LEBANON, Ill. - The men's basketball team is back on the road as they continue down in the latter half of the conference slate as they will face Quincy University of Thursday, February 20th, and then at Upper Iowa University on Saturday, February 22nd. 

HISTORY SHOWCASE

Against Quincy, it will be the 17th all-time meeting between the two programs, as McKendree came away victorious in their last outing, winning 77-68 and having won five of the last six matchups. The series is tied at 8-8 dating back to 2013. 

In a couple of days after facing the Hawks, the Bearcats will take on Upper Iowa in only their 3rd ever matchup. Like against Quincy, the two teams are even in the series, with both having won one game. McKendree came victorious in the most recent meeting last season in Fayette, Iowa, with a narrow 81-80 win as the Peacocks snagged a 14-point win in Lebanon earlier in the same year. 

BEARCATS CURRENTLY

After winning three straight on the extended road trip, McKendree has faltered in back-to-back games at the Harry M. Statham Sports Center in a couple of close outings. They now sit at 11-12 overall and even at 8-8 in GLVC play. 

In Thursday's game against Lewis University, senior guards Kevin Stein (Chester, N.Y.) and Destin Whitaker (Romeoville, Ill.) combined for 12 of the Bearcats' first 14 points of the game. Later, junior guard Cha'Vez Woods (Louisville, Ky.) knocked down a trio of three-pointers to put his squad up by seven, but a small rally by the Flyers would keep them content with McKendree as Lewis would trail by only one at halftime. With both sides not being able to lead by more than five points the rest of the way, it would be 55-all in a little over five minutes of regulation. An and-one layup from senior guard Joey Niesman (Oswego, Ill.) and a mid-range jumper from senior forward Hayden Meakes (Adelaide, Australia) put the Bearcats back ahead with 2:18. However, the Flyers would enact on an 8-2 run in the final minutes to sneak out with a 69-64 victory. Niesman led McKendree with 16 points on 5-for-12 shooting along with a perfect 5-for-5 from the free throw line as he grabbed a career-high 12 rebounds to go with a pair of assists and steals. Stein had 14 points in going 2-for-5 from three plus six assists, four rebounds, and a block and a steal. Woods and Meakes each finished with nine points as the former went 3-for-6 from beyond the arc as the latter was 2-for-7 from distance. 

Against the University of Indianapolis on Saturday, it was a three-point barrage in the first half of play as McKendree sunk seven shots from beyond the arc. Woods contributed on three of them while the other four were from other various members of the Bearcat squad as McKendree would be up 40-37 at the half. Stein and Whitaker would begin the second half keeping the team hot from distance as junior forward Noah Franklin (Cobden, Ill.) threw down a two-handed slam to go up three with under 10 minutes in regulation. The Greyhounds were able to keep it close in going on a few runs at the Bearcats, as on the other end, Niesman nailed a step-back three-pointer to hold a one-point lead. However, UIndy would get the best of them down the final stretch to win 76-72. Stein led McKendree in scoring with 16 points on 5-for-10 shooting and 3-for-7 from three to go with a trio of assists and rebounds. Woods followed with 15 points, all of which came in the first half, as he shot 6-for-10 from the field and 3-for-5 from distance while dishing out a pair of assists. Sophomore guard Luka Mateski (Belgrade, Serbia) rounded out the team's double-digit scoring with 11 points with seven of them coming from the free throw line as he corralled three rebounds. After grabbing a career-high 12 rebounds in the last outing versus Lewis University, Niesman followed up with nine boards along with seven points. 

Stein and Niesman lead the team in scoring with 15.3 and 12.6 points per game respectively. The former's points per contest ranks 14th in the entire GLVC to go along with a 12th-best 45.2 field goal percentage. Stein also holds steady in the top five in his facilitating abilities with his assists per game (5th – 4.0), total assists (5th – 92), and assist-to-turnover ratio (4th – 2.14). Niesman still remains one of the better on-ball defenders in the conference, where he picks away 1.6 steals a game (5th in the GLVC) and totaling him at 36 (6th). Niesman's 4.8 rebounds a contest also comes in at 10th in the GLVC. 

Keeping tabs on Stein, he is one of four Bearcats to play in all 23 contests thus far into the season. Within those 23 matchups, he has scored in double figures in 18, grabbed 3+ rebounds in 16, 3+ assists in 18, and shot 40% or better from the field in 17. 

