LEBANON, Ill. - The men's basketball team will look to keep their momentum going as they will host visiting University of Illinois Springfield on Saturday, December 7th, at the Harry M. Statham Sports Center in Lebanon, Illinois. With a win, McKendree will be 3-0 in GLVC play for the first time ever in the NCAA Division II era.
This will be the 33rd all-time meeting between the two programs, as McKendree won last year at home on a thrilling 121-116 win in triple overtime. Prior to that, the Prairie Stars won two straight after the Bearcats claimed the three before. The series is knotted evenly at 16 a-piece as neither side won a streak that was more than three.
BEARCATS CURRENTLY
McKendree is coming off a huge rebounding week after losing three times in a row in the hands of nationally top 25 opponents at home. They are a comfortable 5-3 so for in the season as they opened up 3-0 for the first time since the 2021-22 season.
In the first of their two recent wins, they hosted Maryville University to open GLVC action. The two teams went neck-and-neck in the first half before the Bearcats pulled away in the second to win 74-66. Four players notched double-figures for the Bearcats in the victory as junior forward Noah Franklin (Cobden, Ill.) led with 15, going 6-7 from the field with a pair of blocks and steals as senior guard Kevin Stein (Chester, N.Y.) and sophomore guard Justin King (Mascoutah, Ill.) each tallied 12 as the former had six assists and seven rebounds while the latter had a game-high nine boards. Senior forward Hayden Meakes (Adelaide, Australia) made his season debut with 10 points on 4-8 shooting from the floor.
On Monday's game, where they had to travel to play Rockhurst University, 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 Stein finished with a solid 26 points and Meakes with 15 of his own. That last meeting in triple overtime between the two programs 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.
From the personnel standpoint, McKendree has a little two-man three-and-D duo with Niesman and senior guard Destin Whitaker (Romeoville, Ill.). Niesman is first in the GLVC in total steals taken away with 17 so far (2.1 spg). Whitaker on the other hand is a shot-maker, especially from three-point land where he is first in the conference (11th nationally) in three-point percentage with 53.8%. His three-pointers taken and made per game are top four in the GLVC. Stein's 37 total assists thus far are 33rd in the country and second in the conference.
As a team, they shoot well across the board. The Bearcats are 51st in the nation (5th in the GLVC) in effective field goal percentage of 55.8% as well as 53rd (4th) in free throw percentage of 75.8%, 55th (4th) in three-point percentage of 37.7%, and 93rd (7th) in field goal percentage of 47.3%.
SCOUTING THE OPPOSITION
University of Illinois Springfield | Saturday, December 7th, 3:00 PM CT
Last Matchup: W, 121-116 (3OT) on 2/10/2024 | RECAP | BOX SCORE
Illinois-Springfield has had an up-and-down start to their season, currently sitting at 3-4 and losing four of their last five. Recently they started GLVC action 0-2 to the University of Missouri-St. Louis and to William Jewell College. As of this writing, they still are scheduled to play Maryville University on Thursday night. In their most recent outing against William Jewell, the Cardinals made a strong final push to take down the Prairie Stars as UIS would lose 67-74.
One of a few names to watch in this matchup is senior forward Jack Weber, for he is one defensive rebound away from a career Division II era program record as he is also three rebounds away from a career total rebound. Senior guard Max Kunnert is 48 three-pointers away from career three-point field goals made. He is also seventh in the conference in points per game at a perfect 17.0.
Like McKendree, UIS is a dependable shooting squad that puts up highly efficient numbers. They are second in the entire country in three-point percentage, connecting on 44.9% of their attempts. From the field overall, they shoot a high of 52.3%, which ranks 7th in Division II. Because of those numbers, the Prairie Stars are second in the GLVC in effective field goal percentage at 58.5%.
TUNE IN-FO
vs University of Illinois Springfield
WATCH: Click HERE ($ – GLVC Sports Network)
LIVE STATS: Click HERE
HISTORY: Click HERE
TEAM ROSTERS: [McKendree] [Illinois-Springfield]
TEAM SCHEDULES: [McKendree] [Illinois-Springfield]
TEAM STATISTICS: [McKendree] [Illinois-Springfield]
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