Illinois State, Western Illinois play in NIT
Western Illinois Leathernecks (17-16, 10-13 OVC) at Illinois State Redbirds (21-12, 15-7 MVC)
Normal, Illinois; Sunday, 3 p.m. EDT
BOTTOM LINE: Illinois State and Western Illinois meet in the National Invitation Tournament.
The Redbirds are 15-7 against MVC opponents and 6-5 in non-conference play. Illinois State is fifth in the MVC in team defense, allowing 67.7 points while holding opponents to 41.0% shooting.
The Leathernecks’ record in OVC games is 10-13. Western Illinois is 7-3 when it wins the turnover battle and averages 14.4 turnovers per game.
Illinois State’s average of 6.4 made 3-pointers per game this season is just 0.2 more made shots on average than the 6.2 per game Western Illinois gives up. Western Illinois has shot at a 43.4% rate from the field this season, 2.4 percentage points greater than the 41.0% shooting opponents of Illinois State have averaged.
TOP PERFORMERS: Elyce Knudsen is shooting 42.5% from beyond the arc with 2.5 made 3-pointers per game for the Redbirds, while averaging 13.6 points. Shannon Dowell is shooting 50.0% and averaging 20.2 points over the last 10 games.
Raegan McCowan is averaging 22.4 points and 7.8 rebounds for the Leathernecks. Mia Nicastro is averaging 16.3 points over the last 10 games.
LAST 10 GAMES: Redbirds: 7-3, averaging 74.7 points, 32.4 rebounds, 16.1 assists, 5.4 steals and 1.7 blocks per game while shooting 48.3% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 67.6 points per game.
Leathernecks: 5-5, averaging 72.3 points, 31.9 rebounds, 12.8 assists, 5.4 steals and 2.9 blocks per game while shooting 44.6% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 73.1 points.
___
The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.