Missouri Western closes out its four-game road trip on Saturday as they travel to Maryville for a showdown with No. 3 Northwest Missouri State. The Griffons, who are 8-4 this season, look to stop a three-game losing streak after dropping two more games last week as they returned to the court for the first time in two weeks after having to pause team activities due to positive COVID-19 results within its Tier 1 personnel.
This will be the first meeting of the season between the two rivals as the game in St. Joseph has been postponed twice due to health and safety protocols. Because of the postponements, the Griffons and Bearcats will play two games in a four-day span as they'll square off again on Tuesday, February 9 at 7:00 p.m. inside the MWSU Fieldhouse.
Northwest Missouri State is on an eight-game winning streak as they are 13-1 this season with their only loss coming at home to Washburn, 84-82, in overtime on January 7. The Bearcats closed out a three-game road trip Tuesday with a win at Missouri Southern, 84-74. Ryan Hawkins is averaging 21.4 points and 8.3 rebounds per game for Northwest, Trevor Hudgins adds 18.9 points, 3.2 rebounds and 5.4 assists per outing, and St. Joe native Diego Bernard is averaging 12.5 points, 5.5 rebounds and 3.6 assists per game. Ben McCollum is in his 12th season as head coach at Northwest and is 284-77 overall and 174-55 in the MIAA.
The Bearcats lead the all-time series 57-35, including a 28-13 mark in Maryville. Northwest Missouri State has won 17 consecutive games in the series as the Griffons last win came during the 2012-2013 season. Missouri Western's last win at Bearcat Arena came during the 2008-2009 campaign when MWSU defeated Northwest 66-63.
SCHEDULE UPDATE
Missouri Western has now rescheduled all four games they had to postpone earlier last month. The Fort Hays State game from January 16 will now be in Hays, Kansas on Tuesday, February 23. The January 19th Northwest Missouri State has been moved to Tuesday, February 9 inside the MWSU Fieldhouse. The Newman home game that was supposed to be played on January 21 will now take place on Monday, February 15. And the January 23rd home game against Central Oklahoma has been rescheduled for Sunday, February 7. MWSU will now play 10 games in February and six during a 10-day span.
NATIONAL RANKINGS
The Griffons dropped out of the NABC Top 25 after their two losses last week for the first time since December 15. That stopped a streak of six straight polls MWSU had been ranked in, which is the fourth longest streak in school history. This is the first year Missouri Western has been ranked since the 2001-2002 season.
HOME WINNING STREAK
Despite a 3-4 mark on the road, MWSU is 5-0 at home this season and they've won 17 of their last 18 games inside the MWSU Fieldhouse. Their only loss during that stretch came against then No. 1 Northwest Missouri State last season. The Griffons struggled at home in Coach Martin's first year on staff as they went just 2-9 inside the MWSU Fieldhouse during the 2018-2019 season.
CONSECUTIVE GAMES MAKING A 3
Missouri Western has struggled from behind the three-point line this season as they are last in the MIAA in three-point FG percentage, but they made seven three's at Lincoln last Saturday to extend a school record with their 474th consecutive game 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.
HIGH OCTANE OFFENSE
The Griffons are second in the MIAA in scoring (80.4) and have scored 80+ points in 6 of their 13 games, eclipsing the 100-point mark twice this season. MWSU will look to get back up over 80 points though, as they've now scored 74 points or less in five straight games after averaging 91.3 in the five games prior to that.
STARTING TO VALUE THE BASKETBALL
Missouri Western is fifth in the MIAA in fewest turnovers per game (12.8). After committing 14+ turnovers in five of their first six games and averaging 14.3 turnovers per game during those six games, MWSU has had 12 or fewer in five of their six outings.
LOCKING DOWN THE ARC
Opponents have struggled to shoot the ball from behind the three-point line against Missouri Western this season as the Griffons are no. 1 in the MIAA in three-point field goal percentage defense (28.0%) and they're third in the league in overall field goal percentage defense (42.3%). Only three teams have made more than six three-point field goals in a game and eight of their 12 opponents have shot 30% or less against the Western defense. Only one team (LU) has shot better than 50% from the field against MWSU and the Griffs have held nine of their 12 opponents to 45% shooting or less from the field.
