Lawson leads Little Rock against SIU-Edwardsville after 25-point performance

SIU-Edwardsville Cougars (7-4) at Little Rock Trojans (6-5)

Little Rock, Arkansas; Thursday, 8 p.m. EST

BETMGM SPORTSBOOK LINE: Trojans -4.5; over/under is 138.5

BOTTOM LINE: Little Rock hosts SIU-Edwardsville after Johnathan Lawson scored 25 points in Little Rock’s 77-69 overtime loss to the UIC Flames.

The Trojans have gone 4-1 in home games. Little Rock is seventh in the OVC with 8.9 offensive rebounds per game led by Ante Beljan averaging 1.7.

The Cougars are 2-3 on the road. SIU-Edwardsville is third in the OVC with 39.1 rebounds per game led by Ring Malith averaging 6.3.

Little Rock makes 43.2% of its shots from the field this season, which is 4.0 percentage points higher than SIU-Edwardsville has allowed to its opponents (39.2%). SIU-Edwardsville averages 8.9 made 3-pointers per game this season, 1.0 more made shot on average than the 7.9 per game Little Rock gives up.

The Trojans and Cougars square off Thursday for the first time in OVC play this season.

TOP PERFORMERS: Lawson averages 2.6 made 3-pointers per game for the Trojans, scoring 15.6 points while shooting 43.9% from beyond the arc.

Ray’Sean Taylor is scoring 17.0 points per game with 4.6 rebounds and 5.4 assists for the Cougars.

LAST 10 GAMES: Trojans: 5-5, averaging 67.3 points, 31.6 rebounds, 14.0 assists, 9.4 steals and 5.2 blocks per game while shooting 42.8% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 70.4 points per game.

Cougars: 6-4, averaging 74.6 points, 38.2 rebounds, 16.0 assists, 6.0 steals and 4.2 blocks per game while shooting 42.9% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 69.0 points.

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