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

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Saint Francis (PA) Red Flash (7-23, 5-12 NEC) at Central Connecticut State Blue Devils (17-11, 11-6 NEC)

New Britain, Connecticut; Saturday, 1 p.m. EST

BOTTOM LINE: Cent. Conn. St. hosts Saint Francis (PA) after Darin Smith Jr. scored 24 points in Cent. Conn. St.'s 80-78 victory against the Mercyhurst Lakers.

The Blue Devils have gone 9-3 in home games. Cent. Conn. St. is 8-8 in games decided by 10 points or more.

The Red Flash are 5-12 against NEC opponents. Saint Francis (PA) has a 3-2 record in games decided by less than 4 points.

Cent. Conn. St.'s average of 7.4 made 3-pointers per game is 1.4 fewer made shots on average than the 8.8 per game Saint Francis (PA) gives up. Saint Francis (PA) averages 7.9 made 3-pointers per game this season, 0.2 fewer makes per game than Cent. Conn. St. gives up.

The teams play for the second time in conference play this season. Cent. Conn. St. won the last meeting 98-90 on Jan. 17. Smith scored 34 points points to help lead the Blue Devils to the victory.

TOP PERFORMERS: Smith is averaging 20.4 points and 5.1 rebounds for the Blue Devils. Max Frazier is averaging 12.9 points over the last 10 games.

Skylar Wicks is averaging 18 points and 6.8 rebounds for the Red Flash. Zion Russell is averaging 2.4 made 3-pointers over the last 10 games.

LAST 10 GAMES: Blue Devils: 7-3, averaging 69.5 points, 30.0 rebounds, 12.3 assists, 5.1 steals and 3.1 blocks per game while shooting 46.4% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 68.8 points per game.

Red Flash: 1-9, averaging 75.0 points, 28.1 rebounds, 12.7 assists, 7.0 steals and 1.2 blocks per game while shooting 45.3% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 83.1 points.

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