New Mexico, Sam Houston square off in NIT

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Sam Houston Bearkats (22-11, 14-8 CUSA) at New Mexico Lobos (23-10, 14-8 MWC)

Albuquerque, New Mexico; Wednesday, 9 p.m. EDT

BOTTOM LINE: New Mexico and Sam Houston square off in the National Invitation Tournament.

The Lobos' record in MWC games is 14-8, and their record is 9-2 against non-conference opponents. New Mexico ranks third in the MWC in team defense, giving up 70.8 points while holding opponents to 42.0% shooting.

The Bearkats' record in CUSA action is 14-8. Sam Houston has a 1-2 record in games decided by 3 points or fewer.

New Mexico makes 46.0% of its shots from the field this season, which is 3.6 percentage points higher than Sam Houston has allowed to its opponents (42.4%). Sam Houston averages 11.4 more points per game (82.2) than New Mexico allows to opponents (70.8).

TOP PERFORMERS: Jake Hall averages 3.2 made 3-pointers per game for the Lobos, scoring 16.0 points while shooting 44.5% from beyond the arc. Tomislav Buljan is averaging 12.5 points and 10.4 rebounds over the last 10 games.

Kashie Natt is averaging 10.7 points, 8.3 rebounds and 2.1 steals for the Bearkats. Jacobe Coleman is averaging 2.1 made 3-pointers over the last 10 games.

LAST 10 GAMES: Lobos: 5-5, averaging 79.8 points, 32.8 rebounds, 15.1 assists, 7.7 steals and 2.6 blocks per game while shooting 46.9% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 75.4 points per game.

Bearkats: 6-4, averaging 80.1 points, 34.0 rebounds, 14.7 assists, 6.9 steals and 2.8 blocks per game while shooting 46.0% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 76.4 points.

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