Tennessee State hosts Western Illinois following Maletic's 24-point outing

Western Illinois Leathernecks (8-15, 2-10 OVC) at Tennessee State Tigers (10-13, 6-6 OVC)

Nashville, Tennessee; Thursday, 8 p.m. EST

BOTTOM LINE: Western Illinois visits Tennessee State after Marko Maletic scored 24 points in Western Illinois' 69-65 loss to the SIU-Edwardsville Cougars.

The Tigers are 8-3 in home games. Tennessee State leads the OVC with 38.9 points in the paint led by Brandon Weston averaging 6.7.

The Leathernecks are 2-10 against OVC opponents. Western Illinois is 3-9 against opponents over .500.

Tennessee State makes 46.2% of its shots from the field this season, which is 2.0 percentage points higher than Western Illinois has allowed to its opponents (44.2%). Western Illinois averages 7.5 made 3-pointers per game this season, 0.6 more makes per game than Tennessee State gives up.

TOP PERFORMERS: Justus Jackson is shooting 30.3% from beyond the arc with 1.5 made 3-pointers per game for the Tigers, while averaging 8.3 points and 3.4 assists. Weston is averaging 13.8 points over the past 10 games.

Maletic is scoring 16.2 points per game with 3.1 rebounds and 0.5 assists for the Leathernecks. Sean Smith is averaging 12.3 points and 1.7 steals over the past 10 games.

LAST 10 GAMES: Tigers: 6-4, averaging 78.7 points, 35.8 rebounds, 15.2 assists, 7.6 steals and 3.6 blocks per game while shooting 47.2% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 74.5 points per game.

Leathernecks: 1-9, averaging 61.5 points, 29.7 rebounds, 8.4 assists, 6.1 steals and 3.1 blocks per game while shooting 40.9% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 70.4 points.

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