MIAA Tournament - 1st Round
#12 Missouri Western (10-16, 6-12 MIAA) @ #5 NW Missouri State (18-9, 11-7 MIAA)
Monday, March 4, 2013
Maryville, Mo. - Bearcat Arena - 7:00 pm
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MARYVILLE, Mo. - The Missouri Western men's basketball team, will open up the MIAA tournament on the road for a 1st Round tournament game against rival Northwest Missouri State University. The Griffons and the Bearcats split a pair of games this season with both teams winning on its own floor. The two teams meet in the MIAA tournament for the first time since March 3, 2006 when the Bearcats defeated the Griffons 72-49 in Kansas City, Mo. The two teams have met eight times in the tournament with both teams winning four.

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 collegiate level...Smith has won 618 career games with 446 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 lately losing eight of its last 12 but did defeat its second ranked team a couple weeks ago 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.
• The Griffons ended the regular season with a 72-58 victory over Southwest Baptist.
• The Griffons in the MIAA Tournament The Griffons are making their 21st appearance in
the MIAA Tournament. Missouri Western is 24-16 overall with their last appearance being in the 2010-11 season when they fell in the first round against Fort Hays State by a score of 86-85. The Griffons have fell in their first round game three of the last five times they have been in the Tournament. The last time the Griffons bowed out of the tournament in the first round was on March 3, 2011 when they fell 86-85 against Fort Hays State. Before that was on March 3, 2006 when they lost to the
Northwest Missouri State Bearcats by a score of 72-49.
• The Griffons and the Bearcats have met in the MIAA tournament eight times with the Griffons winning four. The Griffons are 3-2 at home and 1-2 on a neutral floor. The Griffons won the first ever meeting in the MIAA Tournament 112-73 in St. Joseph in on Feb. 27, 1995. The Griffons lost the last meeting in Kansas City on March 3, 2006.
• Dating back to last season the Griffons have lost 18 MIAA games by 10 points or less which includes 10 of its 16 losses this season.
• The Griffons have two players that have been named to the All-MIAA Honorable Mention team which was released Monday afternoon. Cedric Clinkscales and Adarius Fulton have earned that honor.
• The Griffons have lost 10 of its 16 games by 10 points or less and five of them by four points or less.
• In seven of its 10 victories this season the Griffons have had three or more players score in double figures. In its victory against Northwest Missouri State the Griffons had five players score in double figures and against Washburn the Griffons had six in double figures.
• In four of its 10 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 28-30 all-time against the Bearcats at MWSU. Smith is 15-10 at home and 8-16 in Bearcat Arena. He is 4-4 in MIAA tournament games against the Bearcats and is 3-2 at home and 1-2 in Kansas City in MIAA tournament games. Missouri Western has won just five meetings in the last 24 match-ups. Ben McCollum is 6-2 against the Griffons and 4-0 in Bearcat Arena and 2-2 in St. Joseph.

Series vs. NWMSU:
Wednesday marks the 79th meeting between the two teams. The Bearcats have won six of the last seven which has given the Bearcats a seven game advantage all-time over the Griffons (43-36). The Bearcats have won the last two MIAA Tournament games against the Griffons.

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:
If the Griffons win they will play the #4 seed Northeastern State on Thursday, March 7 at 2:15 pm in Kansas City in Municipal Auditorium.

2013 MIAA Tournament Schedule
Monday, March 4, 2013 (Campus Sites - High Seed Hosts)
Game 1: #9 Missouri Southern at #8 Emporia State                7 p.m.
Game 2: #12 Missouri Western at #5 Northwest Missouri  7 p.m.
Game 3: #11 Southwest Baptist at #6 Central Oklahoma      7 p.m.
Game 4: #10 Truman at #7 Pittsburg State                               7 p.m.

Thursday, March 7, 2013 (Muncipal Auditorium in Kansas City, Mo.)
Game 5: #1 Fort Hays State vs. Winner Game 1                         12 p.m.
Game 6: #4 Northeastern State vs. Winner Game 2                   2:15 p.m.
Game 7: #2 Central Missouri vs. Winner Game 4                       6:00 p.m.
Game 8: #3 Washburn vs. Winner Game 3                                  8:15 p.m.

Saturday, March 9, 2013 (Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City, Mo.)
Game 9: Winner Game 5 vs. Winner Game 6                              12 p.m.
Game 10: Winner Game 7 vs. Winner Game 8                             2:15 p.m.

Sunday, March 10, 2013 (Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City, Mo.)
Game 11: Winner Game 9 vs. Winner Game 10                           1:00 p.m.

All times are approximate