Woods is a constant three-point threat for opposing teams as he has made at least one three-point field goal in his last 12 outings. He has knocked down 3+ treys in a game eight times this season to put him at 41-for-89 (46.1%) shooting from beyond the arc. Albeit his 1.78 makes per game does not meet the NCAA leaderboard requirements. 

The team overall is ranked in the top-five within the conference in several statistical categories, including three-point makes per game (2nd – 9.6), fewest turnovers per game (3rd – 10.3), three-point percentage (4th – 37.4%), and bench points per game (5th – 21.0). 

SCOUTING THE OPPOSITION

Quincy University | Thursday, February 20th, 7:30 PM CT 

    Last Matchup: W, 77-68 on 2/8/2024 | RECAP | BOX SCORE 

Quincy has not found their groove as of late, losing eight straight since defeating the University of Missouri-St. Louis on January 20th. They now stand at 8-16 overall with a 3-13 posting in the GLVC slate. 

The Hawks have three double-digit scorers in junior guard El Sieger with 12.5 points a game, followed by freshman guard Max Booher and junior guard Ethyn Brown at 12.1 and 11.1 respectively. Brown is a 7th GLVC-best in assisting with 3.3 a game on a 1.47 assist-to-turnover ratio. Booher meanwhile makes 2.4 threes a contest, which is good for 10th in the conference. 

The Quincy program as a whole is best in the conference in fast break points with 12.1 a night. They are also placed in the top-five in the GLVC in bench points per game (2nd – 26.8), steals per game (3rd – 7.4), turnovers forced per game (3rd – 13.04), assists per game (4th – 14.3), and offensive rebounds per game (5th – 10.0). 

Upper Iowa University | Saturday, February 22nd, 3:00 PM CT 

    Last Matchup: W, 81-80 on 2/3/2024 | RECAP | BOX SCORE 

Upper Iowa has had a great season thus far, sitting at 17-8 overall and 11-6 in conference play. They split their time in St. Louis recently, beating Maryville University by nine on Thursday before falling by three to UMSL on Saturday. The Peacocks will take on the University of Illinois Springfield this coming Thursday before hosting McKendree. 

The Peacocks obtain the GLVC's leading scorer in graduate forward Nick Reid, who averages an abundant 23.5 points per game, which is good for 10th in the entire nation as his 565 total points place 7th in the country. Junior guard Noah King and sophomore forward Kyle Hrncir follow suit in the team's leading scoring with 15.9 and 11.7 respectively. 

Reid makes the most three-pointers by anybody in the conference with 3.1 a game as he and Hrncir are both top-five in the GLVC in rebounding with 8.5 and 7.4 respectively. Another player to watch out for is graduate forward Caleb Delzell, who is a paint guardian, averaging the second-best in the GLVC with 1.8 blocks a night, which is ranked 25th in the nation. 

The Upper Iowa team is dominant in almost every category imaginable, as they are in the top-two in the conference in blocks per game (1st – 4.2), offensive rebounds per game (1st – 13.0), total rebounds per game (1st – 41.0), three-point attempts per game (1st – 28.6), three-point percentage defense (1st – 30.1%), assist-to-turnover ratio (2nd – 1.37), fewest fouls per game (2nd – 15.3), defensive rebounds per game (2nd – 28.0), scoring offense (2nd – 83.9 ppg), and turnovers forced per game (2nd – 13.1). 

TUNE IN-FO

at Quincy University 

WATCH: Click HERE ($ – GLVC Sports Network) 

LIVE STATS: Click HERE 

HISTORY: Click HERE 

TEAM ROSTERS: [McKendree] [Quincy] 

TEAM SCHEDULES: [McKendree] [Quincy] 

TEAM STATISTICS: [McKendree] [Quincy] 

at Upper Iowa University 

WATCH: Click HERE ($ – GLVC Sports Network) 

LIVE STATS: Click HERE 

HISTORY: Click HERE 

TEAM ROSTERS: [McKendree] [Upper Iowa] 

TEAM SCHEDULES: [McKendree] [Upper Iowa] 

TEAM STATISTICS: [McKendree] [Upper Iowa] 

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