Howard hosts Smith and North Carolina Central

North Carolina Central Eagles (10-13, 3-3 MEAC) at Howard Bison (8-14, 3-2 MEAC)

Washington; Saturday, 4 p.m. EST

Eagles -1; over/under is 155.5

BOTTOM LINE: North Carolina Central takes on Howard after Perry Smith Jr. scored 24 points in North Carolina Central's 81-78 loss to the Norfolk State Spartans.

The Bison are 6-5 on their home court. Howard ranks fourth in the MEAC with 21.9 defensive rebounds per game led by Blake Harper averaging 5.4.

The Eagles are 3-3 against MEAC opponents. North Carolina Central has a 2-9 record against opponents over .500.

Howard is shooting 47.4% from the field this season, the same percentage North Carolina Central allows to opponents. North Carolina Central has shot at a 46.5% rate from the field this season, 0.5 percentage points less than the 47.0% shooting opponents of Howard have averaged.

The Bison and Eagles face off Saturday for the first time in MEAC play this season.

TOP PERFORMERS: Harper is shooting 44.8% and averaging 19.3 points for the Bison. Marcus Dockery is averaging 18.0 points over the last 10 games.

Po'Boigh King is shooting 43.9% and averaging 16.4 points for the Eagles. Keishon Porter is averaging 13.2 points over the last 10 games.

LAST 10 GAMES: Bison: 3-7, averaging 79.1 points, 27.0 rebounds, 16.6 assists, 5.0 steals and 2.5 blocks per game while shooting 48.6% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 85.6 points per game.

Eagles: 5-5, averaging 85.4 points, 36.1 rebounds, 18.6 assists, 8.3 steals and 2.8 blocks per game while shooting 48.7% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 75.9 points.

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