruins. Cade Tyson is averaging 15.5 points over the last 10 games for Belmont.
LAST 10 GAMES: Bears: 5-5, averaging 68.4 points, 36.0 rebounds, 12.4 assists, 4.7 steals and 5.1 blocks per game while shooting 42.3% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 73.7 points per game.
Bruins: 4-6, averaging 71.2 points, 30.7 rebounds, 14.5 assists, 7.9 steals and 2.5 blocks per game while shooting 44.7% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 76.0 points.
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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.
