Long Island Sharks (13-8, 7-1 NEC) at Central Connecticut State Blue Devils (11-9, 5-4 NEC)

New Britain, Connecticut; Saturday, 2 p.m. EST

BOTTOM LINE: Darin Smith Jr. and Cent. Conn. St. host Greg Gordon and LIU in NEC play.

The Blue Devils are 5-2 on their home court. Cent. Conn. St. has a 2-1 record in games decided by 3 points or fewer.

The Sharks have gone 7-1 against NEC opponents. LIU has a 4-7 record against teams over .500.

Cent. Conn. St. averages 7.7 made 3-pointers per game, 1.2 more made shots than the 6.5 per game LIU allows. LIU averages 6.4 made 3-pointers per game this season, 2.2 fewer made shots on average than the 8.6 per game Cent. Conn. St. allows.

The Blue Devils and Sharks square off Saturday for the first time in NEC play this season.

TOP PERFORMERS: Smith is averaging 19.6 points and 5.6 rebounds for the Blue Devils. Melo Sanchez is averaging 2.4 made 3-pointers over the last 10 games.

Jamal Fuller averages 1.9 made 3-pointers per game for the Sharks, scoring 16.3 points while shooting 46.3% from beyond the arc. Malachi Davis is shooting 37.4% and averaging 14.8 points over the last 10 games.

LAST 10 GAMES: Blue Devils: 5-5, averaging 71.1 points, 28.3 rebounds, 12.6 assists, 5.2 steals and 3.4 blocks per game while shooting 46.7% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 71.8 points per game.

Sharks: 7-3, averaging 73.0 points, 35.2 rebounds, 14.7 assists, 6.7 steals and 5.2 blocks per game while shooting 45.5% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 69.5 points.

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