Illinois State squares off against Kent State in NIT

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Kent State Golden Flashes (24-9, 15-5 MAC) at Illinois State Redbirds (20-12, 12-9 MVC)

Normal, Illinois; Wednesday, 8 p.m. EDT

BOTTOM LINE: Illinois State and Kent State meet in the National Invitation Tournament.

The Redbirds' record in MVC games is 12-9, and their record is 8-3 in non-conference games. Illinois State ranks eighth in the MVC with 13.4 assists per game led by Johnny Kinziger averaging 3.2.

The Golden Flashes' record in MAC action is 15-5. Kent State is 5-2 in one-possession games.

Illinois State scores 75.1 points per game, 4.5 fewer points than the 79.6 Kent State allows. Kent State averages 9.8 made 3-pointers per game this season, 3.3 more made shots on average than the 6.5 per game Illinois State gives up.

TOP PERFORMERS: Boden Skunberg averages 1.8 made 3-pointers per game for the Redbirds, scoring 10.1 points while shooting 42.1% from beyond the arc. Chase Walker is averaging 13.5 points and 5.2 rebounds over the past 10 games.

Delrecco Gillespie is averaging 18.1 points and 11.1 rebounds for the Golden Flashes. Morgan Safford is averaging 13.8 points over the last 10 games.

LAST 10 GAMES: Redbirds: 5-5, averaging 70.0 points, 29.5 rebounds, 13.5 assists, 5.1 steals and 2.1 blocks per game while shooting 44.6% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 71.7 points per game.

Golden Flashes: 7-3, averaging 80.8 points, 32.8 rebounds, 14.0 assists, 7.3 steals and 2.6 blocks per game while shooting 43.3% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 77.3 points.

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