ST. JOSEPH, Mo. — One win shy of matching a season-high winning streak, No. 22-ranked Griffon Men's Basketball heads to the heart of the Show Me State for a Wednesday night matchup with Lincoln in Jefferson City. 

TICKETS + WHERE TO WATCH/LISTEN
Griffon MBB (14-3, 8-3 MIAA) will once again hit the airwaves of KFEQ Radio, as fans can tune in with "The Voice of the Griffons" Tommy Rezac 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

• Missouri Western is in a three-team tie for second place in the MIAA standings and has the longest active winning streak in the conference with six victories in a row. 
• On top of that, MWSU has won its last two road games. 
• The Griffons are No. 22 in the latest NABC Top-25 Poll.
• Western's 3-point defense is holding teams to 29.6%, good for first in the MIAA and 13th in NCAA Division II. 
• The Griffons are the third-best rebounding team in the conference, pulling down 36.8 rebounds per game. They are also third with 27.6 defensive rpg.
• Thanks to a rebounding margin of 5.4, MWSU is third in the MIAA.
• With 72 blocked shots, MWSU is third in the MIAA. Western is also third in the conference and 34th in the nation with 4.24 blocks per game.
• Senior forward JaRon Thames is sixth in the MIAA with 16.2 ppg. Junior guards Zion Swader and Julius Dixon are 22nd and 24th with 12.9 and 12.8 ppg, respectively. 
• Thames is also fourth in the conference in field goals made with 108. His clip of 54.3% ranks 10th. Swader's percentage of 53.4 is 11th, and junior guard Taye Fields is 12th at 53%. 
• With 580 minutes played, Thames is ninth in the MIAA.
• Fields is second in the MIAA with 160 boards and 9.4 rpg, ranking him 15th and 19th in DII. 
• With 114 defensive rebounds, Fields is second in the MIAA and 15th in DII. His average of 6.7 defensive rpg ranks him 17th in the country. Fields also leads the MIAA with 46 offensive rebounds 
• Dixon is sixth in the MIAA with 34 threes made. Swader is tied for ninth with 29 threes, and senior guard Reese Glover is 10th with 28. 
• Swader is 11th in the MIAA with a free-throw clip of 82.8%, and Fields is 16th at 79%. Thames is 17th at 78%.
• Fields is fourth in the MIAA with 73 assists. His 4.3 assists per game rank him fifth as well.
• With 25 blocks, junior forward Kiani Saxon is fourth in the MIAA. Fields is 10th with 18.

1/24 - SCOUTING LINCOLN | 7:30 PM
Lincoln (11-6, 6-5 MIAA) is sixth in the MIAA and is coming off a 63-49 road win at Northeastern State on Jan. 20. The Blue Tigers are 5-3 in Jason Gym, last playing and losing there 70-69 on Jan. 13 vs. Washburn. Lincoln started the season 5-0 and eventually 8-1. Since then, the Blue Tigers are 3-5. Lincoln is the best free-throw shooting team in the MIAA at 79.9%. 

Who to Watch
Senior guard DJ Richardson is 10th in the MIAA with 15.8 ppg. Three Blue Tigers rank within the MIAA's top-25 rebound leaderboards: senior forward Elijah Farr with 7.7 rpg (fourth); freshman forward Jose Roberto Tanchyn with 5.5 rpg (11th); and junior forward Frack Yetna with 4.8 rpg (24th). Yetna is also sixth with a field goal clip of 56.9%.

On defense, Yetna is third in the MIAA with 33 steals, and Farr is sixth with 21 blocks. 

Head Coach
Jimmy Drew is in his second season with Lincoln, holding a 28-16 record. Since 2022, Drew is 1-0 vs. MWSU and Head Coach Will Martin, defeating the Griffons last season in St. Joseph. This will be MWSU's first time in Jeff City taking on the Blue Tigers with Drew as head coach.

Rivalry Record Rabbit Hole
Since 1989, Western is 38-14 vs. Lincoln and 15-7 in Jefferson City. Western has won three of the last four matchups, but the last 10 have been split right down the middle at 5-5.After winning on the road in 2021, the Griffs are looking for their first pair of back-to-back wins in Jeff City since doing so from 2014-15.

Last Time We Met
Box Score
Back on Jan. 19, 2023, Western fell to Lincoln 70-56 inside the MWSU Fieldhouse. Thames scored a game-high 19 points, but Western was outscored 44-32 in the second half en route to Lincoln's 11th win of the season.

ON THIS DAY IN GRIFFON MBB HISTORY
Jan. 24 | Box Score
Playing on the road at John Lance Arena, the 2009 Griffons broke a 38-38 halftime tie to take down Pittsburg State 79-68. Playing off the bench, Quentin Noblin led the Griffs with a  team-high 16 points, knocking down 5-of-6 shots from downtown. Lonnel Johnson and Dominique Thuston both had 13 points to lead all starters, and Marcus Rhodes came through with 11. Meanwhile, Leonard Parker dished a game-high seven assists. Western forced 17 Pitt State turnovers while dishing 17 assists of its own, shooting 48.1% from the floor and 42.9% from three.