ST. JOSEPH, Mo. — Winners of three straight, Griffon Men's Basketball has No. 14/15 Northwest Missouri State in their sights for a 3:30 p.m. snow-day showdown this Saturday inside the MWSU Fieldhouse.

TICKETS + WHERE TO WATCH/LISTEN
Griffon MBB (11-3, 5-3 MIAA) will once again hit the airwaves of KFEQ Radio, as fans can tune in with the "Voice of the Griffons" Tommy Rezac and analyst Rob Edmisson on the call. The games will air on KFEQ - AM 680 and the KFEQ Live Stream. 

Games are also available to watch for a subscription fee on the MIAA Network. The pregame show starts 30 minutes prior to tipoff. Game admission and parking passes can be found in the "Tickets" tab.

NOTABLES

• This is the first time since March 8, 2003, that both Missouri Western and Northwest Missouri have the same record going into a matchup. That game happened to be the semifinal round of the first MIAA Tournament in Kansas City at Municipal Auditorium, where Missouri Western State College went on to win its first conference tournament championship.
• Western is fourth in the MIAA standings and has the second-longest active winning streak in the conference. 
• The Griffons are receiving seven votes in the latest NABC Top-25 Poll.
• Western's 3-point defense is holding teams to 29.8%, good for second in the MIAA and 24th in NCAA Division II. 
• The Griffons are the second-best rebounding team in the conference, pulling down 37.4 rebounds per game. They are also third with 27.6 defensive rpg, which is 48th in DII.
• Thanks to a rebounding margin of 5.4, MWSU is third in the MIAA and 38th in the country.
• With 59 blocked shots, MWSU is third in the MIAA. Western is also third in the conference and 39th in the nation with 4.2 blocks per game.
• Senior forward JaRon Thames is seventh in the MIAA with 15.9 ppg. Junior guard Zion Swader is 22nd with 12.9 ppg.. 
• Thames is also second in the conference in field goals made with 88. His clip of 54% ranks 10th. Swader's percentage of 54.6 is ninth, and junior guard Taye Fields is 12th at 52.9%. 
• With 469 minutes played, Thames is 10th in the MIAA.
• Fields leads the MIAA with 143 boards and 10.2 rpg, ranking him 10th and 11th in DII. He is the only player in the MIAA averaging a double-double and was one of 17 players doing so entering this week.
• With 103 defensive rebounds, Fields is eighth in DII and first in the MIAA. His average of 7.4 defensive rpg ranks him ninth in the country.
• Junior guard Zion Swader is 12th in the MIAA with 27 threes made, and fellow junior guard Julius Dixon is tied for 16th with 25. Senior guard Reese Glover is 19th with 24. 
• Swader is 14th in the MIAA with a free-throw clip of 78.3%, and Fields is 16th at 77.8%. Thames is 18th at 77.2% and ninth with 44 free throws made and 57 attempted.
• On top of that, Swader is also sixth in the conference with 22 steals.
• Fields is third in the MIAA with 64 assists. His 4.3 assists per game rank third as well.
• With 18 blocks apiece, Fields and junior forward Kiani Saxon are tied for fourth in the MIAA.  

1/13 - SCOUTING NO. 14/15 NORTHWEST MISSOURI | 3:30 PM
Ranked No. 14 in the NABC Top-25 Poll and No. 15 by the D2CSC, Northwest (11-3, 7-1 MIAA) enters the field on a season-high six-game winning streak, the longest active run in the MIAA. Going 3-1 when visiting this season, the Bearcats have won their last three road games, last losing on Dec. 7, 2023, at Fort Hays State. During this streak, Northwest defeated No. 15 Emporia State on Dec. 16 at Bearcat Arena. 

Northwest enters Saturday with the second-best scoring defense in the MIAA and third-best in DII, giving up just 60.6 ppg. Shooting 50.1% from the field, Northwest is second in the MIAA and 20th in the nation. The Bearcats make teams pay when at the free-throw line, making an MIAA-high 80.7% of their attempts, the second-best clip in the country. Holding opponents to an MIAA-low 23.8 rpg, Northwest's rebounding margin of 6.1 is second in the conference and 30th in DII.

Who to Watch
Two Bearcats reside on MIAA's top-25 scoring list: senior forward Wes Dreamer with 18.9 ppg (second); and sophomore guard Bennett Stirtz with 15.4 ppg (10th). Dreamer is also sixth in the conference with 7.1 rpg. Hitting 29 threes this season, Dreamer is eighth in the MIAA, while junior guard Mitch Mascari is 10th with 28.

Stirtz is ninth in the league with 52 assists, and junior guard Isaiah Jackson is 10th with 51. Stirtz is also tied with Swader for the fifth-most steals in the MIAA with 22. Dreamer has played 480 minutes this season, the seventh-most in the conference. 

Head Coach
A Bearcat graduate from the class of 2003, Ben McCollum is in season No. 15 with Northwest. Since starting his DII career in 2009, McCollum is 376-89. He is 29-2 vs. MWSU, 12-1 in St. Joseph and 7-0 vs. Griffon Head Coach Will Martin.

Rivalry Record Rabbit Hole
Since first playing in 1922, Northwest leads Western 65-35 in the all-time series. Northwest has won 24 straight in the series, with MWSU last winning on Jan. 12, 2013, in St. Joseph. Since then, the Bearcats have won 10 straight on MWSU's court. The rivalry first began when MWSU was known as St. Joseph Junior College, splitting two games against Northwest Missouri State Teachers College in 1922 (L) and 1932 (W).

Last Time We Met
Box Score
These two teams last met in the 2023 MIAA Tournament's semifinal round on March 2, ending in a 65-52 Northwest win in Kansas City inside Municipal Auditorium. Dreamer dropped a game-high 27 points, shooting 9-of-15 from the field. Meanwhile, Thames and Dixon both scored 11 points, and Fields led MWSU with eight rebounds. 

ON THIS DAY IN GRIFFON MBB HISTORY
Jan. 13 | Box Score
Facing as much as a 15-point deficit near the end of the first half, the 2009 Griffons stormed back to defeat Truman State 71-68 on this day at the MWSU Fieldhouse. Dominique Thuston led Western with a game-high 20 points, sinking all eight of his free-throw attempts. After the Griffons used a 14-3 run and a go-ahead layup by Marcus Rhodes to go out in front with 7:49 left to play, free throws were exactly what kept MWSU's lead intact. Western went 8-for-10 from the charity stripe in the final minute of the game to seal the deal, improving the Griffs' record to 11-4 and 6-2 in the MIAA.