ST. JOSEPH, Mo. — Despite their six-game winning streak ending at Lincoln, No. 22-ranked Griffon Men's Basketball has a chance to rebound vs. Central Missouri in another road matchup at the Multipurpose Building in Warrensburg, Missouri. 

TICKETS + WHERE TO WATCH/LISTEN
Griffon MBB (14-4, 8-4 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 tied with Washburn and Rogers State for third place in the MIAA standings. Western beat RSU head-to-head on Jan. 4 but fell to Washburn on Dec. 16, 2023. 
• The Griffons are No. 22 in the latest NABC Top-25 Poll.
• Western's 3-point defense is holding teams to 30%, good for first in the MIAA and 16th in NCAA Division II. 
• The Griffons are the third-best rebounding team in the conference, pulling down 36.4 rebounds per game. They are also third with 27.1 defensive rpg.
• Thanks to a rebounding margin of 5.1, MWSU is third in the MIAA.
• Putting up 77.1 ppg, MWSU is third in the MIAA.
• Shooting 44.8% from the field, MWSU is third within the conference.
• With 74 blocked shots, MWSU is third in the MIAA. Western is also third in the conference and 37th in the nation with 4.11 blocks per game.
• Senior forward JaRon Thames is sixth in the MIAA with 16.3 ppg. Junior guards Zion Swader and Julius Dixon are 21st and 25th with 12.8 and 12.6 ppg, respectively. 
• Thames is also third in the conference in field goals made with 114. His clip of 54% ranks 10th. Swader's percentage of 52.9 is 10th, and junior guard Taye Fields is 13th at 51.4%. 
• With 618 minutes played, Thames is ninth in the MIAA.
• Fields is second in the MIAA with 166 boards and 9.2 rpg, ranking him 15th in both categories throughout DII.
• With 117 defensive rebounds, Fields is second in the MIAA and 17th in DII. His average of 6.5 defensive rpg ranks him 25th in the country. Fields also leads the MIAA with 49 offensive rebounds 
• Dixon is tied for seventh in the MIAA with 34 threes made. Swader and senior guard Reese Glover are tied for 10th with 30 apiece.
• Swader is ninth in the MIAA with a free-throw clip of 84.4%. Fields is 15th at 79%, and Thames is 18th at 76.3%.
• Fields is fourth in the MIAA with 76 assists. His 4.2 assists per game rank him fifth as well.
• With 25 blocks, junior forward Kiani Saxon is fifth in the MIAA. Fields is tied for seventh with 20 rejections.

1/27 - SCOUTING CENTRAL MISSOURI | 3 PM
Currently 10th in the conference, Central Missouri (9-8, 4-7 MIAA) has lost its last two games, falling to No. 21 Northwest Missouri State 76-54 on Thursday in Warrensburg. Central Missouri is now 4-2 at home inside the Multipurpose Building and hasn't lost back-to-back games there since Feb. 16-18, 2023. 

Central Missouri heads into Saturday dead last in the MIAA with just 64.5 ppg, but its scoring defense is third with 64.1 ppg. The Mules average 11.3 offensive rpg, the most in the MIAA. However, UCM is last in the conference with a team shooting percentage of 41.1, ranking the Mules 269th out of 289 teams in DII.

Who to Watch
Senior guard Caleb Nero is UCM's leading scorer with 12.1 ppg. Nero can be deadly from deep, notching the fifth-most 3-pointers in the league with 37 drained so far this season. Right behind him is junior guard Jalen Knott, who is tied for eighth with 33 threes.  With a team-high five rpg, Keith Kiner III is 18th in the MIAA.

Head Coach
In his first season with UCM, Adam Bohac is 321-154 in his 16-year career. While with Southern Nazarene from 2008-23, he coached against MWSU once, defeating the Griffons 96-74 on Nov. 1, 2019, at the St. Joseph Civic Arena. The Crimson Storm were nationally ranked No. 9 at the time.

Rivalry Record Rabbit Hole 
Since first squaring off in 1986, Western trails UCM 43-32 in the all-time series. The Griffons are 8-26 in Warrensburg, last winning there there on Dec. 15, 2019. The Mules have won the last two overall matchups and hold a 6-4 advantage in the last 10 outings. Western's last win in this matchup was on Dec. 11, 2021, in St. Joseph. This is the only time these two teams will meet during the regular season.

Last Time We Met
Box Score
After holding a four-point lead at halftime, MWSU fell to UCM 79-74 on Jan. 21, 2023, at the MWSU Fieldhouse. Glover led the Griffons with 19 points while Thames scored 18, but five Mules scored in double figures to propel UCM to their 14th-ever win in St. Joseph.

ON THIS DAY IN GRIFFON MBB HISTORY
Jan. 28
Spanning back over two decades ago, the 2001 Griffons defeated Southwest Baptist 91-68 in St. Joseph. This victory sparked an eight-game winning streak, the longest of the season.