ST. JOSEPH, Mo. — Sitting at 7-0 for the first time since 1999, Griffon Men's Basketball is ranked No. 22 in the country and ready for their first conference road trip.

After getting their first two conference wins of the season against Pittsburg State and Missouri Southern, the team will travel to Kearney, Nebraska, and Hays, Kansas, and put their perfect record on the line against Nebraska Kearney and Fort Hays State. 
 
TICKETS + WHERE TO WATCH/LISTEN
Griffon MBB (7-0, 2-0 MIAA) will once again hit the airwaves of KFEQ Radio, as fans can tune in with the "Voice of the Griffons" Tommy Rezac and MWSU Director of Athletic Communications Derek Zimmerman-Guyer on the call. The games will air on KFEQ - AM 680 and the KFEQ Live Stream. 
 
The games are also available to watch for a subscription fee on the MIAA Network. Both pregame shows start 30 minutes prior to tipoff. Game admission can be found in the "Tickets" tab.

NOTABLES

• Missouri Western is ranked No. 22 in the NABC Top-25 Poll.
• The Griffons also received 21 votes in the D2CSC Top-25 Media Poll.
• Western and Central Oklahoma are the only two remaining undefeated teams in the MIAA.
• This is the first time the team has been nationally ranked since the 2020-21 season.
• Holding teams to 27.7% from three, MWSU has the best 3-point defense in the conference and ranks 19th in Division II.
• The Griffs are third in the MIAA with 37.1 rebounds per game. 
• Fort Hays State brings the heat in attendance, coming in at fourth place in the MIAA with 4,880 attendants this season.
• Senior forward JaRon Thames has scored 12 or more points in all seven games this season and is eighth in the MIAA with 17.7 points per game.
• The Griffons are ranked fifth in scoring in the MIAA and average 79 points per game.
• Junior guard Taye Fields leads the MIAA in rebounds with 68 through seven games. He's second with 9.7 rebounds per game.
• Junior guard Zion Swader is eighth in the conference with a free-throw clip of 89.3%.
• With 27 assists, Fields is fourth in the MIAA. His 3.9 assists per game rank sixth.
• Thames and Swader are tied for sixth with 11 steals apiece.

12/7 - SCOUTING NEBRASKA KEARNEY | 7:30 PM
Coming off of a narrow 85-82 victory over Northeastern State, the Nebraska Kearney Lopers (3-3, 1-1 MIAA) host the Griffons for their first home conference game of the season. Kearney is 2-0 at the Health & Sports Center this season, last playing there on Nov. 21 in a 76-75 win over Western Colorado. Kearney has the second-highest-scoring offense in the MIAA, going off for 81.8 PPG. However, UNK's defense ranks dead last in the league, giving up 85.8 PPG.
 
Who to Watch
Junior guard Sean Evans is a player to keep an eye on, as he leads the Lopers in points with 89. He currently averages 14 points per game, good for 18th in the league. Junior forward Sean Murphy is another Loper to watch. Murphy is fourth with 8.2 RPG and is the Lopers' most accurate shooter, holding a league-best clip of 67.5%. 
 
Head Coach
Interim Head Coach Antione Young is in his sixth year on the Lopers' coaching staff. Serving as the assistant head coach since 2018, Young took over this season as the interim head coach. As a coach, the Lopers have a record of 53-88 since Young joined the coaching staff. Formerly a player at Creighton University, Young's team won 97 games and reached the NCAA Tournament in 2012.
 
Rivalry Record Rabbit Hole
The Griffons trail in the all-time series 19-22 dating back to the 1976-77. Since picking the rivalry back up in 2013 after a 24-year hiatus, MWSU is 9-6 vs. UNK. Since 1976, the Griffs are 6-12 in Kearney.
 
Last Time We Met
Box Score
Back on Feb. 23, 2023, the Griffons won 83-78 inside the MWSU Fieldhouse. In celebratory fashion, Thames scored 23 points on his birthday to keep the Griffons in the game. Then-junior guard Julius Dixon also contributed in the paint with 16 points. The team made 28-of-53 (52.8%) field goals made and out-rebounded the Lopers 35-27. 
 
12/9 - SCOUTING FORT HAYS STATE  | 4:00 PM
The Fort Hays Tigers (5-2, 1-1 MIAA) of Hays, Kansas, are the final stop for the Griffons on their first MIAA away outing of the season. The Tigers are 2-0 at Gross Memorial Coliseum and will play No. 17-ranked Northwest Missouri State this Thursday at 7:30 p.m. before hosting the No. 22-ranked Griffons. Hays is coming off a 76-63 loss to Rogers State this past Saturday in Claremore, Oklahoma. Hays is a defensive team, ranking last in the MIAA with 67.6 PPG but first with 57.4 given up per contest.
 
Who to Watch
The star of the Tigers' offense is junior guard Kaleb Hammeke, a three-time All-MIAA selection. An NABC All-District Second Team member last season, his 14.7 PPG are good for 17th in the MIAA. The Tigers do most of their work inside the arc. However, Hammeke also leads the team with 11 3-pointers. Defensively, Hammeke is eighth in the MIAA with 11 steals. Junior guard Elijah Nnanabu and forward Shaun Riley lead the Tigers in defensive rebounds with 27 and 26, respectively. Junior guard Traejon Davis leads the team with 5.4 RPG. 
 
Head Coach
One of the longest-tenured coaches in the MIAA, the Tigers head coach Mark Johnson is Fort Hays State's all-time coaching wins leader in program and school history with a career record of 433-214. Johnson's record ranks in the top-25 active NCAA Division II men's basketball coaches in winning percentage at 69.9. He has led the Tigers to seven NCAA Tournament appearances and has coached four All-America selections and 63 all-conference Selection in his 23-year span. Johnson is 3-3 vs. Head Coach Will Martin and 18-11 vs. the Griffs since first playing in 2007. He is 11-2 when the Griffs come to Hays.
 
Rivalry Record Rabbit Hole
Since first playing in 1977, Western trails in the all-time rivalry 19-37. Western is just 5-22 at Gross Memorial Coliseum, last winning there on Feb. 23, 2021.
 
Last Time We Met
Box Score
The last time the Griffons were in Hays, the team was unable to reach the win column, with the Tigers outlasting the Griffons 75-48. Without two of their key players in that game, the Griffons were 20-of-45 (44.4%) from the field. Thames led the team's scoring efforts with 13 points and two assists. Dixon was not far behind with nine points and six rebounds. Hammeke had a big night, scoring a game-high 25 points.
 
ON THIS DAY IN GRIFFON MBB HISTORY
Dec. 7 | Box Score | Video Recap
Back in 2013, the Griffons broke a six-game losing streak to Fort Hays State with an 82-79 in overtime at the MWSU Fieldhouse. Going into halftime, the Griffons led the No. 15-ranked Tigers 35-31. With the Tigers holding a 67-65 advantage late, Hans Thun's layup tied the game with 23 seconds to go. The teams went back and forth until a pair of perfect free-throw trips from Ryan Devers sealed a Griffon victory. Devers finished with a team-high 19 points.

Dec. 9 | Box Score
Two seasons ago in 2021, the Griffons were able to outlast the Lincoln Blue Tigers 78-76 in Jefferson City, Missouri. Holding a 46-38 lead at halftime, MWSU let Lincoln bring it to a one-point game multiple times and even allowed a 59-59 tie, but the Griffons never fell behind. An off-target Lincoln jumper at the horn improved Western to 7-4. Caleb Bennett led the game with 19 points, and then-sophomore guard Reese Glover finished with 18 thanks to a 5-of-8 night from downtown.