ST. JOSEPH, Mo. - Missouri Western men's basketball (15-9, 6-7 MIAA) looks to bounce back at home this week with key, late-season matchups against Pittsburg State (13-9, 9-4 MIAA) on Thursday and Missouri Southern (10-12, 5-8 MIAA) on Saturday.
Tip-off in Thursday's game is set for 7:30 p.m., while Saturday's matinee will start at approximately 3:40 p.m. Both contests will be broadcast live on the Griffon Sports Network (Varsity Network App,
GoGriffons.com/listen) with
Tommy Rezac on the call. They'll also be streamed on the MIAA Network via a subscription.
Thursday will be Student-Athlete Academic Recognition Night, as well as Faculty and Staff Appreciation Night. Saturday's game will be a Pink Out theme and also St. Joseph Appreciation Day.
WATCH - MIAA Network
All MIAA football, women's soccer, volleyball, men's basketball and women's basketball, baseball and softball regular season conference games are streamed live on the MIAA Network. For more information, visit
https://www.themiaanetwork.com/.
LISTEN - Griffon Sports Network (Varsity Network App, GoGriffons.com/listen)
Live broadcasts of Missouri Western athletics are available on The Varsity Network app. All home and away football games, along with all home and away men's and women's basketball games, are available to listen to for FREE on the Varsity Network App and at
GoGriffons.com/listen. Available on iPhone and Android, fans can access free audio streams for game days on the Varsity Network App. Fans can also receive push notifications as reminders for upcoming games and broadcasts.
Once you download The Varsity Network app, search 'Missouri Western' and select which Griffon teams you want to follow. For more information on The Varsity Network and how to listen live to the Griffons,
click here. Audio broadcasts can also be found at
GoGriffons.com/listen. Audio broadcasts will also be archived at
GoGriffons.com/listen and on the Varsity Network App in the 'On Demand' section.
Last Time Out
Missouri Western men's basketball (15-9, 6-7 MIAA) struggled offensively in a 90-62 loss at Central Oklahoma (14-9, 8-6 MIAA) this past Saturday at the Hamilton Field House in Edmond.
The opening 10 minutes featured an exciting back-and-forth battle, with three lead changes and one tie. However, UCO established its rhythm after taking the lead with 12:35 remaining in the first half. This sparked a 14-3 run, as UCO built its advantage to as much as 10 points.
Down the stretch, the Griffons cut the deficit two twice with makes from seniors
Zane Nelson (3:02) and
Ethan Kilgore (2:17), but the Bronchos responded with a 6-2 run in the final two minutes to take a 42-36 lead into halftime.
The Bronchos took the game over out of halftime, outscoring the Griffons 12-2 in the opening five minutes to increase their lead to 54-38. Led by Jacobi Sebock's 11 points in the half, they would by their lead to as many as 34 points.
Missouri Western had a challenging shooting performance, finishing 18-for-48 (38%) overall, and only making 2-of-18 (11%) attempts from three-point range. In contrast, Central Oklahoma shot 31-for-62 (50%) overall and connected on 9-of-23 (39%) from behind the arc.
Swader finished with a season-high 19 points on 5-of-8 shootings. He added six assists, six rebounds and a steal.
Ethan Kilgore added a team-leading nine rebounds to complement nine points.
KPI Standings
Missouri Western men's basketball ranks No. 5 out of 14 teams in the MIAA in the first KPI Rankings put out by the league this past Monday. KPI is a new power rankings system used by the MIAA to seed its conference basketball tournaments in March. They used the same formula to seed the MIAA Volleyball Tournament this past fall.
The KPI is used only for MIAA tournament seeding. The MIAA win-loss standings will still determine the regular season champion. KPI ranks every team's wins and losses on a positive-to-negative scale, using opponent's winning percentage, opponent's strength of schedule, scoring margin, pace of game, location and opponent's KPI ranking.
Series Histories
Thursday marks the 88th all-time meeting with Pitt State. The Griffons hold a 46-41 advantage in the series and have won four of the last five meetings overall.
Saturday will be the 107th meeting with Missouri Southern. The Lions hold a 56-50 edge here, though the Griffons have won the last three contests, including a 62-56 win over the Lions in the first round of MIAA tournament play last March.
