Thomas leads Northwestern State against UT Rio Grande Valley after 20-point showing

UT Rio Grande Valley Vaqueros (6-10, 2-5 Southland) at Northwestern State Demons (5-11, 3-4 Southland)

Natchitoches, Louisiana; Monday, 7:30 p.m. EST

BOTTOM LINE: Northwestern State takes on UT Rio Grande Valley after Micah Thomas scored 20 points in Northwestern State’s 79-78 victory over the Texas A&M-CC Islanders.

The Demons have gone 4-3 in home games. Northwestern State is 3-3 when it turns the ball over less than its opponents and averages 11.7 turnovers per game.

The Vaqueros are 2-5 in conference games. UT Rio Grande Valley has a 3-6 record against opponents over .500.

Northwestern State makes 45.1% of its shots from the field this season, which is 3.5 percentage points higher than UT Rio Grande Valley has allowed to its opponents (41.6%). UT Rio Grande Valley averages 75.1 points per game, 2.9 fewer than the 78.0 Northwestern State allows to opponents.

The Demons and Vaqueros meet Monday for the first time in conference play this season.

TOP PERFORMERS: Thomas is averaging 17 points for the Demons. Izzy Miles is averaging 13.9 points over the last 10 games.

Koree Cotton is averaging 12.3 points and 5.4 rebounds for the Vaqueros. Marvin McGhee III is averaging 2.0 made 3-pointers over the last 10 games.

LAST 10 GAMES: Demons: 4-6, averaging 73.1 points, 28.5 rebounds, 12.1 assists, 7.0 steals and 1.4 blocks per game while shooting 45.7% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 73.9 points per game.

Vaqueros: 4-6, averaging 71.1 points, 32.7 rebounds, 16.5 assists, 6.4 steals and 3.1 blocks per game while shooting 44.7% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 66.7 points.

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