Hughes leads North Dakota against Denver after 24-point game

Denver Pioneers (9-12, 3-5 Summit) at North Dakota Fighting Hawks (4-17, 1-7 Summit)

Grand Forks, North Dakota; Saturday, 2 p.m. EST

BOTTOM LINE: North Dakota hosts Denver after Mackenzie Hughes scored 24 points in North Dakota's 89-80 loss to the Oral Roberts Golden Eagles.

The Fighting Hawks are 4-7 on their home court. North Dakota is eighth in the Summit with 11.2 assists per game led by Hughes averaging 2.9.

The Pioneers are 3-5 in conference matchups. Denver is eighth in the Summit with 29.9 rebounds per game led by Brooke Murrell averaging 6.1.

North Dakota averages 57.6 points per game, 10.5 fewer points than the 68.1 Denver gives up. Denver's 38.3% shooting percentage from the field this season is 3.2 percentage points lower than North Dakota has allowed to its opponents (41.5%).

The Fighting Hawks and Pioneers meet Saturday for the first time in conference play this season.

TOP PERFORMERS: Walker Demers is averaging 10.4 points and 8.1 rebounds for the Fighting Hawks. Hughes is averaging 9.5 points over the last 10 games.

Coryn Watts is shooting 35.2% from beyond the arc with 2.9 made 3-pointers per game for the Pioneers, while averaging 20.3 points and 1.8 steals. Laia Monclova is averaging 12.4 points, 6.4 rebounds and 2.1 steals over the last 10 games.

LAST 10 GAMES: Fighting Hawks: 3-7, averaging 61.9 points, 30.6 rebounds, 13.6 assists, 6.4 steals and 3.1 blocks per game while shooting 40.2% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 68.8 points per game.

Pioneers: 5-5, averaging 63.3 points, 28.7 rebounds, 12.5 assists, 8.0 steals and 2.3 blocks per game while shooting 39.9% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 72.4 points.

___

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