LEBANON, Ill. – The McKendree University men's basketball team opens the 2022 calendar year on Sunday, Jan. 2 with a 3 p.m. Great Lakes Valley Conference match-up against the University of Southern Indiana at Harry M. Statham Sports Center on the McKendree campus.
 
Sunday's game will be the first of the New Year for the Bearcats as also the first game for McKendree since closing its 2021-22 non-conference slate with an impressive 80-67 home win against then 21st-ranked Union University on Dec. 14. McKendree's two games that were scheduled for Dec. 18-19 at Quincy's Hanson-Spear Funeral Home Classic were canceled due to non-COVID illnesses in the Bearcats program.
 
McKendree comes into 2022 with a 5-2 overall record after collecting its 80-67 win over then 21st-ranked Union University and that win over the Bulldogs snapped a two-game losing skid for the Bearcats that came after they opened the season winning its four games.
 
In the win against Union, the Bearcats put five players in double figures and scored a season high 80 points in improving to 2-1 at home this season. Against the nationally-ranked Bulldogs, junior guard Bryson Bultman (Nashville, Ill./Nashville) and sophomore guard Carson Parker (Nashville, Ill./Nashville) each scored 17 points, while redshirt senior guard Oliver Stephen (Edwardsville, Ill./SWIC) added a season high 14 points. The other two double-digit scorers were junior guard Aleksandar Davitkov (Belgrade, Serbia/Partizan) and redshirt junior guard CaRondis Harris-Anderson (Waterloo, Ill./Waterloo West) each scored 10 points in the win.
 
On the season, McKendree is averaging 67.4 points per game and has scored over 74 points in four of its first seven games, including tallying over 70 points in all four of its non-conference games. In addition, the Bearcats are outrebounding its foes by 7.7 boards per game and are averaging 37.4 boards per game and is shooting 46 percent from the field, 37 percent from the 3-point line and 70 percent from the free throw line.
 
Defensively, the Bearcats are first in the league in scoring defense (60.9 ppg), field goal percentage defense (38.7 percent), fifth in 3-point field goal percentage defense (32.0 percent) and second in rebound margin (+7.7). McKendree has held six of its first seven opponents under 70 points and has allowed only 70 points in a game one time which came against Lewis on Dec. 4 as the Flyers tallied 78 points in a 78-62 win over the Bearcats.
 
Bultman is the lone Bearcat averaging in double figures on the season as he is averaging 17.1 points, 6.3 rebounds and 4.3 assists per game and is shooting 44 percent from the field and has a 1.6 assist/turnover ratio on the year. Bultman, who is fifth in the league in scoring and fifth in the GLVC in free throws made, has tallied double figures in scoring in six of seven games, including five straight double-digit scoring games.
 
Three other Bearcats are averaging 9.0 to 9.1 points per game on the season as Davitkov is averaging 9.1 points and 3.0 rebounds and is shooting 39 percent from the floor and 38 percent from the 3-point line, while Stephen and Parker are each averaging 9.0 points per game. Along with his 9.0 points per game average, Stephen is shooting 44 percent from the field, 41 percent from the 3-point line and is a perfect 10-for-10 from the foul line, while Parker leads the team and is tied for fourth in the league in rebounding at 7.7 boards per game and is second in assists with 15 and is shooting 46 percent from the field and 83 percent from the free throw line.
 
Meanwhile, Southern Indiana, comes into its first game of the New Year sporting a 6-2 overall record and a 1-1mark in the GLVC. The Screaming Eagles have won four straight games since suffering a 68-62 loss at home in its GLVC opener on Nov. 29 to UIndy. Among USI's wins during its current four-game winning streak came at then 22nd-ranked Grand Valley State as the Eagles won 68-63 over the Lakers on Dec. 20. USI's win in league play came at Illinois-Springfield on Dec. 2 as the Eagles defeated the Prairie Stars, 64-52.
 
Sunday's game will mark the third league game of the season for USI and its sixth road game of the season as USI is 4-1 at home and has won four straight road contests since suffering a 101-88 loss at Cedarville on Nov. 22. Two of USI's four road wins came in overtime as they won 85-80 at Kentucky Wesleyan and 81-78 at Northwood (Mich.).
 
USI comes into Sunday's game with McKendree with an offense averaging 75.9 points per game and is allowing 69.3 points per game and the Screaming Eagles have held four of its foes under 65 points and have scored 75 or more points in five of eight games. USI is shooting 44 percent from the field, 34 percent from the 3-point line, 66.7 free throw percent and has a +2.1 rebound margin and is making 7.1 treys per game.
 
Defensively, USI is one of the top defensive teams in the league as they are second in the league in field goal percentage defense (40 percent) and leads the league in three-point field goal percentage defense as their foes are shooting 28.1 percent from the 3-point line. The Eagles are also averaging 7.8 steals per game and are forcing 14.8 turnovers per game and have a +1.7-turnover margin.
 
Leading the way offensively for Southern Indiana is junior guard Jelani Simmons, who is averaging 12.4 points and 4.3 rebounds per game and is shooting 43 percent from the field, 26 percent from the 3-point line and has blocked seven shots. Simmons, who scored 21 points in the win at Grand Valley State, has scored in double figures in six of eight games on the year.
 
In addition to Simmons, junior forward Jacob Polakovich is the second USI player averaging in double figures on the year as he is averaging 11.6 points and 9.0 rebounds per game and is shooting 58 percent from the field and 69 percent from the free throw line. He has scored in double figures in three of his last four games and has tallied three double-doubles, including a double-double of 12 point and 10 rebounds last time out at Grand Valley State.
 
Two other USI players are averaging over 9.0 points per game on the season as sophomore guard Tyler Henry is averaging 9.8 points and 2.4 rebounds per game and is shooting 36 percent from the field, 27 percent from the 3-point line and 81 percent from the free throw line, while senior guard Mateo Rivera is averaging 9.1 points, 4.4 rebounds and 1.9 assists per game and is shooting 55 percent from the field, 48 percent from the 3-point line and 80 percent from the free throw line.
 
USI is coaches by Stan Gouard, who is in his second season at his alma mater and has compiled an 18-7 record with the Screaming Eagles and is 222-118 in his 14th season as a collegiate head coach as he spent 12 seasons at UIndy, before returning to USI. Additionally, he is 151-84 in his career in GLVC games and was named the 2020 NCAA Division II Midwest Region Coach of the Year.
 
Sunday's game will mark the 16th all-time meeting in the series as USI holds a 13-2 record in the series. The Bearcats have lost two straight games in the series, including an 81-70 loss to USI in Evansville, Ind., on Dec. 12, 2020. McKendree is 2-5 at home against USI and 0-8 against USI in Evansville. 
   
Following Sunday's game, McKendree will hit the road for the first time in the New Year as they travel to Indianapolis, Ind., for a 6:30 p.m. CT game on Tuesday, Jan. 4 at the University of Indianapolis.