North Carolina Central Eagles (10-13, 3-3 MEAC) at Howard Bison (8-14, 3-2 MEAC)

Washington; Saturday, 4 p.m. EST

BOTTOM LINE: North Carolina Central visits Howard after Perry Smith Jr. scored 24 points in North Carolina Central's 81-78 loss to the Norfolk State Spartans.

The Bison are 6-5 in home games. Howard is 0-4 in games decided by 3 points or fewer.

The Eagles have gone 3-3 against MEAC opponents. North Carolina Central is 3-4 in games decided by less than 4 points.

Howard averages 8.6 made 3-pointers per game, 2.9 more made shots than the 5.7 per game North Carolina Central allows. North Carolina Central averages 80.4 points per game, 0.3 fewer than the 80.7 Howard allows to opponents.

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

TOP PERFORMERS: Blake Harper is averaging 19.3 points, 6.5 rebounds and 3.5 assists for the Bison. Marcus Dockery is averaging 18.0 points over the last 10 games.

Po'Boigh King is shooting 43.9% and averaging 16.4 points for the Eagles. Floyd Rideau Jr. is averaging 1.8 made 3-pointers over the last 10 games.

LAST 10 GAMES: Bison: 3-7, averaging 79.1 points, 27.0 rebounds, 16.6 assists, 5.0 steals and 2.5 blocks per game while shooting 48.6% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 85.6 points per game.

Eagles: 5-5, averaging 85.4 points, 36.1 rebounds, 18.6 assists, 8.3 steals and 2.8 blocks per game while shooting 48.7% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 75.9 points.

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