Central Plains FFA Chapter

02/18 03:43 CST Tarleton State hosts Southern Utah following Duval's 20-point game Tarleton State hosts Southern Utah following Duval's 20-point game By The Associated Press Southern Utah Thunderbirds (9-17, 5-8 WAC) at Tarleton State Texans (13-13, 4-9 WAC) Stephenville, Texas; Thursday, 8 p.m. EST BOTTOM LINE: Southern Utah faces Tarleton State after Elijah Duval scored 20 points in Southern Utah's 78-73 win against the UT Arlington Mavericks. The Texans are 9-4 in home games. Tarleton State is seventh in the WAC with 8.5 offensive rebounds per game led by Chris Mpaka averaging 2.2. The Thunderbirds have gone 5-8 against WAC opponents. Southern Utah has a 5-11 record in games decided by 10 points or more. Tarleton State is shooting 45.4% from the field this season, 0.4 percentage points lower than the 45.8% Southern Utah allows to opponents. Southern Utah has shot at a 45.7% rate from the field this season, 0.8 percentage points greater than the 44.9% shooting opponents of Tarleton State have averaged. The Texans and Thunderbirds square off Thursday for the first time in WAC play this season. TOP PERFORMERS: Camron McDowell is averaging 13.9 points and 1.7 steals for the Texans. Dior Johnson is averaging 10.0 points over the last 10 games. Duval is scoring 14.0 points per game and averaging 3.9 rebounds for the Thunderbirds. Dylan Jones is averaging 1.8 made 3-pointers over the last 10 games. LAST 10 GAMES: Texans: 2-8, averaging 67.5 points, 27.4 rebounds, 8.8 assists, 10.6 steals and 3.7 blocks per game while shooting 42.4% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 73.4 points per game. Thunderbirds: 5-5, averaging 75.3 points, 32.7 rebounds, 13.5 assists, 4.7 steals and 4.3 blocks per game while shooting 46.6% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 76.1 points. ___ The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.