McKENDREE at Kentucky Wesleyan -- Thursday, Jan. 31, 7:30 p.m.
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Southern Indiana at McKENDREE -- Saturday, Feb. 2, 3 p.m.
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(LEBANON, Ill., January 30)—There are two Great Lakes Valley Conference games on tap this week for the McKendree University men's basketball team, and both of them will feature nationally-ranked opponents. The Bearcats will open the week on Thursday in Owensboro, Ky., for a contest against Kentucky Wesleyan College, the No. 18-ranked team in this week's NABC/NCAA Division II poll. McKendree will return home for a Saturday afternoon tilt against No. 13-ranked University of Southern Indiana at the Harry M. Statham Sports Center.

ABOUT McKENDREE: The Bearcats are 7-12 overall and 1-8 in GLVC play. The Bearcats are in search of their first victory since Jan. 5, when they defeated Quincy University, 67-59. McKendree dropped a pair of road games last week in the state of Indiana, falling to then-No. 11 University of Indianapolis last Thursday, 100-66, before posting a 99-80 loss on Saturday at Saint Joseph's College. Senior John Steppe (Effingham, IL/St. Anthony) was just two points shy of his career-high in the Indianapolis tilt with 25 points in the effort. Sophomore Mike DiGregorio (Morton Grove, IL/Niles Notre Dame) matched his career-best total of 26 points in the loss at Saint Joe's. The Bearcats feature the No. 2 and 3 scorers in the GLVC in junior Clinton Happe (Evansville, IN/F.J. Reitz) (second at 18.3 PPG) and Steppe (third at 17.8 PPG). Harry Statham, now in his 47th season at the helm of the McKendree program, is college basketball's all-time wins leader on the men's side with 1,068 victories.

ABOUT KENTUCKY WESLEYAN: The Panthers bring a 14-3 overall record and 6-3 mark in the GLVC into Thursday's game. Kentucky Wesleyan was undefeated and ranked third last week before suffering GLVC losses to Southern Indiana, Lewis and Wisconsin-Parkside. The Panthers, who have won eight NCAA Division II national championships, are coached by Todd Lee, who is in his eighth season at the school. Dazmond Starke, a center center, paces the Panthers' attack, averaging 15.3 points and 8.3 rebounds per contest. Starke has made two-thirds of his field goal attempts this season while shooting just over 70 percent from the free throw line. The Bearcats are 2-8 all-time against Kentucky Wesleyan with Statham at the helm, but the teams have not met since the 1980-81 season, which produced a 90-84 KWC win.

ABOUT SOUTHERN INDIANA: The Screaming Eagles enter the week with an overall mark of 14-3 and a 7-2 GLVC slate. USI will host Bellarmine University before making the trip to Lebanon. Southern Indiana is currently in a three-way tie atop the GLVC East Division standings. In his fourth year, head coach Rodney Watson -- who was an assistant coach under McKendree Hall-of-Famer Rich Herrin at Southern Illinois -- has helped mold the Screaming Eagles into one of the top programs in NCAA Division II, boasting three consecutive 24-win campaigns. Junior forward Orlando Rutledge is the team's leading scorer at 15.6 points per game, while junior forward Aaron Nelson has contributed 11.9 points and 7.9 rebounds per game along with a field goal percentage of .612. McKendree and USI last met on Nov. 16, 2010 in Evansville, Ind., when the Screaming Eagles posted a 90-66 win over the Bearcats.

STEPPE CAREER WATCH: John Steppe (Effingham, IL/St. Anthony) currently sits in 30th place on the Bearcats' all-time scoring list with 1,301 points. He needs just four points to surpass former teammate Brad Copelin for the No. 29 spot. Steppe is also tied with another former Bearcat teammate -- Eric Palm -- for ninth place on the team's career list for steals with 131. On Saturday, Steppe slid into the No. 10 spot on the McKendree career chart for assists. He now has 290 assists, one better than Brad Fischer, who had 289 during his career from 2002-06.

BOMBS AWAY: McKendree leads the GLVC in three-point field goals made per game at 9.00. McKendree also ranks second in the league in three-point field goal defense, holding opponents to just 30.8 percent shooting from beyond the arc.