ST. JOSEPH, Mo. — With the postseason looming and only four regular-season games left to play, Griffon Men's Basketball faces their next roadblock this Saturday vs. archrival No. 3/4 Northwest Missouri State at 3:30 p.m. inside the MWSU Fieldhouse.

KEEPING UP WITH THE GRIFFONS
KFEQ Radio will broadcast Saturday's game live on 680 AM and 95.3 FM with the "Voice of the Griffons" Tommy Rezac and Director of Athletic Communications Derek Zimmerman-Guyer on the call at the Looney Complex. 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. Catch exclusive interviews with Head Coach Will Martin and other Griffons following the game.

KANSAS CITY COLLISION COURSE
After a split weekend in Oklahoma and currently holding onto the 10th and final spot in the MIAA Tournament, Missouri Western (11-13, 7-11 MIAA) has a chance to jump a few spots up in the standings with three wins and a some help down the stretch. With an identical record to Central Missouri, the Griffons need the Mules to fall at least twice in UCM's next four games against Emporia State (18-6, 12-6 MIAA), Washburn (12-12, 9-9 MIAA), Rogers State (13-12, 9-10 MIAA) and Northeastern State (10-13, 7-12 MIAA).

If that happens, MWSU would take the No. 9 seed, facing No. 8-seeded Rogers State — a team they're 0-2 against — in the first round if the Hillcats stay put where they are. If the season ended today, 10th-seeded MWSU would play seventh-seeded Washburn, a team the Griffons are 2-0 against this season. Buckle up, everyone. 

IRON MAN
Last time out vs. Rogers State, sophomore guard Julius Dixon went the distance, playing all 40 minutes while scoring a team-high 13 points in the process. Dixon has scored in double-figures in five-straight games, scoring 19 points in back-to-back games vs. Washburn and Emporia before scoring 13 in consecutive games at Northeastern and Rogers. In these last five games, Dixon is averaging 36.8 minutes per game, playing a low of 32 on Feb. 9 in a blowout win over the RiverHawks.

SCOUTING NO. 3/4 NORTHWEST MISSOURI: FEB. 18 - 3:30 PM
First-place Northwest (24-2, 17-2 MIAA) is in the middle of an MIAA and season-high 10-game winning streak, the second time the Bearcats have done so this season after starting their campaign 10-0. Since first playing MWSU on Jan. 7 at Bearcat Arena, Northwest is 10-1, only harboring a lone loss to No. 7 Central Oklahoma. Only one team has played the Bearcats close in this span, as Fort Hays State narrowly lost to the Bearcats, 57-52, on Jan. 28 in Hays, Kansas. Northwest's average margin of victory during this winning streak is 21.9 points, also playing an 11-point game vs. third-place Emporia State on Feb. 2 in Maryville, Missouri.

Head Coach
Amidst his 13th season with Northwest, Ben McCollum is 358-85 overall and 218-61 in the MIAA. He is a five-time NABC DII National Coach of the Year, which is the most in DII history. Not including the 2020 shutdown, his Bearcats have won the national championship for the last three seasons. McCollum is 27-2 vs. MWSU, 5-0 vs. Martin and 9-2 in St. Joseph. His team owns the second-best scoring average in the MIAA at 75.2 points per game. 

Who to Watch
Northwest is led in scoring by senior guard Diego Bernard, who is averaging a team-high 16.8 points per game, putting him fifth in the MIAA. Bernard is not showing any signs of slowing down, scoring 10 points or more in his last 19 appearances. Freshman guard Bennett Stirtz is right behind his senior teammate with 12.5 PPG (25th) while owning the league's best assist/turnover ratio at 2.1. Junior forward Wes Dreamer is fourth in the MIAA with a 40.6% hit mark from 3-point range. As a unit, the Bearcats are first in the conference from downtown with a slash of 39.4%, also good for 23rd in the nation.

Record Rabbit Hole
Before the turn of the century, Missouri Western led the all-time series, 27-17. However, Northwest is 45-10 since 2000, taking a 62-37 advantage. The Bearcats are winners of 22 in a row in this matchup, with MWSU last winning, 71-58, on Jan. 12, 2013 in St. Joseph. Martin is 0-5 vs. Northwest. 

Last Time Out
Box Score | Video Recap 
An early 37-18 hole in the first half grounded the Griffons earlier this season on Jan. 7 at Bearcat Arena, but MWSU showed its capability to keep pace with this Northwest team in the second. Northwest narrowly outscored MWSU in the second half, 50-46, as MWSU came out of the break swinging, shooting 59.1 % (13-of-22) from the field and 62.5% (5-of-8) from downtown. Junior forward JaRon Thames matched Dreamer's game-high of 17 points, sinking 6-of-8 shots while playing off the bench. Junior forward Will Eames injured his hand in this game and proceeded to miss the next seven contests. 

NOTABLES 

• Martin's next win will be the 40th of his head-coaching career.
• Thames is three points away from scoring 800 in his career. 
• Thames' next assist will be the 100th of his career.
• Junior guard Reese Glover is five points away from scoring 200 this season
• Sophomore center Matt Nunez has started at the five spot in the last six games.

ON THIS DAY IN GRIFFON MEN'S BASKETBALL HISTORY: FEB. 18
Box Score | Video Recap
Turning the clock back to 2012, the Griffons and Bulldogs battled it out in an old-school MIAA showdown. After jumping out to a 32-27 lead at halftime, the Griffons found themselves down, 52-45, with 10:40 left to play in the second half. Missouri Western fired back thanks to an impressive 19-point night from Alex Mfumupembe-Tluka, as he hit a three with 6:52 left to cut the Truman lead to one. A James Harris triple a minute later put MWSU up by three and indefinitely for the rest of the evening, as the Griffons went 5-for-6 at the free-throw line within the final minute to ice the game,74-70.