Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders (15-7, 6-3 CUSA) at Jacksonville State Gamecocks (15-7, 7-2 CUSA)

Jacksonville, Alabama; Thursday, 7 p.m. EST

BETMGM SPORTSBOOK LINE: Gamecocks -1.5; over/under is 142.5

BOTTOM LINE: Middle Tennessee takes on Jacksonville State after Jlynn Counter scored 21 points in Middle Tennessee’s 71-68 victory over the UTEP Miners.

The Gamecocks have gone 9-0 in home games. Jacksonville State is eighth in college basketball with 26.7 defensive rebounds per game led by Michael Houge averaging 5.5.

The Blue Raiders are 6-3 against CUSA opponents. Middle Tennessee is 4-1 in games decided by less than 4 points.

Jacksonville State averages 7.5 made 3-pointers per game, 1.4 more made shots than the 6.1 per game Middle Tennessee allows. Middle Tennessee has shot at a 45.9% rate from the field this season, 5.7 percentage points greater than the 40.2% shooting opponents of Jacksonville State have averaged.

TOP PERFORMERS: Houge is averaging 9.5 points and eight rebounds for the Gamecocks. Jaron Pierre Jr. is averaging 17.4 points over the last 10 games.

Jestin Porter is averaging 16 points for the Blue Raiders. Essam Mostafa is averaging 12.6 points over the last 10 games.

LAST 10 GAMES: Gamecocks: 8-2, averaging 73.3 points, 34.1 rebounds, 11.6 assists, 5.1 steals and 3.2 blocks per game while shooting 45.0% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 67.7 points per game.

Blue Raiders: 6-4, averaging 71.0 points, 31.1 rebounds, 12.5 assists, 7.2 steals and 4.6 blocks per game while shooting 45.0% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 70.3 points.

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