LEBANON, Ill. - The men's basketball team will not see their home floor of the Harry M. Statham Sports Center for a 32 day-stretch in light of the holiday break. Nonetheless, they will embark on a return game in the home-and-home series against Thomas More University, where the Bearcats will travel to Crestview Hills, Kentucky to take on the Saints at the Connor Convocation Center at 2:00 PM CT.
This will only be the 2nd all-time meeting between the two programs, with the first being part of the aforementioned series. McKendree won last year at home, 80-71, spoiling a Thomas More team that made their debut year as an NCAA Division II member. Approximately five hours separate the two neighboring states.
BEARCATS CURRENTLY
McKendree is coming off a pair of Great Lakes Valley Conference (GLVC) wins this past week. They took down Rockhurst University early in the week on Monday in overtime and followed with a home win against in-state University of Illinois Springfield on Saturday. The Bearcats sit at 6-3 overall and 3-0 in conference play. Their undefeated record in the GLUC thus far is the best start in the program's history since becoming an NCAA Division II member in the 2012-13 season.
Against the Hawks of Rockhurst, McKendree went on a 13-7 run in the final minutes of regulation, which was capped off with a buzzer-beating three-pointer by senior guard Joey Niesman (Oswego, Ill.) to force overtime, and outscored Rockhurst 15-10 in overtime to sit at a comfortable 2-0 in conference play. Niesman had 30 points on an efficient 10-13 shooting from the floor and 8-9 from the line as senior guard Kevin Stein (Chester, N.Y.) finished with a solid 26 points, and senior forward Hayden Meakes (Adelaide, Australia) with 15 of his own. The last time McKendree went past regulation was when they went to three overtimes against the University of Illinois Springfield on February 10th, 2024, where they won 121-116. That was also the last time a Bearcat player recorded 30+ points in a game and the last time two players tallied at least 25 points in a game.
Then, the Bearcats picked up win number six of the season at home against the University of Illinois Springfield, 92-82. They held a sizable lead throughout the game, despite a couple of small pushes from the Prairie Stars, including one late in the second half. Junior forward Noah Franklin was a beast all-around, as he dropped a career-high 27 points on 7-10 shooting, including 3-5 from deep and an efficient 10-11 from the free throw line. He rounded out the stat sheet with six rebounds, three assists, and a steal. After a 30-point performance on Monday, Niesman followed up with a solid 19 points on 6-10 shooting overall, 2-4 from deep, and a perfect 5-5 from the charity stripe. Stein and sophomore guard Justin King and rounded out the double-figure scoring for the Bearcats, with the latter putting up 15 points, collecting six rebounds, and taking away a pair of steals. The former had a game-high six assists with four rebounds to go with his 11 points. McKendree finished with a season-high in team blocks with five, and two of them came from King.
Shooting is the name of the game for McKendree, as they rank in the top five in the conference in several related categories, including effective field goal percentage (4th – 56.9%), free throw percentage (3rd – 78.2%), free throws made per game (4th – 13.6), three-point percentage (4th – 38.9%), and three-pointers made per game (3rd – 9.8). The team also comes in fifth for blocks per game (3.3) as well as three-point percentage defense (31.9%).
From a personnel standpoint, senior guard Destin Whitaker (Romeoville, Ill.) is one of the most consistent knockdown shooters you will find on this level. He connects on 54.8% of his 2.6 made three-pointers a contest as he is now up to 23 on the season. Whitaker's three-point percentage is seventh in the entire nation. The Bearcats want the ball in the hands of Stein as much as possible, due to the fact that he is averaging 4.8 assists a game (43 total) and is 29th in the country in assist/turnover ratio of 2.87. Lastly, you do not want to go head-to-head with Niesman, because he has collected two steals a contest, giving him 18 thus far in the season. Both of those numbers rank second in the GLVC.
SCOUTING THE OPPOSITION
Thomas More University | Thursday, December 19th, 2:00 PM CT
Last Matchup: W, 80-71 on 12/13/2024 | RECAP | BOX SCORE
In McKendree's third matchup this season against a Great Midwest Athletic Conference (G-MAC) member, they will now face Thomas More University to wrap up the 2024 year. The Saints are a solid 7-3 so far into the season, as they started out with a loss to fellow GLVC-member Drury University but went on a little hot streak in winning five straight as they proceeded towards G-MAC play. Thomas More sits at 3-1 in the conference with all their competition coming against the bottom half of the G-MAC preseason poll.
The Saints have three players averaging north of 10 points a game, led by senior guard Casey George, who scores a sixth-best in the conference of 16.3 points a game. Freshmen forward Jack McCune and guard Kai Simpson round out the double-figure scoring with 12.8 and 10.7 points a contest, respectively. George is also third in the G-MAC in three-point percentage with an efficient 46.2%.
As a team, Thomas More does not lead the conference in any major statistical categories. However, the program from Kentucky has been known for its sturdy perimeter defense, allowing their opponents to convert 31.4% from deep. It is a fairly young roster, with 11 of the 16-player squad being underclassmen and only two seniors.
TUNE IN-FO
at Thomas More University
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TEAM ROSTERS: [McKendree] [Thomas More]
TEAM SCHEDULES: [McKendree] [Thomas More]
TEAM STATISTICS: [McKendree] [Thomas More]
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