Coming off a solid road win at Rockhurst, the Griffons welcome William Jewell on Saturday for one last non-conference tuneup before diving headlong into the MIAA schedule. Tipoff for the game is set for 6 p.m. at the MWSU Fieldhouse.

Game Basics

Game 7 | Missouri Western vs. William Jewell
6 p.m. | MWSU Fieldhouse | St. Joseph, Mo.

Griffon Sports Network
680 AM | 95.3 FM 
680kfeq.com/live-stream    Broadcast Team
Tommy Rezac (@TommyKFEQ)
Tom Smith
Broadcast    MIAA Network
Live Stats    gogriffons.com/livestats-mbb

The Coaches
Will Martin
2nd Season | 15-14 (.514)
Chris McCabe
3rd Season | 17-37 (.315)

Last Time Out
With leading scorer JaQuaylon Mays out of the lineup due to a family emergency, Missouri Western was forced to make some adjustments, but the Griffons found the right combination late to hold on for a 69-59 win at Rockhurst on Tuesday night. A pair of unexpected starters stepped up as Reese Glover dropped a game-high 21 points on the Hawks and Reed Kemp added 11.

Rockhurst took a 25-24 lead into the break, but the Griffons offense hit its stride in the second half, opening with a 26-9 run over the first 10:33. Glover started to get hot during the run, connecting on three of his four chances from distance.

The Hawks managed to close to within two possessions down the stretch, but Missouri Western picked up a big defensive stop in the final minute, as Alex John swiped the ball from Spencer Moes after the Hawks grabbed a rebound on his three-point miss. JaRon Thames drew a foul and knocked down both ends of the one-and-one.

After another miss, the Hawks were forced to foul. Kemp icily swished both to put Missouri Western up eight, then added another pair of makes with 11 seconds to play to put the game to rest.

Last Time Against The Cardinals
Missouri Western used a balanced offensive effort and solid team defense to pick up a road win over William Jewell 78-75 on Nov. 26, 2018. The win snapped a three-game losing skid at the end of a five-game road trip.

There were a total of 19 lead changes and five ties in the contest, with the Griffons holding the lead for a paltry nine minutes. Missouri Western trailed by one at the half then took its first lead with 14:24 remaining as a Bryan Hudson triple finished of a 10-3 Griffon run for a 45-42 lead.

Jonathan Mesmacque put MWSU in front for good at the 8:02 mark with a three pointer, and the Griffons withstood a late charge by the Cardinals for the three-point win. 

Scouting William Jewell
As a Division II team, Missouri Western holds an 12-5 edge in the series against the Cardinals. Seven of the last nine contests between the teams have been held in St. Joseph, with Missouri Western owning a 5-2 record in those contests.

William Jewell enters Saturday's contest with a 2-3 record, with one of its wins coming in a big upset of #11 Washburn University in Liberty. WJC is wrapping up a stretch of four consecutive MIAA opponents, having dropped a 78-71 result at Emporia State and a 63-55 loss at Central Missouri most recently.

Jordan Jermain and Kobe McKinley lead the Cardinals' offense, averaging 13.8 points and 13.4 points per game respectively. Mason Alexander also chips in a respectable 10.8 points per contest, with Heri Tshiyoyo leading WJC with 9.2 rebounds per game.

As a team, William Jewell brings a 40.6 percent (115-283) shooting pace to the contest, but has allowed opponents to hit at a 45.8 percent (127-277) pace. Chris McCabe's squad holds a slim 35.4-32.0 edge in rebounding, but has turned the ball over 84 times to just 79 times for its opponents.

Rank Is Just A Number
With the upset of RV/#17 Oklahoma Baptist to open the Hillyard Tip-Off Classic, Will Martin collected his fourth victory over a ranked team in his young tenure. The Griffons are 4-2 against teams ranked in the top 25 under Will Martin, and 2-0 in regular season games against top-10 foes.

Keeping It Regular
After loving the extra period in 2020-21, Missouri Western has not found success in overtime this year. The Griffons won both of their bonus basketball contests last year (68-55 at Rogers State, 84-76 vs. Lincoln) but have dropped a pair of losses (83-77 vs. RV Embry-Riddle; 81-77 vs. Henderson State) to open the 2021-22 schedule.

Working The Polls
On the strength of its return to the NCAA Tournament, Missouri Western received votes in the preseason NABC Coaches' Poll, tallying six votes in the balloting. The Griffons also received eight votes in the preseason D2SIDA Regional Rankings.

Back In The Top 3 In The MIAA
Missouri Western finished third in the MIAA last year, their highest finish in the league since a second-place finish in 2002-2003. The Griffons finished fourth in 2010 and 2020.

Consecutive Games With A Three
With makes in all four contests to open the season, Missouri Western continues to extend its school record with 494 consecutive games with a made three-pointer. The last time MWSU didn't make a three-point field goal in a game was February 4, 2004 at Emporia State when the Griffons went 0-of-7 in a 70-53 loss to the Hornets. 

Defending The Arc
Missouri Western finished No. 2 in the MIAA in three-point field goal percentage defense at 33.8% last year. Through four games this season, the Griffons have tightened up, allowing just 29.3% shooting from downtown.

Covering The Griffs
Making his debut as the "Voice of the Griffs" this season is Tommy Rezac. Joining Rezac for a majority of our home broadcasts is Griffon Hall of Famer Tom Smith. Danielle Sachse will be providing color commentary when Missouri Western is on the road this year.

For the 20th year, KFEQ 680 AM/95.3 FM is the home of the Griffon Sports Network, and Rezac also hosts the weekly Missouri Western Coaches Luncheon at the Hi-Ho Bar and Grill, carried on JoeTown 107.5.

Celebrating Success
Missouri Western returned to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2010 last year, earning an at-large bid as the third place team in the MIAA. As is tradition, we will be hanging a banner in the MWSU Fieldhouse to commemorate the accomplishment, with Jonathan Mesmacque and returning from the 2020-21 team as the banner was presented prior to the game against Oklahoma Baptist.