Griffon Men Men Continue League Play against Central Missouri and Southwest Baptist

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St. Joseph, Mo. - The Missouri Western men's basketball closes out its three game road swing on Wednesday, January 15 with a contest against Central Missouri. The Griffons close out the week on Saturday, January 18 with a home contest against the Southwest Baptist Bearcats. Wednesday's game will tip at 7:30 pm in Warrensburg, Mo. in the UCM Multipurpose Building while Saturday's contest will tip at 3:30 pm in the MWSU Fieldhouse.

Griffon Notes
• This marks the 44th season of Griffons men's basketball
• This marks the first season in 25 years that the MWSU basketball team will be playing under a new head coach. Brett Weiberg is in his first season at MWSU and 8th season overall. He is 136-95 as a head coach with the previous seven seasons being at Northern Oklahoma College. He is just the 4th head coach in MWSU history and had a 27-4 record last season at Northern (Okla.).
• The Griffons have been balanced in the scoring category with five active players scoring eight or more points a game. Three players average double digit numbers with Ryan Devers leading the way at 17.5 points per game. Cortrez Colbert and Adarius Fulton are averaging 13.4 and 10.9 points respectively. Devers has scored over 20 points in three of his last four games including 35 in the Griffons victory over Nebraska-Kearney. The 35 points was the first time a Griffon did that since 12/19/10 when P'Allen Stinnett scored 33 against Washburn. The last player to score over 35 points was Reggie Bunch when he scored 38 on March 1, 2008 against Missouri Southern. He has scored in double digits in 10 straight games and 14 of 15 games.
• The Griffons have struggled to rebound the ball getting outrebounded by 7.6 a game. They have just 31.3 rebounds to their opponents 39.1.
• The Griffons have 64 less turnovers than it's opponents and 43 more steals. Six players have at least four steals this season with Fulton leading the charge with 31.
• The Griffons are 4-1 since 1994-95 on January 15 and 1-3 on January 18. They are 3-0 at home, 1-1 on the road on January 15 and 0-1 at home and 1-2 on the road on January 18. The Griffons played the Mules one time on January 15 which was in 2011 when the Griffons won at home 91-72. The Griffons have not played the Bearcats on January 18. The last time they played on January 18 was in in 2003 when they lost to Missouri-Rolla on the road in overtime by a score of 68-61.
• The Griffons were picked to finish 11th in the MIAA preseason coaches poll and 12th in the preseason media poll while the Tigers were picked 1st in both preseason polls.

Coaches vs. Each Program - UCM:
Head Coach Brett Weiberg is 0-0 against the Mules while while Kim Anderson is 16-8 against the Griffons.

Series vs. the UCM:
The Griffons trail the all-time series with the Mules 29-27. The Griffons lead 20-8 in St. Joseph but trail 17-7 in Warrensburg, Mo. The Griffons trail 3-0 on a neutral floor.

Coaches vs. Each Program - SBU:
Head Coach Brett Weiberg is 0-0 all-time against the Bearcats while Jeff Guiot is 12-7 against the Griffons.

Series vs. the SBU:
The Griffons lead the all-time series with the Bearcats 45-29 which includes 31-10 in the MWSU Fieldhouse. The Griffons trail 19-12 in Bolivar and lead 2-0 on a neutral floor. The Griffons are 4-0 against the Bearcats in the MIAA Tournament and 1-0 in the NAIA District 16 Tournament.

Taking Care of the Ball
In order for the Griffons to be successful this season they have to keep the turnovers down. So far this season they have done just that turning it over just 135 times for an average of 9 per game. When the Griffons have turned the ball over less than their opponents they are 7-6 this season. When they turn the ball over the same amount of more they are 0-2.

Dishing the Rock
The Griffons have been very good at getting their teammates involved. Guards Ryan Devers, Cortrez Colbert and Adarius Fulton have dished out 70, 44 and 31 assists respectively. The Griffons have 201 assists on the season and when they dish out 15 assists or more the Griffons are 4-2 this season and when they have less than 15 assists they are 3-6.

Got to Rebound
With being undersized the Griffons have to rebound the ball. They are getting outrebounded by 7.8 a game. The Griffons have been outrebounded in all but two of their games this season. When they either outrebounded or keep the rebounding margin under ten they are 6-4 on the season.

Struggles on the Road
The Griffons have struggled on the road this season going 0-5 and 0-4 in the MIAA. The are shooting just 38.1-percent (51-134) and are getting outscored 85-76. They have 22 less assists on the road and 9 less blocks. They do have 17 less turnovers and five less steals but are getting outrebounded by 54 on the offfensive end of the floor and 44 on the defensive end of the floor. They have 119 personal fouls to their opponents 90 and have been outscoed by 29 in the first ahld and 16 in the second half on the road. Devers is averaging 17.6 points per game while Fulton and Colbert are averaging 13.2 and 10.4 points pn the road.

Balanced Scoring
When the Griffons have four or more players score in double figures they are 5-4 on the season with all their losses coming on the road against Illinois-Springfield, Northeastern State, Emporia State and Pittsburg State.

Griffon Wins Against Top-25 Ranked Teams:
Since 2001-2002 the Griffons have defeated 15 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.
12/07/13 vs. #15 Fort Hays State - 82-79 OT
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 return to road action on Saturday, January 25 with an MIAA contest against the Missouri Southern Lions. Game time is set for 3:00 pm in Leggett & Platt Athletic Center.

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Griffon Men Men Continue League Play against Central Missouri and Southwest Baptist