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Liberty Flames (13-9, 2-5 CUSA) at UTEP Miners (12-10, 3-4 CUSA)
El Paso, Texas; Saturday, 9 p.m. EST
BOTTOM LINE: Liberty plays the UTEP Miners after Zach Cleveland scored 23 points in Liberty’s 79-73 overtime loss to the New Mexico State Aggies.
The Miners are 11-2 in home games. UTEP is fifth in the CUSA scoring 73.8 points while shooting 45.0% from the field.
The Flames have gone 2-5 against CUSA opponents. Liberty leads the CUSA with 16.8 assists. Colin Porter paces the Flames with 4.2.
UTEP makes 45.0% of its shots from the field this season, which is 2.3 percentage points higher than Liberty has allowed to its opponents (42.7%). Liberty has shot at a 46.2% rate from the field this season, 1.2 percentage points above the 45.0% shooting opponents of UTEP have averaged.
The matchup Saturday is the first meeting this season for the two teams in conference play.
TOP PERFORMERS: Tae Hardy is shooting 40.7% and averaging 15.0 points for the Miners.
Kyle Rode averages 3.0 made 3-pointers per game for the Flames, scoring 13.6 points while shooting 37.8% from beyond the arc.
LAST 10 GAMES: Miners: 5-5, averaging 68.9 points, 28.0 rebounds, 10.2 assists, 11.9 steals and 2.4 blocks per game while shooting 43.3% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 68.9 points per game.
Flames: 4-6, averaging 71.3 points, 31.5 rebounds, 16.5 assists, 5.5 steals and 1.9 blocks per game while shooting 43.9% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 70.8 points.
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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.