Palek leads Missouri State against Middle Tennessee after 24-point outing

Missouri State Bears (10-7, 4-2 CUSA) at Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders (10-7, 4-2 CUSA)

Murfreesboro, Tennessee; Saturday, 6 p.m. EST

BOTTOM LINE: Missouri State visits Middle Tennessee after Keith Palek III scored 24 points in Missouri State's 87-72 loss to the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers.

The Blue Raiders have gone 7-1 in home games. Middle Tennessee is eighth in the CUSA scoring 74.8 points while shooting 44.1% from the field.

The Bears are 4-2 against CUSA opponents. Missouri State is seventh in the CUSA allowing 71.8 points while holding opponents to 43.8% shooting.

Middle Tennessee is shooting 44.1% from the field this season, 0.3 percentage points higher than the 43.8% Missouri State allows to opponents. Missouri State averages 7.4 made 3-pointers per game this season, 2.0 more made shots on average than the 5.4 per game Middle Tennessee allows.

The matchup Saturday is the first meeting this season for the two teams in conference play.

TOP PERFORMERS: Kamari Lands is scoring 12.6 points per game and averaging 4.1 rebounds for the Blue Raiders. Alec Oglesby is averaging 1.9 made 3-pointers over the last 10 games.

Kobi Williams averages 2.5 made 3-pointers per game for the Bears, scoring 13.6 points while shooting 35.6% from beyond the arc. Palek is shooting 42.0% and averaging 18.5 points over the last 10 games.

LAST 10 GAMES: Blue Raiders: 6-4, averaging 69.3 points, 32.2 rebounds, 12.8 assists, 6.7 steals and 4.7 blocks per game while shooting 42.3% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 65.3 points per game.

Bears: 6-4, averaging 72.4 points, 29.7 rebounds, 13.8 assists, 6.8 steals and 3.4 blocks per game while shooting 44.1% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 72.8 points.

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