Nebraska Omaha, Southern meet in early-season battle

Southern (2-3) vs. Nebraska Omaha (3-3)

Cayman Islands Classic - Mainland , Baxter Arena, Omaha, Nebraska; Monday, 8 p.m. EST

BOTTOM LINE: Southern and Nebraska Omaha will take the floor in a postseason game at Baxter Arena. Nebraska Omaha won against Washington State 85-77 on Thursday, while Southern came up short in a 93-86 game in overtime to Nebraska on Friday.

TEAM LEADERSHIP: JT Gibson has averaged 17 points to lead the way for the Mavericks. Complementing Gibson is Ayo Akinwole, who is accounting for 12 points, 6.3 rebounds and 4.3 assists per game. The Jaguars are led by Micah Bradford, who is averaging 11.4 points.MIGHTY MICAH: Bradford has connected on 39.1 percent of the 23 3-pointers he's attempted and has gone 9 for 18 over the last three games. He's also converted 88.9 percent of his free throws this season.

COLD SPELL: Southern has lost its last three road games, scoring 66 points, while allowing 80.3 per game.

ASSIST RATIOS: The Jaguars have recently used assists to create buckets more often than the Mavericks. Nebraska Omaha has an assist on 30 of 79 field goals (38 percent) over its past three games while Southern has assists on 43 of 106 field goals (40.6 percent) during its past three games.

DID YOU KNOW: The disruptive Southern defense has forced opponents to turn the ball over on 25.5 percent of all possessions, the 30th-best rate in the country. Nebraska Omaha has a forced-turnover percentage of only 14.8 percent through six games (ranking the Mavericks 342nd among Division I teams).