ST. JOSEPH, Mo. — Griffon Men's Basketball gets ready for their inaugural Gold Rush Night, hosting Washburn this Thursday in a rematch from December at the MWSU Fieldhouse.
KEEPING UP WITH THE GRIFFONS
KFEQ Radio will broadcast the game live on 680 AM and 95.3 FM with the "Voice of the Griffons" Tommy Rezac and Derek Zimmerman-Guyer on the call. Fans that want to watch the game can purchase a subscription to the MIAA Network. Admission can be purchased by clicking on the "Tickets" tab above.
GOLD RUSH
Missouri Western Basketball as a whole will host its first Gold Rush Night on Wednesday. The first 500 students will receive a free Gold Rush T-Shirt. Fans are encouraged to come early, as as the doors will open at 4:30 p.m.
SETTING THE STAGE
The Griffons (8-12, 4-10 MIAA) return to St. Joe after a two-game road trip, losing both outings to Fort Hays State and Nebraska Kearney. Amidst a six-game losing streak, MWSU's opponents have an overall combined record of 65-55, including teams such as now first-place Central Oklahoma, fifth-place Lincoln and sixth-place Fort Hays. Currently in 11th place, the Griffs have eight regular-season games left to qualify for the MIAA Tournament, facing teams they have beaten before such as Emporia State and Pittsburg State.
JT AND JUICE
Sophomore guard
Julius Dixon and junior forward
JaRon Thames are turning into quite the tag team as of late, with both scoring 10 points or more in the last three out of four games. During this stretch, the dynamic duo is averaging a combined 28 points per game. Thames' recent scoring tear includes four-straight games with 13 points or more, including a season-high 19 vs. Lincoln on Jan. 19. Dixon's 18-point outburst at Kearney signals the second time he has reached his career-high this season, plundering UCO for 18 not too long ago on Jan. 14.
SCOUTING WASHBURN: FEB. 1 - 7:30 PM
Seventh-place Washburn (10-9, 7-6 MIAA) comes screaming into St. Joe tied for the longest-active winning streak in the conference, finding five victories against the likes of Pitt State, Fort Hays, UNK, Rogers State and Northeastern State. Of those five contests, only Jan. 21's 65-62 win over the Lopers was decided by single-digits, as the Ichabods are outscoring their opponents in this stretch by an average of 12.8 points. As a team, Washburn is the fourth-best rebounding team in the MIAA, averaging 35.6 rebounds per game.
Head Coach
Near the end of his sixth season, Brett Ballard currently resides with an overall record of 114-58 and a stamp of 52-21 in the MIAA. Ballard looks to lead the 'Bods to their third-straight NCAA Tournament with four trips already tallied under his belt since taking over before the 2017-18 season. He is 9-5 vs. MWSU and 5-2 against Griffon Head Coach
Will Martin.
Who to Watch
The Griffons will need to look out for three Ichabod scorers who are averaging 10 or more points per game. Sophomore forward Andrew Orr is the main threat with 13.1 PPG, scoring 12 or more in his last three games. However, he only put up eight vs. MWSU on Dec. 17. It was junior guard Tyler Nelson (11.6 PPG) and sophomore guard Levi Braun (20 PPG) who carried the load, scoring 19 and 17 points respectively last time out vs. the Griffs
Record Rabbit Hole
Missouri Western heads into Wednesday with an all-time record of 42-60 vs. Washburn, going 24-25 vs. its conference foe when playing in St. Joe. Such as it is in its overall schedule, Washburn is riding a five-game winning streak vs. MWSU, with the Griffons last winning, 81-77, on Feb. 18, 2021, in Topeka, Kansas. This is Washburn's second-longest winning streak vs. MWSU since winning six in a row from 1982-85.
Last Time Out
Box Score
Wednesday's meeting serves MWSU a chance to take revenge for a 76-51 loss on Dec. 17, 2022, at Lee Arena in Topeka. It was the Griffons' first game since a COVID-19 outbreak sidelined multiple players and pushed MWSU's home game vs. UNK back to Feb. 27.
Reed Kemp was the only Griff to score in double-digits, leading his team with 15 points off the bench. The Griffons only hit from three just 30.4% (7-of-23) of the time during in this game, the third-lowest percentage they've shot this season. Their 32.1% from the field overall during this contest is a season-low. Nowadays, MWSU is the third-best 3-point shooting team in the MIAA at 37.9%.
ON THIS DAY IN GRIFFON MEN'S BASKETBALL HISTORY: FEB. 1
Box Score
Akin to MWSU's current losing streak, the Griffons of the 2017-18 campaign had lost nine games in a row to transition over into the 2018 half of the season. That skid stopped once they met 14-7 Lindenwood on this day at the MWSU Fieldhouse. After shaking off an icy first half, the Griffons scored 43 points in the second, with Trey Brown sinking a jumper at the 16:17 mark to ignite a 16-2 run. Brown's bucket gave MWSU the only lead it needed for the rest of the evening, as the Griffs went on to ring the bell with a 63-51 triumph.
NOTABLES
- Junior guard Reese Glover needs just 11 points to reach 900 for his career. He also only needs one assist for the 100th of his career.
- With three more points, Glover (162) will surpass his total of 164 points from last season.
- With 20 points vs. UNK last time out, sophomore guard Taye Fields now has 407 points in just two seasons as a Griffon. His 20-point performance also propelled him to 210 on the season.
- With 11 rebounds at UNK, Fields also surpassed 300 total rebounds in his career. He is eight away from 100 offensive boards.
- Thames sank the 300th field goal of his career this past Saturday vs. the Lopers.
