LIU visits Breland and Cent. Conn. St.

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Long Island Sharks (7-20, 6-9 NEC) at Central Connecticut State Blue Devils (17-10, 11-3 NEC)

New Britain, Connecticut; Thursday, 7 p.m. EST

BOTTOM LINE: Cent. Conn. St. takes on the Long Island Sharks after Tre Breland III scored 21 points in Cent. Conn. St.’s 68-67 victory against the Sacred Heart Pioneers.

The Blue Devils are 8-3 in home games. Cent. Conn. St. has a 6-2 record in games decided by 3 points or fewer.

The Sharks are 6-9 in conference matchups. LIU ranks seventh in the NEC shooting 31.3% from 3-point range.

Cent. Conn. St. scores 72.3 points per game, 4.6 fewer points than the 76.9 LIU gives up. LIU averages 5.6 made 3-pointers per game this season, 1.5 fewer made shots on average than the 7.1 per game Cent. Conn. St. gives up.

TOP PERFORMERS: Kellen Amos is averaging 12 points and 5.4 rebounds for the Blue Devils. Breland is averaging 2.1 made 3-pointers over the last 10 games for Cent. Conn. St..

Tai Strickland is scoring 14.0 points per game and averaging 4.1 rebounds for the Sharks. Tana Kopa is averaging 2.5 made 3-pointers over the last 10 games for LIU.

LAST 10 GAMES: Blue Devils: 8-2, averaging 70.1 points, 38.5 rebounds, 14.2 assists, 6.9 steals and 4.5 blocks per game while shooting 43.4% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 66.4 points per game.

Sharks: 4-6, averaging 71.9 points, 38.5 rebounds, 15.5 assists, 6.6 steals and 4.4 blocks per game while shooting 44.8% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 73.9 points.