Southern Utah (12-10, 7-6) vs. Sacramento State (10-11, 4-8)
The Hornets Nest, Sacramento, California; Thursday, 7:05 p.m. EST
BOTTOM LINE: Southern Utah goes for the season sweep over Sacramento State after winning the previous matchup in Cedar City. The teams last met on Jan. 19, when the Thunderbirds shot 53.5 percent from the field while holding Sacramento State's shooters to just 35.8 percent on the way to a 76-71 victory.
LEADING THE WAY: The do-everything Marcus Graves has averaged 16 points, 4.7 rebounds and 5.3 assists to lead the way for the Hornets. Complementing Graves is Joshua Patton, who is accounting for 13.3 points and 5.5 rebounds per game. The Thunderbirds are led by Cameron Oluyitan, who is averaging 13.1 points.
OFFENSIVE THREAT: Graves has had his hand in 43 percent of all Sacramento State field goals over the last five games. The senior guard has 34 field goals and 27 assists in those games.
WINNING WHEN: The Hornets are 8-0 when holding opponents to 40 percent or worse from the field, and 2-11 when opponents shoot better than that. The Thunderbirds are 5-0 when turning the ball over nine times or fewer and 7-10 when the team exceeds that total.
ASSIST-TO-FG RATIO: The Thunderbirds have recently used assists to create baskets more often than the Hornets. Sacramento State has an assist on 31 of 82 field goals (37.8 percent) across its past three contests while Southern Utah has assists on 35 of 79 field goals (44.3 percent) during its past three games.
DID YOU KNOW: Sacramento State is rated second among Big Sky teams with an offensive rebound percentage of 29.3 percent. The Hornets have averaged 10.5 offensive boards per game.
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This was generated by Automated Insights, http://www.automatedinsights.com/ap, using data from STATS LLC, https://www.stats.com
