ST. JOSEPH, Mo. — Ranked for the second time this season and winners of four straight, No. 25 Griffon Men's Basketball is ready to do battle with Newman and Central Oklahoma this week inside the MWSU Fieldhouse.

TICKETS + WHERE TO WATCH/LISTEN
Griffon MBB (12-3, 6-3 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.

GOLD RUSH NIGHT
It's time to paint the MWSU Fieldhouse gold! Well, even more gold than it already is. Thursday's game vs. Newman will be Gold Rush Night, where all Griffon students with MWSU IDs will receive a free Gold Rush T-shirt. Those shirts can be found on the east side of Tom Smith Court over by the concessions stand.

NOTABLES

• Western is tied for third in the MIAA standings and has the longest active winning streak in the conference. 
• The Griffons are No. 25 in the latest NABC Top-25 Poll.
• Dating back to Feb. 22, 2023, MWSU has not lost at the Looney Complex, winning nine straight on Tom Smith Court inside the MWSU Fieldhouse.
• Western's 3-point defense is holding teams to 29.6%, good for second in the MIAA and 15th in NCAA Division II. 
• The Griffons are the third-best rebounding team in the conference, pulling down 36.5 rebounds per game. They are also third with 27.1 defensive rpg.
• Thanks to a rebounding margin of 4.5, MWSU is third in the MIAA.
• With 64 blocked shots, MWSU is third in the MIAA. Western is also third in the conference and 32nd in the nation with 4.3 blocks per game.
• Senior forward JaRon Thames is eighth in the MIAA with 15.9 ppg. Junior guards Zion Swader and Julius Dixon are tied for 25th with 12.7 ppg.. 
• Thames is also third in the conference in field goals made with 91. His clip of 52.3% ranks 13th. Swader's percentage of 53.5 is ninth, and junior guard Taye Fields is 10th at 53.1%. 
• With 509 minutes played, Thames is ninth in the MIAA.
• Fields leads the MIAA with 145 boards and 9.7 rpg, ranking him 16th and 17th in DII. 
• With 103 defensive rebounds, Fields is 14th in DII and first in the MIAA. His average of 6.9 defensive rpg ranks him 16th in the country.
• Swader and Dixon are tied for 13th in the MIAA with 27 threes made. Senior guard Reese Glover is 19th with 25. 
• Swader is 12th in the MIAA with a free-throw clip of 80.8%, and Thames is 15th at 79.4%. Fields is 18th at 78.6.%.
• Fields is fourth in the MIAA with 64 assists. His 4.3 assists per game rank fourth as well.
• With 22 blocks, junior forward Kiani Saxon is fifth in the MIAA. Fields is 10th with 18, and Thames is 20th with nine.

1/18 - SCOUTING NEWMAN | 7:30 PM
Residing in 12th place in the conference, Newman (6-9, 3-7 MIAA) comes to St. Joseph on a four-game skid and 0-5 on the road. Newman has not won since Dec. 17, 2023, most recently losing to Northeastern State 74-68 on Jan. 13 in Wichita, Kansas. The Jets have not won on the road since defeating the Griffons 70-66 on Feb. 22, 2023. 

Newman is second in the MIAA with an assist/turnover ratio of 1.49, good enough for 19th in DII. On the other hand, Newman is 13th in the MIAA with a scoring margin of -4.8. Newman's scoring defense is also 13th in the MIAA, givingup 80.1 ppg.

Who to Watch
Newman has two players in the MIAA's top-25 leaderboards: junior guard Stevie Strong with 15.9 ppg (ninth); and senior forward Stevie Smith with 12.9 ppg (24th). Sam Somerhalder is the Jets' best rebounder, pulling down the 14th-most rebounds per game in the MIAA with a slash of 5.4. Somerhalder is also fourth in the conference with a field-goal clip of 59.4%. Strong is also fourth in the MIAA with 33 made threes, senior guard Latik Murphy is right behind him in seventh with 32 made. 

Strong has dished 61 assists this season, placing him sixth in the MIAA. His assist/turnover ratio of 2.1 is also sixth. 

