South Carolina Upstate hosts Charleston Southern following Hafemeister's 21-point outing

Charleston Southern Buccaneers (11-13, 2-7 Big South) at South Carolina Upstate Spartans (10-14, 2-7 Big South)

Spartanburg, South Carolina; Saturday, 2 p.m. EST

BOTTOM LINE: Charleston Southern visits South Carolina Upstate after Jesse Hafemeister scored 21 points in Charleston Southern's 80-55 loss to the High Point Panthers.

The Spartans have gone 7-4 at home. South Carolina Upstate ranks seventh in the Big South with 12.7 assists per game led by Tyler Smith averaging 2.9.

The Buccaneers are 2-7 against conference opponents. Charleston Southern is the Big South leader with 28.1 defensive rebounds per game led by Brycen Blaine averaging 6.2.

South Carolina Upstate averages 7.4 made 3-pointers per game, 1.3 more made shots than the 6.1 per game Charleston Southern gives up. Charleston Southern averages 12.1 made 3-pointers per game this season, 5.2 more made shots on average than the 6.9 per game South Carolina Upstate allows.

The Spartans and Buccaneers meet Saturday for the first time in Big South play this season.

TOP PERFORMERS: Smith is averaging 5.2 points for the Spartans. Karmani Gregory is averaging 15.3 points and 1.9 rebounds while shooting 43.0% over the last 10 games.

Blaine is shooting 34.7% from beyond the arc with 3.1 made 3-pointers per game for the Buccaneers, while averaging 17.5 points, 7.3 rebounds and 3.1 assists. A'lahn Sumler is averaging 22 points and four assists over the last 10 games.

LAST 10 GAMES: Spartans: 2-8, averaging 68.2 points, 30.3 rebounds, 10.3 assists, 5.4 steals and 3.8 blocks per game while shooting 41.4% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 76.3 points per game.

Buccaneers: 3-7, averaging 78.4 points, 35.3 rebounds, 13.8 assists, 5.1 steals and 5.8 blocks per game while shooting 44.8% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 81.7 points.

___

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