Northern Iowa Panthers take on the Illinois State Redbirds, look for 4th straight win

Northern Iowa Panthers (8-6, 3-0 MVC) at Illinois State Redbirds (8-6, 2-1 MVC)

Normal, Illinois; Friday, 7:30 p.m. EST

BOTTOM LINE: Northern Iowa will attempt to build upon its three-game win streak with a victory against Illinois State.

The Redbirds have gone 4-2 in home games. Illinois State scores 77.3 points while outscoring opponents by 9.3 points per game.

The Panthers are 3-0 against MVC opponents. Northern Iowa is third in the MVC scoring 77.5 points per game and is shooting 46.1%.

Illinois State makes 48.7% of its shots from the field this season, which is 5.3 percentage points higher than Northern Iowa has allowed to its opponents (43.4%). Northern Iowa averages 8.3 made 3-pointers per game this season, 0.6 fewer makes per game than Illinois State allows.

The matchup Friday is the first meeting of the season for the two teams in conference play.

TOP PERFORMERS: Elyce Knudsen is shooting 42.9% from beyond the arc with 2.3 made 3-pointers per game for the Redbirds, while averaging 13.7 points.

Maya McDermott is averaging 21.5 points and 4.9 assists for the Panthers.

LAST 10 GAMES: Redbirds: 6-4, averaging 79.7 points, 36.8 rebounds, 15.1 assists, 5.5 steals and 3.3 blocks per game while shooting 49.6% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 67.0 points per game.

Panthers: 5-5, averaging 75.8 points, 29.1 rebounds, 15.2 assists, 9.2 steals and 2.9 blocks per game while shooting 45.1% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 70.8 points.

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