GAME NOTES | LISTEN LIVE (BEARCAT SPORTS NETWORK)
MARYVILLE LIVE STATS | MARYVILLE VIDEO ($6.95 FEE)
UMSL LIVE STATS | UMSL VIDEO ($8 FEE)
(LEBANON, Ill., January 10)—The McKendree University men's basketball team will have the shortest of its Great Lakes Valley Conference road trips this weekend when the Bearcats head to St. Louis for games at Maryville University on Thursday at 7:30 p.m., and at the University of Missouri-St. Louis on Saturday at 3:15 p.m.
Both games will be carried live on the Bearcat Sports Network at
www.mckbearcats.com/listenlive.
Scott Cummings will have the call of both games, beginning with a 10-minute pre-game show for each contest. Maryville and UMSL will provide live stats and live video for each game. There is a fee to view each game this weekend – the Maryville game will cost $6.95 while the UMSL tilt can be viewed for a fee of $8. Fans can click on the links above to access all live audio, video and stats.
ABOUT McKENDREE: The Bearcats enter the weekend with an overall record of 7-5. McKendree is 1-1 in GLVC play after making its league debut at home last weekend. The Bearcats dropped a 69-66 decision to the University of Illinois Springfield on Jan. 3 before rallying to take a 67-59 win over Quincy University on Jan. 5. The Quincy triumph marked the Bearcats' first-ever GLVC victory on the basketball court.
Clinton Happe (Evansville, IN/F.J. Reitz) leads McKendree in scoring at 18.4 points per game, while
John Steppe (Effingham, IL/St. Anthony) is close behind at 17.9 points a contest. Happe and Steppe ranked third and fourth, respectively, in the GLVC in scoring. Steppe is also third in the league in rebounding at 8.4 rebounds per outing.
Harry Statham, the all-time wins leader in men's college basketball history, brings 1,068 career wins into the weekend. Statham is in his 47
th season at the helm of the McKendree program.
ABOUT MARYVILLE: The Saints are 11-4 overall and 1-2 in the GLVC. Asa Toney tops Maryville in three key categories: scoring (15.6 PPG), assists (65) and steals (24). Armon Provo is right behind Toney in the same trio of categories at 13.2 PPG, 41 assists and 22 steals. Head coach Kevin Carroll is in his third year at Maryville and brings a 31-37 career record into the weekend. McKendree holds a 4-2 edge in the overall series with Maryville, which includes a 64-55 Saints' win in the last meeting between the two schools on Nov. 10, 2011.
ABOUT MISSOURI-ST. LOUIS: The University of Missouri-St. Louis brings an overall record of 7-4 and an 0-3 GLVC slate into the weekend's play. The Tritons were selected as the pre-season favorite to win the GLVC West Division title. Joshua McCoy paces UMSL in scoring (16.0 PPG), rebounds (4.5 RPG), assists (3.0 APG) and steals (1.4 SPG). UMSL has a balanced scoring attack with four different players averaging between 16.0 and 10.2 points per contest. Head coach Steve Tappmeyer is in his third season on the bench for the Tritons. Before coming to UMSL, Tappmeyer spent 21 years directing the men's program at Northwest Missouri State University, where he led the Bearcats to 10 NCAA Tournament berths. The Tritons holds an 11-4 advantage in the series with McKendree, which includes a 74-64 UMSL victory in the last meeting between the schools on Dec. 10, 2011 in St. Louis.
LAST OF THE CROSSOVER: McKendree, which competes as a member of the GLVC East Division, will be playing the last of its four crossover games against GLVC West Division opponents this weekend. Beginning next Thursday (Jan. 17) the Bearcats will play their remaining 14 GLVC games against East Division foes.
THIS PLACE LOOKS FAMILIAR: The Bearcats will be playing their third game of the season at Maryville's Moloney Arena on Thursday. McKendree opened the 2012-13 season with games on the same floor against Tiffin University and Ohio Dominican University in the GLVC/GLIAC Crossover Challenge in November.
