THIS WEEK IN MISSOURI WESTERN MEN'S BASKETBALL
MIAA CHAMPIONSHIPS - MUNICIPAL AUDITORIUM - KANSAS CITY, MO
Friday, March 6th - 6 p.m.
#5 Washburn (16-12, 11-8) vs #4 Missouri Western (17-13, 13-6)

ST. JOSEPH - A resurgent season for the Missouri Western men's basketball program sends the Griffons to Kansas City as the No. 4 seed in the MIAA Championships. There the Griffons face a Washburn team they have played twice this season and has the experience of making it to the MIAA championship game the previous two years. 

LEAD-IN

• The teams meet for a second consecutive game after a 94-80 win for Missouri Western in St. Joseph on Feb. 29
• Regular season series was split with Washburn winning 86-76 in Topeka on Jan. 9
• First postseason meeting since 2016 in the first round of the MIAA Championships. #11 MWSU defeated #6 Washburn 70-54 in Topeka
• The last neutral site postseason meeting was in the 2010 MIAA Semifinals. #8 Washburn defeated #4 MWSU 56-43
• MWSU had its most successful season in 10 years including its highest MIAA finish since the 09-10 season
• It's MWSU's first appearance in KC for the tournament since 2016 and first postseason game overall since 2018
• Washburn advanced to the championship game each of the last two years, falling to Northwest Missouri both times
• The Ichabods are making their 12th consecutive appearance in the MIAA Championships

 
HEAD COACHES

• Missouri Western's Sundance Wicks is in his second year as a head coach. The Griffons are 29-31 in his two seasons and 19-19 in MIAA play.
• Washburn's Brett Ballard is in his third season leading the Ichabods, making the NCAA Tournament each of his first two seasons. Washburn is 62-29 overall and 40-17 in MIAA play under Ballard.

 
LEADERS
Scoring: MWSU, Tyrell Carroll (17.5)); WU, Tyler Geiman (15.4)
Rebounding: MWSU, Will Eames (7.3); WU Jonny Clausing (7.1)
Assists: MWSU, Tyrell Carroll (5.9); WU, Tyler Geiman (5.5)
FG%: MWSU, Tyrell Carroll (47.2); WU, Jonny Clausing (54.1)
3-PT%: MWSU, Reese Glover (43.1); WU, Tyler Geiman(40.6)
 
SEASON BY THE NUMBERS
17 - Missouri Western went 17-13 for the program's first winning season in 10 years. The 17 wins were also the most since the 2009-10 team went 18-12 overall.
13 - The Griffons went 13-6 in the MIAA, matching the previous three teams' combined MIAA win totals. The 13 conference wins were also the most for the program since going 16-2 in the MIAA in the 2001-02 season.
4th - Missouri Western hadn't finished fourth or better in the MIAA standings since the 2009-10 season. That was also the last time the Griffons played a postseason game as the home team. Since '09-10, MWSU had not had a higher seed than No. 11 in 2010-11.
11 - The MWSU Fieldhouse saw the longest home win streak by a Griffon men's basketball team in 17 years. Missouri Western won its first 11 inside the Looney Complex this season with its only loss coming to No. 1 Northwest Missouri State.
12 - Twelve wins inside the MWSU Fieldhouse were the most for the program in 14 years. The Griffons went 12-1 at home, outscoring opponents by 13.4 points. Missouri Western shot 70% better than the away team at home and shot nearly 40% from 3-point range in the MWSU Fieldhouse.
FEB. 22 – Missouri Western's home win streak hit 11 games on Feb. 22. That night also marked the program's first win over a top-25 ranked team, 89-85 over No. 17 Missouri Southern. It was the fourth of five games against ranked opponents for MWSU this season.
7 - The upset win over Missouri Southern came as sweet redemption for the Lions breaking the Griffons' seven-game win streak on Feb. 15. MWSU won seven-straight MIAA games between Jan. 23 and Feb. 12 for the longest win streak since the '01-02 season.
292 - The Griffons' 16 3-point field goals in the regular season finale against Washburn pushed MWSU to 292 on the season, the most-ever by a Missouri Western team.
2,374 - Missouri Western's 2,374 points this season were the most for the program since totaling 2,498 in the 2001-02 season.
409 - 409 assists by Griffons this season are the most since totaling 415 in 2009-10. Tyrell Carroll needs 12 more assists to break the MWSU single season record.
1,125 - The Griffons aren't likely to break the program record of 1,590 rebounds in a season, but their 1,125 this year are the most by a Griffon team in more than 20 years.
850 - It's been 18 years since a Griffon team made more than 850 field goals in a season. That's when the 2001-02 team knocked down 927 total.
 
