Southern Miss hosts Drone and Texas State

Texas State Bobcats (9-7, 2-2 Sun Belt) at Southern Miss Golden Eagles (9-7, 3-1 Sun Belt)

Hattiesburg, Mississippi; Thursday, 8 p.m. EST

BOTTOM LINE: Texas State visits Southern Miss after Mark Drone scored 24 points in Texas State’s 84-79 victory over the UL Monroe Warhawks.

The Golden Eagles are 4-1 on their home court. Southern Miss is sixth in the Sun Belt in team defense, allowing 73.3 points while holding opponents to 42.4% shooting.

The Bobcats are 2-2 in Sun Belt play. Texas State ranks third in the Sun Belt with 10.6 offensive rebounds per game led by DJ Hall averaging 2.1.

Southern Miss’ average of 5.5 made 3-pointers per game is 2.0 fewer made shots on average than the 7.5 per game Texas State allows. Texas State averages 5.0 made 3-pointers per game this season, 3.4 fewer made shots on average than the 8.4 per game Southern Miss gives up.

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

TOP PERFORMERS: Tylik Weeks is averaging 17.4 points and 6.3 rebounds for the Golden Eagles. Djahi Binet is averaging 11.0 points over the last 10 games.

Drone is averaging 14.3 points for the Bobcats. Hall is averaging 14.6 points over the last 10 games.

LAST 10 GAMES: Golden Eagles: 6-4, averaging 72.2 points, 33.3 rebounds, 11.6 assists, 6.6 steals and 3.4 blocks per game while shooting 44.6% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 73.1 points per game.

Bobcats: 5-5, averaging 74.3 points, 33.0 rebounds, 14.8 assists, 9.7 steals and 3.4 blocks per game while shooting 46.1% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 73.4 points.

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