SPRINGFIELD, Mo. — The battle for positioning in Conference USA is ramping up as conference play approaches its midpoint. Currently, there are four teams with six league wins or more, and two of them will meet each other on Saturday afternoon.

Following a victorious 78-74 thriller over FIU on the road on Wednesday night, Jax State is red hot right now, winning its last three in a row and will now take a nearly 600-mile trip to take on the Missouri State Bears on Saturday afternoon at 2 p.m. for the second game of a three-game road trip.

The Gamecocks currently sit in second place in the conference with a 6-3 conference record, trailing just behind Liberty, while the Bears are tied for third place with Sam Houston, each with a 6-4 league record.

Wednesday's win featured the Gamecocks best half of basketball in conference play so far, scoring 54 points in the second half, compared to FIU's 42. Mostapha El Moutaouakkil became the offensive catalyst for Jax State, scoring 22 of his 31 points in the second half alone, alongside Jacoby Hill's 15 points, including a game-winning jump shot in the final seconds.

Missouri State is coming off an 80-71 loss to Sam Houston at home on Wednesday night. Michael Osei-Bonsu led the Bears offensively with 22 points for his seventh game scoring 20 points or more.

Both squads feature a top three scorer in the conference, as Jax State's El Moutaouakkil sits in second place in Conference USA, scoring 19.0 points a game, trailed by Missouri State's Keith Palek III who scores 17.9 points per game.

This is just the third all-time meeting between both squads, with the most recent coming in 2016 when the Bears defeated the Gamecocks 91-65 in Springfield on Nov. 13. Saturday's matchup will be their first meeting as members of the Conference USA.