Western Illinois Leathernecks (7-6, 1-1 OVC) at SIU-Edwardsville Cougars (7-6, 0-2 OVC)

Edwardsville, Illinois; Thursday, 9 p.m. EST

BETMGM SPORTSBOOK LINE: Cougars -7.5; over/under is 134.5

BOTTOM LINE: Sean Smith and Western Illinois visit Ray’Sean Taylor and SIU-Edwardsville in OVC action Thursday.

The Cougars are 4-1 in home games. SIU-Edwardsville is 3-4 against opponents with a winning record.

The Leathernecks are 1-1 in conference games. Western Illinois has a 3-5 record in games decided by 10 or more points.

SIU-Edwardsville averages 73.9 points per game, 4.8 more points than the 69.1 Western Illinois gives up. Western Illinois averages 70.9 points per game, 3.8 more than the 67.1 SIU-Edwardsville allows to opponents.

The Cougars and Leathernecks match up Thursday for the first time in OVC play this season.

TOP PERFORMERS: Taylor is scoring 17.0 points per game and averaging 4.8 rebounds for the Cougars.

Tay Knox is averaging 5.5 points, 7.2 rebounds and 1.8 blocks for the Leathernecks.

LAST 10 GAMES: Cougars: 6-4, averaging 74.7 points, 37.4 rebounds, 15.6 assists, 5.9 steals and 4.2 blocks per game while shooting 44.3% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 66.0 points per game.

Leathernecks: 6-4, averaging 72.6 points, 34.2 rebounds, 11.7 assists, 5.3 steals and 4.2 blocks per game while shooting 45.0% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 67.9 points.

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