El Moutaouakkil leads Jacksonville State against Sam Houston after 23-point game

Sam Houston Bearkats (9-7, 1-4 CUSA) at Jacksonville State Gamecocks (8-8, 3-2 CUSA)

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

BOTTOM LINE: Jacksonville State faces Sam Houston after Mostapha El Moutaouakkil scored 23 points in Jacksonville State's 88-82 loss to the Kennesaw State Owls.

The Gamecocks are 6-3 on their home court. Jacksonville State is second in the CUSA in team defense, allowing 66.1 points while holding opponents to 38.7% shooting.

The Bearkats are 1-4 against conference opponents. Sam Houston ranks third in college basketball with 13.2 offensive rebounds per game led by Veljko Ilic averaging 3.7.

Jacksonville State's average of 8.4 made 3-pointers per game this season is just 0.2 fewer made shots on average than the 8.6 per game Sam Houston allows. Sam Houston has shot at a 45.7% rate from the field this season, 7.0 percentage points above the 38.7% shooting opponents of Jacksonville State have averaged.

The Gamecocks and Bearkats match up Wednesday for the first time in CUSA play this season.

TOP PERFORMERS: Jaye Nash is averaging 4.1 points and 4.4 assists for the Gamecocks. El Moutaouakkil is averaging 17.9 points over the last 10 games.

Ilic is averaging 10.3 points and 7.6 rebounds for the Bearkats. Po'Boigh King is averaging 2.7 made 3-pointers over the last 10 games.

LAST 10 GAMES: Gamecocks: 5-5, averaging 71.2 points, 31.6 rebounds, 12.3 assists, 5.7 steals and 3.2 blocks per game while shooting 45.5% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 68.7 points per game.

Bearkats: 5-5, averaging 84.3 points, 39.0 rebounds, 15.6 assists, 7.3 steals and 2.2 blocks per game while shooting 45.5% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 76.2 points.

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