Missouri Western (9-12, 5-8 MIAA) vs. #17 Washburn (15-5, 8-4 MIAA)
Wednesday, February 13, 2013
St. Joseph, Mo. - MWSU Fieldhouse - 7:30 pm
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The Missouri Western men's basketball team continues MIAA play on Wednesday evening when they host the Washburn Ichabods in the MWSU Fieldhouse. The Griffons look for the season sweep against Washburn with tip time set for 7:30 pm in St. Joseph, Mo.

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 617 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 have struggled latley losing five of its last seven but did defeat its second ranked team last week beat #17 Washburn 79-74 on the road.  The Griffons are 2-0 this season against top-25 team defeating #24 Northwest Missouri State 71-58 on January 12 at home.
• 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 against Central Missouri and 17 against Lincoln.  He has scored in double figures in six of his last eight games. Fulton has sat out the past three games.
• 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 five of 11 games which included 12 off the bench last week against WU. He had 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 five of his last eight. He scored a career high 20 points in the Griffons loss at ESU. He scored 11 off the bench against Pittsburg State and 10 in their victory over Washburn.
• Dating back to last season the Griffons have lost 15 MIAA games by 10 points or less which includes seven of its 11 losses this season.
• The Griffons have lost seven of its 11 games by 10 points or less and four of them by four points or less.
• In seven of its nine 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 and against Washburn the Griffons had six in double figures.
• In four of its nine victories the Griffons have had 10 or more steals. They had 12 against UNK and Washburn 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 - WU:
Tom Smith is 28-25 all-time against the Ichabods, while Washburn head coach Bob Chipman is 40-30 all-time  against the Griffons. Coach Smith is 17-9 all time in the fieldhouse against the Ichabods and just 10-15 in Lee Arena. The  two teams have met six times in the MIAA Tournament with the Griffons leading 4-3.

Series vs. the WU:
The Griffons trail the Ichabods 44-36 in the series which started back in the 1969-70 season. The Griffons lead the series 21-20 at home but trail 23-14 on the road. The two teams are 1-1 on a neutral floor and tied 3-3 in the MIAA tournament.

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.
02/06/13 @ #17 Washburn - 79-74
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 have another week off before they hit the road to take on rival Northwest Missouri State in Maryville, Mo. on Wednesday, February 20. Game time is set for 7:30 pm from Bearcat Arena.