Nicholls State faces Northwestern State following Gray's 20-point game

Northwestern State Demons (11-13, 7-6 Southland) at Nicholls State Colonels (15-9, 9-4 Southland)

Thibodaux, Louisiana; Monday, 7:30 p.m. EST

BOTTOM LINE: Nicholls State faces Northwestern State after Michael Gray Jr. scored 20 points in Nicholls State's 81-65 win over the East Texas A&M Lions.

The Colonels are 9-3 on their home court. Nicholls State ranks sixth in the Southland with 22.9 defensive rebounds per game led by Jamal West averaging 3.7.

The Demons are 7-6 against Southland opponents. Northwestern State is fourth in the Southland with 13.8 assists per game led by Addison Patterson averaging 3.3.

Nicholls State is shooting 43.1% from the field this season, 1.1 percentage points higher than the 42.0% Northwestern State allows to opponents. Northwestern State averages 6.6 made 3-pointers per game this season, 0.4 more makes per game than Nicholls State gives up.

TOP PERFORMERS: Byron Ireland is scoring 12.7 points per game with 3.3 rebounds and 3.0 assists for the Colonels. Robert Brown III is averaging 15.3 points and 3.9 rebounds while shooting 45.5% over the last 10 games.

Micah Thomas is shooting 34.0% from beyond the arc with 1.5 made 3-pointers per game for the Demons, while averaging 10.5 points. Patterson is averaging 12.8 points, 5.6 rebounds and 3.7 assists over the last 10 games.

LAST 10 GAMES: Colonels: 7-3, averaging 75.5 points, 32.4 rebounds, 9.8 assists, 7.4 steals and 4.1 blocks per game while shooting 44.3% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 69.3 points per game.

Demons: 4-6, averaging 64.0 points, 34.3 rebounds, 11.9 assists, 5.9 steals and 4.9 blocks per game while shooting 40.0% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 68.1 points.

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