North Carolina Central Eagles (14-17, 10-6 MEAC) vs. Howard Bison (22-10, 12-3 MEAC)
Norfolk, Virginia; Saturday, 1 p.m. EDT
BETMGM SPORTSBOOK LINE: Bison -11.5; over/under is 145.5
BOTTOM LINE: Howard and North Carolina Central meet in the MEAC Championship.
The Bison have gone 12-3 against MEAC teams, with a 10-7 record in non-conference play. Howard averages 16.4 assists per game to lead the MEAC, paced by Cam Gillus with 4.7.
The Eagles are 10-6 against MEAC teams. North Carolina Central has a 3-11 record against opponents above .500.
Howard averages 77.7 points per game, 2.1 more points than the 75.6 North Carolina Central gives up. North Carolina Central has shot at a 44.1% rate from the field this season, 2.2 percentage points above the 41.9% shooting opponents of Howard have averaged.
The teams square off for the third time this season. Howard won the last matchup 100-67 on Feb. 21. Travelle Bryson scored 22 to help lead Howard to the win, and Kyric Davis scored 23 points for North Carolina Central.
TOP PERFORMERS: Bryce Harris is averaging 17.2 points and 6.8 rebounds for the Bison. Cedric Taylor III is averaging 19.2 points over the last 10 games.
Gage Lattimore is averaging 16.7 points for the Eagles. Dionte Johnson is averaging 12.4 points over the last 10 games.
LAST 10 GAMES: Bison: 9-1, averaging 84.4 points, 32.0 rebounds, 19.4 assists, 8.2 steals and 4.5 blocks per game while shooting 50.4% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 64.2 points per game.
Eagles: 6-4, averaging 70.4 points, 28.3 rebounds, 11.2 assists, 8.5 steals and 3.7 blocks per game while shooting 44.6% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 72.4 points.
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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.
