GAME DAY LINKS --
McKENDREE at ILLINOIS SPRINGFIELD -- Saturday, Jan. 5, 2019, 3 p.m.
The Recreation and Athletic Complex -- Springfield, Ill.

LISTEN LIVE (Bearcat Sports Network)
WATCH LIVE (UIS Broadcast)
LIVE STATS
McKENDREE SEASON STATISTICS
UIS SEASON STATISTICS
GLVC STATISTICS

(LEBANON, Ill., Jan. 4)--The McKendree University men's basketball squad will be on the road Saturday afternoon for a Great Lakes Valley Conference contest at the University of Illinois Springfield. The Bearcats and Prairie Stars are scheduled to meet in a 3 p.m. tip-off at The Recreation and Athletic Complex on the UIS campus. Saturday's game will be carried live on the Bearcat Sports Network at www.glvcsn.com/mckendree, beginning with the pre-game show at approximately 2:50 p.m.

McKendree, which is 5-6 overall this season, has not officially played a game since a 97-60 home win on Dec. 19 against Eureka College. The Bearcats returned to the court last Saturday with a 98-70 setback in exhibition play at Drake University. In that contest, Alijah Thomas (Des Moines, IA/Hoover) -- playing in his hometown of Des Moines, Iowa -- led the way with 15 points, while Jacob Donaldson (Effingham, IL/Effingham) came off the bench to post 13 points in just 14 minutes of action. That outing marked the third and final exhibition game against NCAA Division I opponents for McKendree this season. The Bearcats earlier faced off against Northwestern University (Nov. 2) and Indiana State University (Nov. 14).

Nate Michael (St. Joseph, IL/St. Joseph-Ogden) is McKendree's leading scorer this season at 15.6 PPG. With a trio of three-pointers in the Bearcats' win over Eureka, Michael moved into a tie for 10th place on the program's career chart for three-point field goals with 191. He also sits in 30th place on the Bearcats' career scoring list with 1,328 points. Nolan Gerling (Germantown, IL/Mater Dei) is second on the McKendree squad in scoring at 11.2 PPG, while he leads the team in rebounding at 5.5 RPG. Thomas is also scoring in double figures in 2018-19 at 10.9 PPG. Giovanni Offard (Freeport, IL/Freeport) paces the team with 50 assists as Thomas has collected a team-best 15 steals. Thomas is second in the conference in free throw percentage at 90.6 percent, while Michael sits in fifth place among all GLVC players in the same category at 88.1 percent. Offard leads the league in assist-to-turnover ratio at 2.78. 

Saturday's game will mark the Bearcats' first GLVC tilt since an 84-83 win at Maryville University back on Dec. 1. Michael hit the game-winning 15-footer with 4.3 seconds on the clock to lift McKendree to its first league win of the season. The Bearcats bring a 1-1 GLVC record to Springfield on Saturday. 

Following the trip to UIS, McKendree will return to Lebanon to ready for its longest home stand of the 2018-19 season. The Bearcats will have four games in a row at the Statham Center, beginning with a rematch against Maryville on Thursday, Jan. 10. 

ABOUT ILLINOIS SPRINGFIELD
The Prairie Stars bring a 9-3 overall record and a 2-0 conference ledger into Saturday's meeting with McKendree. UIS wrapped up its non-conference slate on Wednesday with a 101-77 home win over Lincoln Christian University. Gilwan Nelson led all scorers with 23 points, while Vince Walker added 21 points in the effort. 

Four different players are averaging in double figures for Illinois Springfield. Nelson leads the quartet at 16.3 PPG, while Peyton Allen is next at 14.9 PPG. Nelson is shooting just over 51 percent from the floor this season. Aundrae Williams (12.3 PPG) and Walker (10.2 PPG) round out the list of double-digit scorers for the Prairie Stars. Cole Harper is averaging a team-best 7.3 RPG, which is third among all GLVC players. 

Saturday's game will mark the 28th meeting all-time between the two programs. McKendree holds a 15-12 lead in the series, including a 7-6 mark in games played in Springfield. The Bearcats and Prairie Stars split their two-game series last season, with each team winning on the road. UIS won the first meeting on Jan. 6, 2018 inside the Statham Center, 86-72. The Bearcats returned the favor with a 74-59 triumph just nine days later on Jan. 15, 2018 in Springfield. Giovanni Offard (Freeport, IL/Freeport) averaged 13.5 points in the two games against UIS, while Gerling chipped in 10.5 PPG in the contests.