Griffon Men Open Up 2014 Hosting Washburn and Nebraska-Kearney

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St. Joseph, Mo. - The Missouri Western men's basketball team will try and snap a twp game losing streak opening up their 2014 schedule against the Washburn Ichabods and the Nebraska-Kearney Lopers. The Griffons take on the Ichabods on Saturday, January 4 at 3:30 pm at the Lopers on Monday, January 6 at 7:30 pm. Both games will be played in the MWSU Fieldhouse in St. Joseph, Mo.

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 135-92 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 six players scoring eight or more points a game. Three players average double digit numbers with Ryan Devers leading the way at 14.8 points per game. Cortrez Colbert and Adarius Fulton are averaging 13.8 and 10.9 points respectively.
• The Griffons have struggled to rebound the ball getting outrebounded by nearly six a game. They have just 32.6 rebounds to their opponents 38.9. They do have three players averaging four or more rebounds per game with Cedric Clinkscales snaring 6.8 a game.
• The Griffons have 32 less turnovers than it's opponents and 27 more steals. Seven players have at least four steals this season with Fulton leading the charge with 23.
• Since joining the MIAA in 1989-1990 the Griffons are 18-7 in MIAA openers. The Griffons are 8-2 at home and 10-5 on the road.
• Since 1989-90 the Griffons are 19-6 in home MIAA openers. They beat the #15 Fort Hays State Tigers 82-79 in overtime on December 7.
• Since 1989-90 the Griffons are 13-12 in road MIAA openers after falling 73-30 against Northeastern State back on December 19, 2013.
• The Griffons are 2-2 since 1994-95 on January 4 and 5-1 on January 6. They are 1-2 at home, 1-0 on the road on January 4 and 3-1 at home and 2-0 on the road on January 6. The last time the played on January 4 was in 2012 at home when they fell 64-53 against Northwest Missouri State. The last time the played on Jnauary 6 was at home in 2010 against Northwest Missouri State when they won 84-80.
• 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.

Series vs. Each Team:
Coaches vs. Each Program - WU:
This marks the first meeting with the Ichabods for Griffon head coach Brett Weiberg while Washburn head coach Bob Chipman is 41-30 all-time against the Griffons.

The Series vs. the Ichabods:
The Griffons trail the Ichabods 45-36 in the series which started back in the 1969-70 season. The series it tied 21-21 in St. Joseph home but trail 23-14 in Topeka. The two teams are 1-1 on a neutral floor.

Coaches vs. Each Program - UNK:
This marks the first meeting with the Lopers for coach Weiberg.. Coach Kropp is 1-1 against the Griffons after splitting last years series. Each team won on the opposing teams home court.

Series vs. the Lopers:
Their last seaosn was the 28th meeting all-time for the two teams. The Lopers hold a 17-11 advantage and a 9-3 advantage in Kearney. All but last seasons games were played when the two teams were in the CSIC. The last time the two teams met before last season was in the 1988-89 season when the two teams split. The Griffons are 8-8 in St. Joseph against UNK.

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 101 times for an average of 9.2 per game. When the Griffons have turned the ball over less than their opponents they are 6-3 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 51, 36 and 26 assists respectively. The Griffons have 155 assists on the season and when they dish out 15 assists or more the Griffons are 4-1 this season and when they have less than 15 assists they are 2-4.

Got to Rebound
With being undersized the Griffons have to rebound the ball. They are getting outrebounded by nearly six 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 6-3 on the season.

Same Starting Lineup
The Griffons used the same stargint linup for the first nine games which was, Cortrez Colbert, Ryan Devers and Adarius Fulton. Underneath they have used Cedric Clinkscales and Dzenan Mrkaljevic. Due to Clinkscales exhausting his eligibility last semester they were forced to changed their starting line up. They used Adaruis Fulton, Cortrez Colbert, Ryan Devers, Han Thun and Dzenan Mrkaljevic for the last two game before Christmas break.

Balanced Scoring
When the Griffons have four or more players score in double figures they are 5-2 on the season with their both losses coming on the road against Illinois-Springfield and Northeastern 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 hit the road for a three game road swing with two games against ranked opponents. The Griffon open up the string of road games against Emporia State on January 8 in Emporia, Kan. Game time is set for 7:30 pm in White Auditorium.

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Griffon Men Open Up 2014 Hosting Washburn and Nebraska-Kearney