Missouri Western (8-10, 4-6 MIAA) vs. Pittsburg State (12-5, 5-4 MIAA)
Wednesday, January 30, 2013
St. Joseph, Mo. - MWSU Fieldhouse - 7:30 pm
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Missouri Western (8-11, 4-7 MIAA) vs. Northeastern State (14-4, 7-3 MIAA)
Saturday, February 2, 2013
St. Joseph, Mo. - MWSU Fieldhouse - 3:30 pm
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The Missouri Western men's basketball team, will play two MIAA games this week in the fieldhouse. The Griffons open up the week on Wednesday, January 30 against the Pittsburg State Gorillas. Game time is set for 7:30 pm. On Saturday, Februray 2 the Griffons take on MIAA newcomer Northeastern State. Tip time is set for 3:30 pm against the RiverHawks.

Griffon Notes
• This marks the 43rd season of Griffons men's basketball
• Head Coach Tom Smith is in his 25th season overall at Missouri Western and 38th season overall as a head coach at the collegiat level...Smith has won 616 career games with 445 coming at Missouri Western. He announced on Wednesday, December 5, 2012 that he will be retiring at the end of the 2012-2013 season.
• The Griffons were able to snap a mini three game losing streak on Saturday with a 61-59 victory over the Lincoln Blue Tigers.
• Griffon point guard Adarius Fulton has been playing outstanding the last few games...he had a career night in the Griffons victory over Nebraska-Kearney where he scored 23 points and had seven steals...He followed that performance up with an 11 points performance in the Griffons 71-58 victory over #24 Northwest Missouri State earlier this season. He scored 17 on Wednesday against Central Missouri and 17 against Lincoln on Saturday.  He has scored in double figures in six of his last eight games. Fulton will sit out Wednesday evening's contest with an injury.
• Griffon post Alfreeman Flowers has also played very well as of late colleting his first double-double with 12 points and 12 rebounds against UNK...Flowers has scored in double digits in four of eight games which included 10 off the bench in the Griffons victory over #24 Northwest Missouri State. Kalvin Balque has been outstanding as of late as well scoring in double figures in three of his last five. He scored a career high 20 points in the Griffons loss at ESU.
• Dating back to last season the Griffons have lost 14 MIAA games by 10 points or less which includes three of its four losses this season. The Griffons fell to Truman State 71-69, Fort Hays State 84-74 in overtime and Lindenwood 78-69 on Wednesday. All the games were in the fieldhouse.
• The Griffons have lost six of its 10 games by 10 points or less and three of them by four points or less.
• In six of its eight victories this season the Griffons have had three or more players score in double figures. In its victory against Northwest Missouri State the the Griffons had five players score in double figures.
• In three of its eight victories the Griffons have had 10 or more steals. They had 12 against UNK and 10 against NWMSU earlier this season.
• The Griffons were picked to finish 11th in the MIAA coaches preseason poll and 12th in the MIAA media preseason poll.

Coaches vs. Each Program - PSU:
Tom Smith is in his 25th year as head coach at Missouri Western. Smith (Valparaiso, '67) has compiled a 446-272 (.621) career record leading the Griffons. He is 21-21 vs. Pitt State. Smith is 12-8 at home 9-12 on the road and 0-1 at a neutral site against the Gorillas. Muff has a 42-32 (.568) record in his short tenure with the Gorillas. He is 3-1 against the Griffons.

Series vs. the PSU:
Wednesday's action will mark the 67th all-time meeting between the Gorillas and Missouri Western in a series that dates back to the 1976 season. Missouri Western holds a 37-29 advantage in the series, including a 22-10 edge in games played at St. Joseph, Mo. The Gorillas have posted three straight wins in the series, sweeping a pair of match-ups last year – 77-71 in Pittsburg on Nov. 30 and 69-67 at St. Joseph on Jan. 21.

Coaches vs. Each Program - NSU:
Head Coach Tom Smith is 3-0 all-time against the Northeastern State and Gipson is 0-3 against the Griffons.  

The Series vs. the RiverHawks:
The Griffons are 3-0 against the RiverHawks. They have won at home, in Talequah and on a neutral floor. The first meeting was in St. Joseph on November 29, 2003. MWSU won 63-48. The last meeting was on November 27, 2006 in Emporia, Kan. MWSU won 74-73. The last two games were decided by one point.

Griffon Wins Against Top-25 Ranked Teams:
Since 2001-2002 the Griffons have defeated 14 teams that were ranked in the top-25 which includes their biggest upset yet on Dec. 7 in the fieldhouse when they defeated No. 1 Missouri Southern 75-67.
01/12/13 vs. #24 Northwest Missouri State - 71-58
12/7/11 vs. #1 Missouri Southern - W, 75-67
12/11/10 vs. #6 Fort Hays State - W, 78-77
02/01/10 vs. #3 Fort Hays State - W, 75-69
02/24/09 vs. #2 Central Missouri - W, 55-49
12/18/09 vs. #12 Drury - W, 91-84 in High Desert Classic in Las Vegas
11/21/09 vs. #17 Central Oklahoma - W, 83-79 in Hillyard Tipoff Classic
2/19/05 @ #6 Central Missouri - W, 70-68
12/29/04 vs. #6 Washburn - W, 73-70
1/29/03 @ #18 Washburn - W, 68-67
1/23/02 vs. #13 Missouri Southern - W, 80-73
1/2/02 @ #4 Washburn - W, 95-92
1/30/02 vs. #11 Washburn - W, 73-71
2/4/02 @ #3 Northwest Missouri State - W, 64-59

Up Next
The Griffons will be on the road next Wednesday to take on the Washburn Ichabods in Topeka, Kan. Game time is set for 7:30 pm from Lee Arena.