LEBANON, Ill. - The men's basketball team will look to rebound as they open their GLVC action against Maryville University on Saturday, November 30th, followed by a road contest against Rockhurst University on next Monday, December 2nd.
Against Maryville, this will be the 19th all-time meeting between the two programs as McKendree lost last year at home, 65-69, after pulling off three straight wins where the Saints lead 11-7 currently. Against Rockhurst, it will be the 14th meeting of all-time for the two teams, as the Bearcats won the last six games in the series dating back to the earlier part of the 2020-21 season. Before the six-game win streak, the Hawks won the previous five.
BEARCATS CURRENTLY
McKendree is coming off possibly their toughest stretch of games in program history. After losing to then-No.25 Ferris State a couple of weeks ago, the Bearcats hosted the Inaugural McKendree DII Classic Presented by State Farm. They began with a setback to No.23 University of Alabama in Huntsville, 62-76, and could not seal the deal on the following day against No.22 Lake Superior State University where they lost 61-72.
Senior guard Kevin Stein (Chester, N.Y.) was a huge factor in both games, totaling 32 points on 12-27 (44.4%) shooting and 5-14 from deep while tying a career-high in assists with six in game two against the Lakers. Fellow senior guard Joey Niesman (Oswego, Ill.) also tabbed double-figures for his team, dropping a team-high 18 in game one against the Chargers and followed with 10 points against Lake Superior State as he also grabbed five steals in the two matchups.
Not only sought as a vocal leader for the Bearcats, senior guard Destin Whitaker (Romeoville, Ill.) has been a knock-down shooter so far as a newcomer for the team, since going 7-11 from deep in his past two games, Whitaker is 47th in the nation (first in the GLVC) in total made three-pointers with 17. He also ranks top-five in the conference in three-point percentage (3rd – 50.0%) and three-pointers per game (5th – 2.83)
As a team, McKendree is placed third in the conference scoring defense, allowing opponents to drop 66.3 a contest. The season low for the team was 42 points made by Blackburn College on November 13th. Offensively, the Bearcats are sound at the charity strip, converting on 75.3% of their free throw attempts, which is also good for third in the GLVC.
SCOUTING THE OPPOSITION
Maryville University | Saturday, November 30th, 3:00 PM CT
Last Matchup: L, 65-69 on 1/25/2024 | RECAP | BOX SCORE
It has not been the ideal season for Maryville, as they have been plagued with injuries which gets them off-rhythm on a nightly basis. They started out with two losses to Michigan-based teams, including a four-point loss to Michigan Tech. Those two were followed by another pair of setbacks, this time to a couple of Missouri-based programs. The Saints and new Head Coach Preston Ingram finally notched their first win against an old GLVC-foe in the University of Wisconsin-Parkside, 72-62.
In the win against the Rangers last Saturday, the Saints shot a season-high 58.0% from the floor, including 47.1% from three. A large part of the hot shooting comes from their junior forward Lucas Burton, who is 42nd in the nation in field goal percentage at 62.8 percent.
Maryville prides itself on the defensive perimeter, allowing 28.3% of opposing three-point shots to go in. That ranks third in the GLVC and 37th across all Division II.
Rockhurst University | Monday, December 2nd, 7:30 PM CT
Last Matchup: W, 85-81 on 11/30/2023 | RECAP | BOX SCORE
As of this writing, Rockhurst has had a solid start to their season as they started a perfect 2-0 in the annual GLIAC/GLVC Challenge against Davenport University and Purdue University Northwest. They then dropped the following two opponents before getting back into the win column against Missouri Southern State University last Friday. The Hawks will begin GLVC play against Truman State University this Tuesday before taking on McKendree.
Graduate guard Jesse White and graduate forward Daniel Carr are two players to look out for the Hawks as White averages a team-high 15.6 points a game, and is top-five in the conference in a few long-range categories, including total three-pointers (1st – 17), three-point attempts (2nd – 41), three-pointers per game (3rd – 3.4), and three-point percentage (4th – 41.5%). Carr is a rebounding machine, pulling down 7.4 defensive boards a contest, which is good for 16th in the country. His 9.4 total rebounding average is 26th in Division II.
Perimeter playmaking is the name of the game for Rockhurst, as they allow 27.0% of opponents' three-point shots to fall (25th in the nation). Their three-point attempts and makes are both 31st in the country as they average 28.4 and 10.4 respectively.
TUNE IN-FO
vs Maryville University
WATCH: Click HERE ($ – GLVC Sports Network)
LIVE STATS: Click HERE
HISTORY: Click HERE
TEAM ROSTERS: [McKendree] [Maryville]
TEAM SCHEDULES: [McKendree] [Maryville]
TEAM STATISTICS: [McKendree] [Maryville]
at Rockhurst University
WATCH: Click HERE ($ – GLVC Sports Network)
LIVE STATS: Click HERE
HISTORY: Click HERE
TEAM ROSTERS: [McKendree] [Rockhurst]
TEAM SCHEDULES: [McKendree] [Rockhurst]
TEAM STATISTICS: [McKendree] [Rockhurst]
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