Smith leads Cent. Conn. St. against Saint Francis (PA) after 24-point performance

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Central Connecticut State Blue Devils (9-6, 3-1 NEC) at Saint Francis (PA) Red Flash (4-13, 2-2 NEC)

Loretto, Pennsylvania; Saturday, 2 p.m. EST

BOTTOM LINE: Cent. Conn. St. plays Saint Francis (PA) after Darin Smith Jr. scored 24 points in Cent. Conn. St.'s 69-59 win over the Le Moyne Dolphins.

The Red Flash have gone 3-3 at home. Saint Francis (PA) is 2-10 in games decided by 10 points or more.

The Blue Devils are 3-1 against conference opponents. Cent. Conn. St. ranks third in the NEC with 25.3 defensive rebounds per game led by James Jones averaging 4.5.

Saint Francis (PA)'s average of 7.8 made 3-pointers per game this season is only 0.9 fewer made shots on average than the 8.7 per game Cent. Conn. St. gives up. Cent. Conn. St. averages 77.7 points per game, 4.1 fewer than the 81.8 Saint Francis (PA) allows to opponents.

The matchup Saturday is the first meeting of the season between the two teams in conference play.

TOP PERFORMERS: Skylar Wicks is averaging 18 points and 7.1 rebounds for the Red Flash. Victor Payne is averaging 1.5 made 3-pointers over the last 10 games.

Smith is scoring 20.3 points per game and averaging 5.3 rebounds for the Blue Devils. Max Frazier is averaging 12.5 points and 6.5 rebounds over the last 10 games.

LAST 10 GAMES: Red Flash: 3-7, averaging 70.5 points, 28.5 rebounds, 14.5 assists, 7.6 steals and 2.1 blocks per game while shooting 42.1% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 80.4 points per game.

Blue Devils: 6-4, averaging 79.6 points, 31.2 rebounds, 14.9 assists, 6.8 steals and 4.9 blocks per game while shooting 50.5% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 73.7 points.

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