Approaching 1,000 Points
Senior
Julius Dixon is closing in on 1,000 career points in a Griffon uniform. The Fayetteville, Tennessee native has scored 984 total points in his three seasons at MWSU. He'd be the 20th player in program history to eclipse 1000 career points and the fifth one to do so since coach
Will Martin first came on staff since 2018. Just last season,
JaRon Thames and
Reese Glover became the 18th and 19th Griffons in history to reach the 1,000 point mark.
Dixon scored 136 total points in two seasons at Division I Morehead State, giving him currently 1,120 points in his entire collegiate career.
Free Throw Leaders
Missouri Western currently leads the MIAA in free throw percentage, making 327-of-427 (76.6%) at the charity stripe so far this season. That also ranks 30th in the nation amongst all NCAA Division II teams.
Keepin' Em Off the Glass
Missouri Western ranks No. 2 in the MIAA and No. 6 in the nation in opponent rebounds allowed per game. The Griffons are allowing just 29.9 rebounds per game by their opponents this season.
Individual Leaders
Senior
Zane Nelson has made a substantial impact for the Griffons this season. The Arkansas-Monticello transfer and last season's Great American Conference Newcomer of the Year leads the team with 14.1 points per game and ranks No. 4 in the MIAA with 4.3 assists per contest.
Zion Swader has had a successful senior season, averaging 11.7 points per game. Defensively, he has recorded 39 steals, placing him tied for sixth in the MIAA.
Julius Dixon has been a rebounding machine, ranking No. 7 in the MIAA with 6.3 rebounds per contest. Meanwhile, senior
Kiani Saxon has caused havoc at the rim with 28 blocks (4th MIAA).
Pittsburg State Points
Pitt State has shot up to second place in the MIAA standings with a 9-4 record in league play. Winners of three straight and six of their last eight games overall, the Gorillas present a formidable challenge.
The Gorillas rank No. 2 in the MIAA and No. 23 in the nation in three-point percentage, making 38.2% (213-of-557) from downtown. Their 213 makes are most in the MIAA and 17th most in the nation. Their 557 attempts also lead the MIAA and are 19th most of any team in the nation.
Pitt State has been an efficient group offensively, ranking No. 2 in the MIAA with a 1.40 assist-to-turnover ratio (363 assists to 260 turnovers).
Jordan Frison is Pitt's lead scoring threat, ranking No. 2 in the MIAA with 16.9 points per game. He's also the team leader and MIAA leader with 5.7 assists per contest. He ranks 10th in the nation in assists per game.
On the perimeter, R.J. Forney has been a threat, leading the MIAA with a 44.5% success rate from three. That mark puts him 12th in the nation in that category. Forney has made 57 threes total - fourth most of any player in the MIAA.
Avery Taggert is close behind Forney in three-point percentage, as Taggert ranks third in the MIAA with a 42.4% clip from long range. Taggert averages 3.2 made threes per game - second most of any player in the MIAA.
Pitt State had great success a season ago, going 21-11 overall and 15-7 in the MIAA, reaching the NCAA tournament. Jeff Boschee is in his third season as the head man at Pitt State after eight successful years at Pitt State's arch rival Missouri Southern. Boschee comes in with a career coaching record of 193-126.
MoSo Info
Missouri Southern enters the week on the outside looking in, in terms of getting into the MIAA tournament field. Though, the Lions are far from being out of contention, as they sit 11th in the KPI Standings, making them the first team out of the conference tournament field as of now.
Southern enters the week, having lost five of their last six games overall. They stopped a four-game slide with a win against Newman on Feb. 6, but lost at home to Emporia State this past Saturday, 83-74.
Southern ranks No. 2 in the MIAA in blocked shots, having denied 82 total shots (3.73 per game) this season. Tryone Wright ranks No. 6 in the MIAA with 6.4 rebounds per contest and No. 5 in the league with 24 blocked shots.
Martin Macenis is No. 6 in the league with a field goal percentage of 53.8%. He also ranks fifth in the league in assists per game at 4.3. Tyrique Brooks leads Southern with 48 made three-pointers - the sixth most of any player in the MIAA.
Sam McMahon is in his third year at the helm at Southern, leading the Lions to a combined record of 40-41 in that time. He was an assistant at Southern for six years under then head coach Jeff Boschee, who took the Pitt State role in 2022.
