Abilene Christian and Northwestern State square off in NIT matchup

Northwestern State Demons (16-15, 13-9 Southland) at Abilene Christian Wildcats (20-12, 9-8 WAC)

Abilene, Texas; Thursday, 7 p.m. EDT

BOTTOM LINE: Abilene Christian takes on Northwestern State in the National Invitation Tournament.

The Wildcats have gone 9-8 against WAC opponents, with an 11-4 record in non-conference play. Abilene Christian ranks third in the WAC with 10.5 offensive rebounds per game led by Meredith Mayes averaging 3.3.

The Demons are 13-9 against Southland opponents. Northwestern State scores 62.9 points and has outscored opponents by 3.2 points per game.

Abilene Christian averages 71.1 points, 11.4 more per game than the 59.7 Northwestern State allows. Northwestern State’s 38.2% shooting percentage from the field this season is 3.5 percentage points lower than Abilene Christian has given up to its opponents (41.7%).

TOP PERFORMERS: Bella Earle is averaging 14.3 points, 7.2 rebounds, 4.2 assists and 2.4 steals for the Wildcats. Mayes is averaging 13.6 points over the last 10 games.

Mya Blake averages 2.3 made 3-pointers per game for the Demons, scoring 18.2 points while shooting 36.3% from beyond the arc. Vernell Atamah is shooting 42.1% and averaging 14.4 points over the last 10 games.

LAST 10 GAMES: Wildcats: 7-3, averaging 69.2 points, 29.7 rebounds, 14.2 assists, 9.8 steals and 3.2 blocks per game while shooting 43.3% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 62.6 points per game.

Demons: 5-5, averaging 65.7 points, 39.4 rebounds, 12.3 assists, 7.2 steals and 3.1 blocks per game while shooting 38.5% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 63.3 points.

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