A pair of Missouri Valley Conference rivals meet on the court Sunday in Cedar Falls, Iowa and the McLeod Center when the Belmont Bruins (20-10, 13-6 MVC) visit the Northern Iowa Panthers (13-16, 9-10 MVC). Belmont defeated the Indiana State Sycamores 89-88 on Thursday behind 18 points from Ben Sheppard, who also hit a pair of free throws with only 2.5 seconds to play to seal the win. Northern Iowa was defeated by Southern Illinois 86-63 on Wednesday and the Panthers have lost seven of the last eight. Belmont does not have any players on its injury report, while Northern Iowa will play without Natie Heise.
Belmont is scoring an average of 75.8 points per game which is 86th best in the nation and has the 45th best field goal shooting percentage at 47.0% and the 11th highest three-point shooting percentage at 39.1%. However, the Bruins defense is its weak link, allowing an average of 71.0 points per game which is 216th. The Bruins are holding opponents to a field goal shooting percentage of 44.9% which is 262nd and a three-point shooting percentage of 34.8% which is 254th.
Belmont's leading scorer Ben Sheppard is scoring an average of 19.2 points per game, while shooting 47.7% overall and 41.3% from three-point land. Cade Tyson is the second leading scorer with an average of 13.2 points per game, while shooting 48.5% overall and 42.9% from downtown. Four of the top five scorers for Belmont shoot between 34.3% and 4 6.6% from 3-point territory. Keishawn Davidson is the leader in assists with an average of 4.5 dishes per contest. Belmont is averaging 32.8 rebounds per game led by Even Brauns with an average of 5.4 boards per game. Brauns is the rim protector with a team best 1.4 blocked shots per game. Ja’Kobi Gillespie is the leader in steals with an average of 1.5 per game.
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