Head Coach
Serving all seven seasons of his HC career at Newman, RJ Allen is 68-109 as a Jet. Since first coaching against the Griffs in 2020, he is 3-2 overall, 2-2 vs. Head Coach Will Martin and 1-1 in St. Joseph.  

Rivalry Record Rabbit Hole
Thursday's game will be just the sixth time these two teams have tangled, with MWSU leading the series 3-2. However, Newman has won the last two meetings.

Last Time We Met
Box Score
Back on Feb. 22, 2023, Newman defeated MWSU 70-66 at the MWSU Fieldhouse. In a game that featured six ties and four lead changes, Thames led Western with 20 points. Fields and Dixon scored 15 and 12, respectively, but a 23-point outburst from Strong willed the Jets to what is now their most recent road victory.

1/20 - SCOUTING CENTRAL OKLAHOMA | 3:30 PM
Dropping from No. 17 to outside of the NABC Top-25 Poll, Central Oklahoma (14-4, 6-4 MIAA) still received 24 votes this week, the most out of any teams not in the top 25. The Bronchos come into St. Joseph with a 2-2 record when away from home, last winning on the road on Jan. 6 at Emporia State. On top of that, UCO just lost to Rogers State 81-76 in Edmond, Oklahoma. 

Central Oklahoma will play No. 24 Northwest Missouri State on Thursday at 7:30 p.m. in Maryville, Missouri, before taking on No. 25-ranked MWSU. The Bronchos have the best scoring margin in the MIAA, coming in at 14.7. They are also second in the conference with 79.2 ppg, a turnover margin of 5.7 and an assist/turnover ratio of 1.62.

Who to Watch
Junior guard Jaden Well is third in the MIAA with 18.4 ppg, and fellow junior guard Danquez Dawsey is 16th with 14.4 ppg. Junior forward Luke Haasl is ninth in the MIAA with 5.6 rpg, and he also leads the team with 33 blocks, the second-most in the conference and good enough for 11th in DII. With 1.8 bpg, Haasl is second in the MIAA and 27th in the country. He is second in the MIAA with a clip of 62.8% from the field. 

Wells is currently second in the conference with a 3-point clip of 36.1%, and leads the league with 52 splashes from downtown, tying him for seventh in DII. Wells is also second in the conference with 37 steals, placing him 12th in the nation. Also leading the MIAA is Dawsey, who is second in the nation with 114 assists. His 6.3 apg also rank him fourth in the country.

Head Coach
In a career that spans back to 1990, Bob Hoffman is 607-367 overall and 88-46 in his five seasons at UCO. Since taking over for UCO in 2019, he is 2-2 vs. MWSU, 2-1 vs. Martin and 0-1 in St. Joseph. 

Rivalry Record Rabbit Hole
Since the first meeting in 1992, the all-time series is knotted up at 13-13. Western is 5-4 when playing UCO in St. Joseph, with Saturday's game being the first at the MWSU Fieldhouse since Feb. 7, 2021. The Griffons are seeking their first win over the Bronchos in St. Joseph since Jan. 4, 2016. The last 10 matchups have been split at 5-5.

Last Time We Met
Box Score
Last playing on Jan. 14, 2023, UCO defeated MWSU 65-54 at the Hamilton Field House in Edmond. Despite Western only trailing 29-26 at halftime, the Bronchos held MWSU to 36% shooting in the second half and just 35.3% overall. Dixon led MWSU with 18 points, while John Anderson Jr. had 13 off the bench. Haasl also scored 13 off the bench, blocking six shots in the process. 

ON THIS DAY IN GRIFFON MBB HISTORY
Jan. 18 | Box Score | Video Recap
Back when Southwest Baptist was in the MIAA in 2014, MWSU defeated the Bearcats 89-84 on the back of a career night Charlie Marquardt inside the MWSU Fieldhouse. Scoring a game and career-high 23 points, Marquardt was 6-of-7 from the field and 11-of-15 from the free-throw line. Ryan Devers chipped in with 19 points and was 12-of-13 from the strip, pulling down seven rebounds and dishing five assists.

Jan. 20 | Box Score
The Griffons fell on this day in 2013, losing 71-60 at Emporia State. Kalvin Balque led MWSU with a game-high 20 points was complemented by Cedric Clinkscale's 16-point night.