This Weeks MIAA Action
Missouri Western (9-13, 5-9 MIAA) @ NW Missouri State (16-8, 9-6 MIAA)
Wednesday, February 20, 2013
Maryville, Mo. - Bearcat Arena - 7:30 pm
Game Notes I Listen Live I Live Stats | Watch Live

TV: MIAA Network
Play-by-Play - Neil Harwell
Color Commentator - Jayice (J.C.) Pearson

Missouri Western (9-13, 5-9 MIAA) vs. University of Nebraska-Kearney (6-16, 3-11 MIAA)
Saturday, February 23, 2013
St. Joseph, Mo. - MWSU Fieldhouse - 7:00 pm
Game Notes I Listen Live I Live Stats  | Watch Live | MIAA Network

The Missouri Western women's basketball team, will continue MIAA play this week with a pair of games. The Griffons will try for series sweeps against Northwest Missouri State and Nebraska-Kearney. On Wednesday, February 20 the Griffons will be in Maryville, Mo. to take on the Bearcats. Tip time is set for 7:30 pm from Bearcat Arena. On Saturday, February 23 the Griffons host the Lopers in the MIAA Game of the Week. Game time is set for 7:00 pm from the MWSU Fieldhouse.

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 eight but did defeat its second ranked team last week defeating #17 Washburn 79-74 on the road.  The Griffons are 2-1 this season against top-25 team defeating #24 Northwest Missouri State 71-58 on January 12 at home. They fell to #25 Washburn 56-52 in overtime last week
• Before sitting out three games with a concussion 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 nine 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 six of 12 games which included 10 in the Griffons loss at home against WU and 12 off the bench at Washburn. 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 nine. 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 16 MIAA games by 10 points or less which includes eight of its 13 losses this season.
• The Griffons have lost eight of its 13 games by 10 points or less and five 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 - NWMSU:
Head Coach Tom Smith is 28-29 all-time against the Bearcats at MWSU. Smith is 15-10 at home and 8-15 in Bearcat Arena. He has won three of seven neutral floor meetings. Missouri Western has won just five meetings in the last 23 match-ups. Ben McCollum is 5-2 against the Griffons and 3-0 in Bearcat Arena and 2-2 in St. Joseph.

The Series vs. the Bearcats:
Wednesday marks the 76th meeting between the two teams. The Bearcats have won five of the last six which has given the Bearcats a six game advantage all-time over the Griffons (41-35).

Coaches vs. Each Program - UNK:
This marks the third meeting with the Lopers for coach Smith. He is 2-1 all-time taking on the Lopers twice in his first year at Missouri Western. Smith beat Kearney 84-81 at home and fell 103-93 in Kearney in the 1988-89 season. Coach Kropp is 0-1 against the Griffons.

Series vs. the UNK:
Their meeting earlier this seaosn was the 27th meeting all-time for the two teams. The Lopers hold a 16-11 advantage and a 9-3 advantage in Kearney. All but this season earlier game was played when the two teams were in the CSIC. The last time the two teams met before this season was in the 1988-89 season when the two teams split. The Griffons are 8-7 in St. Joseph against UNK.

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 be on the road on Wednesday, February 27 when they travel to Hays, Kan. to take on the Fort Hays State Tigers. Game time is set for 7:30 pm from Hays, Kan.