LEBANON, Ill. – The 2025-26 men's basketball team will make its public debut on Monday, November 3rd went they set to travel down to Southern Illinois University to take on the Salukis in an exhibition matchup at the Banterra Center in Carbondale, Illinois.
It will be the final tune-up for the Bearcats to make any adjustments, as well as to preview their talents for the upcoming regular season, which will start on November 14th. This will be recorded as a counted game for the Salukis, as Monday is the opening day for NCAA Division I basketball.
The game will be streamed live on ESPN+ via a subscription purchase, but can be listened to for free on SIU's The Varsity Network. Both options can be tuned in live and on demand on the web or on any mobile device, with ESPN+ made available for any smart TV.
Tickets are currently available for purchase for as little as $12. Fans and media can also follow the game's live stats throughout the whole contest via StatBroadcast.
GAME NOTES – [Southern Illinois]
A REVIEW BEFORE THE PREVIEW
The Bearcats are coming fresh off a 14-14 overall record last season, with a winning 11-9 mark in Great Lakes Valley Conference (GLVC) outings. Their 3-0 start in conference play was the best start in the program's history since joining the league back in 2012-13. They enacted a three-game winning streak two other times throughout the 2024-25 season, and reeled off two straight victories in their final two regular-season games to clinch their fifth straight and sixth overall GLVC Championship Tournament appearance
At the conference tournament in St. Charles, Missouri they faced the one-seed and then-No.10 Missouri S&T in the quarterfinal round. The game saw 13 lead changes with a close matchup throughout the whole game, but the Miners pulled out the win within the final minutes of regulation and put a period to McKendree's season.
HISTORY SHOWCASE
McKendree and Southern Illinois have never squared off in regular-season competition within the Bearcats' NCAA Division II era (2012-13 season). This will be officially marked as an exhibition for McKendree and a regular-season contest for the Salukis.
OPPONENT'S ELEVATOR PITCH
Southern Illinois wrapped up its preseason slate with two exhibitions under their belt. They first squared off with Austin Peay State University on October 17th on the Salukis' home floor, where they won a close 84-79 outing. They followed that up with an 86-76 win over an old GLVC-foe in Lindenwood University in St. Charles just recently on Wednesday, October 29th.
Looking at last year, SIU closed with a 14-19 record in the regular season and put an 8-12 finish in MVC (Missouri Valley Conference) play. They faced off against Indiana State University in the opening round of the State Farm Missouri Valley Conference Tournament, where they held off the Sycamores 86-85 to move on in the Arch Madness bracket. They lost in semifinal action to eventual MVC champion Drake University, 53-70, as the setback put a stamp on their season.
GREAT LAKES. GREAT NAMES.
One of the first major news stories for the Bearcats this offseason was the acquisition of former Saginaw Valley State University Head Coach Randy Baruth as the Bearcats' assistant. He spent 13 years at the helm and guided the Cardinals to a GLIAC (Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference) Conference Championship, a GLIAC Divisional Championship, an NCAA Midwest Regional Championship, and an NCAA Elite Eight Appearance.
He developed 34 GLIAC All-Conference selections, including eight All-Defensive Team honorees and a standout Freshman of the Year during his tenure. Prior to SVSU, Baruth made several stops at both the Division I and II levels, including the University of Utah, Colorado State University, North Dakota State University, and Northern State University.
SAME OLD SAME OLD
McKendree brings back nine players from their 2024-25 roster. Headlining the bunch is fifth-year forward Noah Franklin (Cobden, Ill.), who started 27 of the Bearcats' 28 games played and was fifth on the team in scoring and third in rebounds with 8.5 and 4.0, respectively, and led with 16 total blocks.
A trio of guards in senior Cha'Vez Woods (Louisville, Ky.), redshirt junior Justin King (Mascoutah, Ill.), and sophomore Rini Harris (O'Fallon, Ill.) each played over 20 of the season's contest, with Woods putting up 8.5 points a game while Harris and King dropped in a scoring average of 4.5 and 4.3, respectively.
