NKU looks to sweep UIC
Illinois-Chicago (8-6, 5-4) vs. Northern Kentucky (8-8, 6-5)
BB&T Arena, Highland Heights, Kentucky; Saturday, 5 p.m. EST
BOTTOM LINE: Northern Kentucky goes for the season sweep over Illinois-Chicago after winning the previous matchup in Highland Heights. The teams last played each other on Jan. 29, when the Norse outshot Illinois-Chicago 42.1 percent to 37.7 percent and made 11 more free throws on the way to the 72-68 victory.
BIG MEN ON CAMPUS: Northern Kentucky's Trevon Faulkner has averaged 17.4 points and 5.5 rebounds while Marques Warrick has put up 14.9 points. For the Flames, Teyvion Kirk has averaged 14.4 points, seven rebounds and 6.6 assists while Michael Diggins has put up 11.6 points and 6.2 rebounds.
CLAMPING DOWN: The Norse have allowed just 69 points per game to conference opponents thus far, an improvement from the 75 per game they gave up in non-conference play.TERRIFIC TEYVION: Kirk has connected on 29.3 percent of the 41 3-pointers he's attempted and has gone 4 for 13 over his last three games. He's also converted 54.3 percent of his foul shots this season.
WINLESS WHEN: Northern Kentucky is 0-5 this year when it scores 69 points or fewer and 8-3 when it scores at least 70.
ASSIST DISTRIBUTION: The Flames have recently converted buckets via assists more often than the Norse. Northern Kentucky has 37 assists on 83 field goals (44.6 percent) across its previous three contests while Illinois-Chicago has assists on 42 of 79 field goals (53.2 percent) during its past three games.
SECOND CHANCES: Northern Kentucky has posted an excellent offensive rebound percentage of 35.1 percent this year. That rate is the 27th-highest in Division 1. The offensive rebound percentage for Illinois-Chicago stands at just 23.7 percent (ranked 281st).
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This was generated by Automated Insights, https://www.automatedinsights.com/ap, using data from STATS LLC, https://www.stats.com
