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UT Rio Grande Valley Vaqueros (6-15, 2-8 WAC) at Southern Utah Thunderbirds (8-13, 3-7 WAC)
Cedar City, Utah; Saturday, 8:30 p.m. EST
BOTTOM LINE: Dominique Ford and the Southern Utah Thunderbirds host Elijah Elliott and the UT Rio Grande Valley Vaqueros in WAC play.
The Thunderbirds are 5-4 in home games. Southern Utah averages 11.1 turnovers per game and is 6-5 when it has fewer turnovers than its opponents.
The Vaqueros have gone 2-8 against WAC opponents. UT Rio Grande Valley ranks third in the WAC scoring 36.5 points per game in the paint led by Elliott averaging 12.0.
Southern Utah’s average of 6.4 made 3-pointers per game this season is just 0.5 fewer made shots on average than the 6.9 per game UT Rio Grande Valley gives up. UT Rio Grande Valley’s 43.2% shooting percentage from the field this season is 5.1 percentage points lower than Southern Utah has allowed to its opponents (48.3%).
The Thunderbirds and Vaqueros meet Saturday for the first time in WAC play this season.
TOP PERFORMERS: Zion Young averages 1.9 made 3-pointers per game for the Thunderbirds, scoring 13.1 points while shooting 32.0% from beyond the arc. Ford is averaging 16.8 points over the last 10 games for Southern Utah.
Elliott is scoring 14.6 points per game with 3.6 rebounds and 2.9 assists for the Vaqueros. JJ Howard is averaging 12.5 points and 2.9 rebounds while shooting 45.7% over the past 10 games for UT Rio Grande Valley.
LAST 10 GAMES: Thunderbirds: 5-5, averaging 75.7 points, 33.1 rebounds, 11.6 assists, 6.6 steals and 3.7 blocks per game while shooting 43.6% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 76.2 points per game.
Vaqueros: 3-7, averaging 73.3 points, 35.3 rebounds, 12.8 assists, 7.1 steals and 3.3 blocks per game while shooting 43.9% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 78.8 points.
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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.
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