BRAND NEW
Joining the returners and filling out the new roster are six newcomers, coming via different paths to McKendree. Three of such being true freshmen out of the high school ranks, with guard Andrew Moore (Montgomery County, Mo.) tabbed as one of them, as he dropped an abundant 1,640 points across his four-year high school career along with 576 rebounds, 300 assists, and 165 steals. Blake Pingeton (Columbia, Mo.) is another, as he ended sixth in program history for points with 1,015. He was also third in total rebounds with 514, while putting himself at the top with 139 three-pointers made. Moses Wilson (Aurora, Ill.) rounds out the freshman class with a high tenacity on the defensive end of the court, as he garnered two Defensive MVP recognitions in his hoops career and made program history by snatching the most steals in a single season.
A pair from the junior college ranks also joined the Bearcat squad this offseason, with one of whom being sophomore forward Johusa Schönbäck (Kierling, Austria) out of Southwest Mississippi Community College. There, Schönbäck appeared in all 29 of the Bears' games last season as he started 26 of them and averaged 7.2 points, 5.2 rebounds, and 2.6 assists per game. Junior guard Rolen Adames (Mount Vernon, Ill.) was another, as her spent two years at in-state Rend Lake College. With the Warriors, Adams, appeared in 47 games with 33 starts as he became the team's second leading scorer in year two, averaging 14.0 points with 4.0 rebounds and 1.0 assists per game.
Head Coach George Suggs and company also tapped into the international ranks and pulled in a 7-foot-1 freshman center in Lachlan Clague from Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. There, he was well-known across the country for the past several years, making the NSW State Team four times in the U12, U14, U16, and U18. Clague was also named to the U15 Australian Team back in 2022, where he averaged 8.4 points, 4.0 rebounds, and 1.0 assists to help lead the team to a gold medal in the FIBA U15 Oceania Championship.
THE MOORE YOU ADAM UP...
One interesting note of this year's new assembly of McKendree players is the dynamic upbringing of Andrew Moore and Rolen Adams. Andrew's father, Dan Moore, and Rolen's father, Marty Adams, both spent a few seasons together on the men's basketball program during the late 1990s, as Marty was eventually inducted into the McKendree Sports Hall of Fame in 2004.
What is even more special is like the fathers – who were college roommates during their time as Bearcats – are now seeing their sons in Andrew and Rolen become roommates as well.
NCAA'S TOP 100 (current players and numbers from last season)
McKENDREE
Team:
• Effective field goal percentage (41st – 54.7%)
• Field goal percentage (87th – 46.1%)
• Free throw percentage (67th – 74.5%)
• Scoring Defense (80th – 71.6 ppg)
• Three-point attempts per game (62nd – 25.2)
• Three-point percentage (23rd – 37.8)
• Three-point percentage defense (87th – 33.0%)
• Three-pointers per game (29th – 9.5)
• Turnovers per game (27th – 10.5)
Individual:
N/A
SOUTHERN ILLINOIS
Team:
• Field goal percentage (98th – 46.1%)
Individual:
N/A
LOOKING AHEAD
After the exhibition match, McKendree will officially tip-off their season in the annual GLVC/G-MAC Crossover, which, for the Bearcats, will be held at the Gilmore Center on the campus of Tiffin University in Tiffin, Ohio. McKendree will face the host Tiffin on Friday, November 14th at 12:00 PM CT and will conclude the multi-team event (MTE) with a game against Malone University the next day with a 2:30 PM CT start.
Both games will be streamed live and on demand on FloCollege (FloSports) with a subscription purchase. Live stats and other information will be made available when public, and can be found over at mckbearcats.com.
TUNE IN-FO
| DATE |
TIME (CT) |
HOME TEAM |
AWAY TEAM |
LIVE STATS |
WATCH LIVE |
| 11/3/25 |
7:00 PM |
Southern Illinois |
McKendree |
STATS |
WATCH |
Keep up with McKendree University Men's Basketball on Facebook, X (Twitter), and Instagram. #GLVCmbb | #D2mbb
For more updates and information on Bearcat Athletics, please continue to visit McKBearcats.com and follow us on Facebook, X (Twitter), and Instagram.
#BearcatsUnleashed
