Holy Cross looks to end streak vs American

American (15-13, 11-6) vs. Holy Cross (3-27, 2-15)

Hart Recreation Center, Worcester, Massachusetts; Saturday, 2:05 p.m. EST

BOTTOM LINE: American looks to extend Holy Cross’s conference losing streak to 11 games. Holy Cross’ last Patriot League win came against the Lehigh Mountain Hawks 96-95 on Jan. 22. American blew out Lafayette by 20 at home in its last outing.

LEADING THE WAY: Holy Cross’ Joe Pridgen has averaged 17.5 points and 6.8 rebounds while Austin Butler has put up 11.7 points and 6.2 rebounds. For the Eagles, Sa’eed Nelson has averaged 18.7 points, 5.1 rebounds and 4.7 assists while Stacy Beckton Jr. has put up 9.8 points and 4.8 rebounds.

CREATING OFFENSE: S. Nelson has made or assisted on 51 percent of all American field goals over the last three games. The senior guard has accounted for 34 field goals and eight assists in those games.

COLD SPELL: Holy Cross has lost its last five home games, scoring an average of 59.6 points while giving up 73.4.

ASSIST-TO-FG RATIO: The Eagles have recently used assists to create buckets more often than the Crusaders. Holy Cross has 28 assists on 69 field goals (40.6 percent) over its previous three matchups while American has assists on 35 of 82 field goals (42.7 percent) during its past three games.

TOUGH DEFENSE: American has forced opponents into committing turnovers on 19.8 percent of all possessions, the second-highest rate among all Patriot League teams. The Eagles have forced conference opponents into turnovers on 20.4 percent of all possessions.