Iona hosts Kennedy and Merrimack

Merrimack Warriors (12-8, 8-1 MAAC) at Iona Gaels (12-8, 4-5 MAAC)

New Rochelle, New York; Thursday, 7 p.m. EST

BOTTOM LINE: Merrimack visits Iona after Kevair Kennedy scored 20 points in Merrimack’s 68-55 victory over the Marist Red Foxes.

The Gaels have gone 7-1 in home games. Iona has a 1-0 record in games decided by less than 4 points.

The Warriors have gone 8-1 against MAAC opponents. Merrimack has a 2-0 record in one-possession games.

Iona is shooting 44.3% from the field this season, 0.5 percentage points higher than the 43.8% Merrimack allows to opponents. Merrimack’s 40.9% shooting percentage from the field this season is 2.3 percentage points lower than Iona has allowed to its opponents (43.2%).

The Gaels and Warriors face off Thursday for the first time in conference play this season.

TOP PERFORMERS: Toby Harris averages 2.9 made 3-pointers per game for the Gaels, scoring 12.1 points while shooting 41.3% from beyond the arc. CJ Anthony is averaging 14.3 points, 5.7 assists and 1.7 steals over the last 10 games.

Kennedy is shooting 47.5% and averaging 16.7 points for the Warriors. Ernest Shelton is averaging 2.7 made 3-pointers over the last 10 games.

LAST 10 GAMES: Gaels: 5-5, averaging 66.4 points, 31.7 rebounds, 13.2 assists, 6.5 steals and 3.2 blocks per game while shooting 42.2% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 70.3 points per game.

Warriors: 8-2, averaging 69.7 points, 25.3 rebounds, 12.1 assists, 7.9 steals and 5.0 blocks per game while shooting 44.6% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 64.9 points.

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