Mississippi Valley State hosts Florida A&M following James’ 31-point performance

Florida A&M Rattlers (6-9, 3-1 SWAC) at Mississippi Valley State Delta Devils (1-18, 0-5 SWAC)

Itta Bena, Mississippi; Monday, 8 p.m. EST

BOTTOM LINE: Mississippi Valley State plays Florida A&M after Michael James scored 31 points in Mississippi Valley State’s 79-63 loss to the Bethune-Cookman Wildcats.

The Delta Devils have gone 1-4 at home. Mississippi Valley State has a 1-15 record in games decided by at least 10 points.

The Rattlers are 3-1 against SWAC opponents. Florida A&M ranks fifth in the SWAC with 12.5 assists per game led by Jaquan Sanders averaging 2.8.

Mississippi Valley State’s average of 5.2 made 3-pointers per game is 2.2 fewer made shots on average than the 7.4 per game Florida A&M gives up. Florida A&M averages 7.1 made 3-pointers per game this season, 3.4 fewer made shots on average than the 10.5 per game Mississippi Valley State allows.

The matchup Monday is the first meeting of the season between the two teams in conference play.

TOP PERFORMERS: James is averaging 20.6 points and 1.6 steals for the Delta Devils. Patrick Punch is averaging 1.5 made 3-pointers over the last 10 games.

Sanders is scoring 13.1 points per game and averaging 2.7 rebounds for the Rattlers. Tyler Shirley is averaging 10.7 points and 5.5 rebounds over the last 10 games.

LAST 10 GAMES: Delta Devils: 0-10, averaging 58.5 points, 24.2 rebounds, 11.5 assists, 7.6 steals and 2.6 blocks per game while shooting 39.1% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 86.4 points per game.

Rattlers: 6-4, averaging 71.2 points, 28.6 rebounds, 12.9 assists, 7.3 steals and 2.8 blocks per game while shooting 45.3% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 74.4 points.

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