Smith and the Western Illinois Leathernecks host conference foe Tennessee State

Tennessee State Tigers (5-11, 1-4 OVC) at Western Illinois Leathernecks (8-8, 2/3 OVC)

Macomb, Illinois; Saturday, 4:30 p.m. EST

BOTTOM LINE: Sean Smith and Western Illinois host Brandon Weston and Tennessee State in OVC play Saturday.

The Leathernecks have gone 5-2 in home games. Western Illinois is sixth in the OVC with 9.9 offensive rebounds per game led by Tay Knox averaging 2.5.

The Tigers are 1-4 against conference opponents. Tennessee State is 4-5 in games decided by 10 points or more.

Western Illinois makes 45.0% of its shots from the field this season, which is 2.8 percentage points higher than Tennessee State has allowed to its opponents (42.2%). Tennessee State averages 8.8 more points per game (79.2) than Western Illinois allows (70.4).

The Leathernecks and Tigers match up Saturday for the first time in OVC play this season.

TOP PERFORMERS: Marko Maletic is shooting 48.7% and averaging 17.7 points for the Leathernecks.

Weston is averaging 17.3 points and 5.4 rebounds for the Tigers.

LAST 10 GAMES: Leathernecks: 5-5, averaging 75.8 points, 33.1 rebounds, 12.7 assists, 6.5 steals and 4.1 blocks per game while shooting 46.6% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 71.9 points per game.

Tigers: 2-8, averaging 75.1 points, 36.0 rebounds, 11.5 assists, 7.1 steals and 3.1 blocks per game while shooting 43.7% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 79.2 points.

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