New Haven hosts Cent. Conn. St. after Smith's 25-point showing

Central Connecticut State Blue Devils (13-10, 7-5 NEC) at New Haven Chargers (10-14, 5-6 NEC)

West Haven, Connecticut; Thursday, 7 p.m. EST

BOTTOM LINE: Cent. Conn. St. visits New Haven after Darin Smith Jr. scored 25 points in Cent. Conn. St.'s 84-67 victory over the Wagner Seahawks.

The Chargers have gone 6-4 in home games. New Haven averages 10.8 turnovers per game and is 6-6 when it wins the turnover battle.

The Blue Devils have gone 7-5 against NEC opponents. Cent. Conn. St. is 2-1 in games decided by 3 points or fewer.

New Haven scores 64.1 points per game, 7.0 fewer points than the 71.1 Cent. Conn. St. gives up. Cent. Conn. St. averages 8.8 more points per game (75.3) than New Haven allows (66.5).

The Chargers and Blue Devils face off Thursday for the first time in NEC play this season.

TOP PERFORMERS: Jabri Fitzpatrick is scoring 12.2 points per game with 4.8 rebounds and 2.5 assists for the Chargers. Andre Pasha is averaging 12.2 points and 4.3 rebounds while shooting 50.5% over the last 10 games.

Smith is scoring 19.6 points per game with 5.3 rebounds and 1.1 assists for the Blue Devils. Max Frazier is averaging 13.2 points and 7.3 rebounds while shooting 70.3% over the last 10 games.

LAST 10 GAMES: Chargers: 4-6, averaging 61.6 points, 26.0 rebounds, 13.0 assists, 5.0 steals and 1.8 blocks per game while shooting 44.9% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 65.3 points per game.

Blue Devils: 6-4, averaging 71.2 points, 29.6 rebounds, 12.6 assists, 5.1 steals and 3.8 blocks per game while shooting 46.5% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 70.3 points.

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