THE TURNAROUND
This resurgent season for a once proud program almost didn't happen. After an 87-75 loss at Rockhurst on Dec. 21, the Griffons sat at 4-8 on the season and had lost 5 of their last seven. Missouri Western won its next three including two straight MIAA wins over Rogers State and Northeastern State, but still found itself four games below .500 overall and 3-4 in the MIAA after three straight conference losses at Washburn, Northwest Missouri State and Emporia State. Then the tide turned. The Griffons rattled off seven consecutive victories, the most for the program in 18 years. Down the stretch, Missouri Western won 10 of its final 12 games including its first win over a ranked opponent in seven years. It ended with a 17-13 overall record, the best in 10 years; a 13-6 conference record, the best in 18 years; and a fourth place finish in the MIAA standings, the highest in 10 years. The Griffons went 12-1 in the MWSU Fieldhouse, the most home wins in 14 years and its 11-game home win streak was the longest in 17 years.

	FIRST 18	LAST 12
Record	7-11	10-2
Scoring	75.4	84.8
Opp. Scoring	74.2	77.4
Rebounds	37.8	37.1
Opp. Rebounds	37.1	35.1
Assists	12.5	15.3
Turnovers	13.8	11.6
FG%	43.2	47.8
Opp. FG%	43.6	43.1
3-PT%	32.2	40.5
Opp. 3-PT%	37.8	39.1

 
YOUTH MOVEMENT
Just three seniors were celebrated last Friday in the MWSU Fieldhouse. Those three have played a huge role in the elevation of the program, but underclassmen had a bigger cut of the pie. Five of the team's top six scorers this season are freshmen or sophomores. Tyus Millhollin is the lone senior in the group. Almost 66% of the total minutes played by Griffons were by freshmen and sophomores.

	Min.	Pts.	Reb.	A.
Freshmen	2177	873	388	87
Sophomores	1465	661	232	177
Juniors	581	107	104	22
Seniors	1495	902	207	121

 
FIRST-EVER MIAA FROSH OF THE YEAR
Speaking of youth, Will Eames became Missouri Western's first-ever MIAA Freshman of the Year Jerone Gambrell was MWSU's last Freshman of the Year, earning the award in 1987 in the CSIC. After redshirting last season, the Lee's Summit, Missouri native averaged 11.1 points and 7.3 rebounds per game. He finished sixth in the MIAA in rebounding and shot 50% from the field during MWSU's final 12 games.
 
NO SOPHOMORE SLUMP
Tyrell Carroll put up MIAA Freshman of the Yeartype numbers last season, but took a jump as a sophomore. The first team All-MIAA point guard became the first Griffon in decades to record over 490 points, 100 rebounds, 150 assists and 50 steals. In fact, Carroll's slash line went 491/105/166/60. He needs just 12 more assists to break MWSU's single season record. Carroll ranked fifth in the MIAA in scoring (17.5), eighth in field goal percentage (47.2), second in assists (5.9), fifth in assist to turnover ratio (1.9) and second in steals (2.1). He was also sixth in the MIAA in minutes played (34.1).
 
3-POINT RECORD HOLDER
Tyus Millhollin tied the MWSU single season 3-point record with 96 after another MWSU record, 10 in one game against Washburn in the regular season finale. The honorable mention All-MIAA guard tied with first team All-MIAA guard Trevor Hudgins for the MIAA lead with 3.3 makes per game from beyond the arc. Millhollin's 39.5% long range shooting was sixth best in the MIAA. He also helped MWSU to a program record 292 threes this season.
 
FROSH HAS THE GREEN LIGHT
Millhollin's records may not last long with Reese Glover holding three more years of eligibility. The freshman broke out for 75 threes, shooting 43% from long range, ranking third in the MIAA. His average of 2.7 makes per game were fourth-best in the MIAA. Glover shot an incredible 51.9% from 3-point range over the final 12 games of the season after shooting 35.5% through the first 18.
 
SECOND HALF TEAM
The Griffons are almost seven points better in the second half than the first half this season. MWSU averaged a 35.7-35.1 lead at the break, but outscored the opposition 42.5-39.5 after halftime. It helped the Griffons shot 47.5% from the field in the second half and 36.6% from 3-point range after halftime.

	1st HALF	2nd HALF
Scoring	35.7	42.5
Opp. Scoring	35.1	39.5
FG%	42.9	47.5
Opp. FG%	41.9	45.5
3-PT%	34.2	36.6
Opp. 3-PT%	41.7	34.6
Assists	6.5	7.1
Turnovers	6.8	6

 
WINS vs LOSSES

	WINS	LOSSES
Scoring	83.2	73.8
Opp. Scoring	67.6	85.7
Rebound Margin	+3.8	-2.6
Assists	8.3	5.4
Turnovers	7.5	5.4
FG%	47.8	41.7
Opp. FG%	38.7	49.8
3-PT%	34.2	29.7
Opp. 3-PT%	41.7	43.4
FT%	74.1	64.1
Opp. FT%	71.9	73.9