LEBANON, Ill. – The RV men's basketball team will look to take on a pair of St. Louis foes in the friendly confines of the Harry M. Statham Sports Center with the University of Missouri-St. Louis on Thursday, January 29th at 7:30 PM CT, and followed by Maryville University on Saturday, January 31st at 3:00 PM CT. 

Fans can watch both games live or on-demand on the Bearcats' GLVC Sports Network with a subscription/download purchase required. Live stats will also be made available to view online. Tickets can also be purchased online at mckbearcats.com. 

[Missouri-St. Louis] [Maryville] 

SCOUTING THE LAST OUTINGS 

The RV men's basketball team made a huge impression last week in the Show-Me state of Missouri, as they took down their second ranked opponent of the season by defeating No.9 Missouri S&T in Rolla, while also taking down the reigning GLVC tournament champion Lincoln University in a snowy and freezing Jefferson City, as the road sweep moved the team to 15-4 overall and 8- in conference play. It is the program's quickest 15 win in any season within their NCAA Division II era. 

At Missouri S&T, sophomore Rini Harris (O'Fallon, Ill.) was the offensive catalyst for the hungry Bearcat squad, who were approaching their second ranked opponent of the season, as the guard swatted the Miner layup off the backboard with force, which led to him driving into offensive territory and sliding in a lay-in for himself. The following possession for his team allowed Harris to knock down a three-pointer from the top of the key to go up 5-0 in the early goings. After the miners got themselves going with a 16-6 run to take their first lead, McKendree could not miss at all from the field, as sophomore forward Joshua Schönbäck (Kierling, Austria) drilled the corner three-ball and followed up on his own miss on the next offensive possession to answer Missouri S&T with a monumental 18-3 run over the course of four and a half minutes of action. Fifth-year forward Noah Franklin (Cobden, Ill.) would keep the separation from the two teams by scoring seven of the last 11 points for his squad, as they headed into the extended break up 44-39. It would take a good minute for the two sides to generate some consistent offense, especially for the Miners, who did not get their first field goal of the second half of play until 5:25 into the action, to where McKendree utilized into a 13-5 run and gave themselves a +13 advantage after Moore and sophomore forward Wyatt Zellers (Scottsburg, Ind.) continued the hot streak for the Bearcats from beyond the arc. With Missouri S&T repeatedly trying to claw themselves back to a one-possession game, Burton would not let that happen, as the senior player answered the bell each time by hitting the clutch three-point shot, along with a couple of freebies to give him eight points in the second half alone as Franklin threw down a tomahawk slam on a breakaway to seal the win in the hostile road environment, beating the Miners 70-59. Harris led the Bearcats with 20 points on an efficient 8-for-12 (66.7%) shooting while also stuffing the stat sheet with eight rebounds, four assists, two steals, and three blocks.  Freshman guard Andrew Moore (Montgomery County, Mo.) also showed his presence throughout the night with 13 points, seven boards, a trio of assists, and one steal and blocked shot. Franklin came up monstrous inside, finishing with a double-double of 12 points and 10 rebounds, plus an assist. Burton notched a McKendree-high 11 points without missing a single shot while going 3-for-3 from the floor (and three-point range) and 2-for-2 from the charity stripe.  

At Lincoln, the outside weather did not affect the tempo of the Bearcats to start this matchup, as the team succeeded on six of their first eight shot attempts to open the gates with a 16-3 run, with the home Blue Tigers only getting one field goal to drop in. Franklin and Harris both sank the three-ball on back-to-back possessions, whereas redshirt junior Justin King (Mascoutah, Ill.) was able to drive it in on a fastbreak stampede and was found in the corner a minute later to knock down the three-point shot. After Lincoln went on a 9-0 spurt to claw their way back, sophomore forward Joshua Schönbäck (Kierling, Austria) knocked down the trey from the opposite corner to give McKendree the nine-point edge, until the Blue Tigers made do on a couple of made free throws to give the Bearcats a 27-20 lead heading into halftime. After two whole minutes without a bucket to open up half number two, the Bearcats went to put up eight consecutive points to extend their lead to 13. At around the midway point of the half, and after Lincoln got back to within single digits, Woods would make another triple as Moore pounded his way inside for the close layup. Back-to-back lay-ins from Harris and a third three-point shot by Woods all but clinched the victory against the Blue Tigers, as the home team kept chipping away down the final stretch. Yet, McKendree would convert at the line and sink seven of their eight free throws in crunch time to seal away the 60-48 road win. Woods would be the only Bearcat to nab double-digit points, as the senior finished with 22 points on 7-for-14 (50.0%) shooting from the floor and 3-for-6 (50.0%) from deep to go with five rebounds, an assist, and three steals. Franklin, Harris, King, and Schönbäck each contributed seven points on the day and combined for 18 rebounds and four assists. 

HISTORY SHOWCASE 

Against Missouri-St. Louis, this will be the 21st meeting as a member of NCAA Division II, with their 22nd overall matchup since the 2011-12 season. McKendree stole the last outing in St. Louis after overcoming a 15-point deficit in the second half to win 68-66. The Tritons have a 13-8 lead in the series, but the Bearcats have won four of the last six outings, with only one matchup taking place in Lebanon within that span (UMSL won 81-69). 

Against Maryville, it will be the 20th meeting as a Division II member, and the 22nd since the 2005-06 season. With this being the second matchup between the two schools this season alone, McKendree has now won three straight against the Saints and six of the last seven matchups. Maryville currently holds the 11-10 edge in the series. 

KNOW THE FOES 

The Tritons were picked to finish third in this year's GLVC Preseason Coaches Poll, to which McKendree has already beaten the top two in the rankings just last weekend (Missouri S&T and Lincoln). UMSL is coming off two straight wins in their three-game homestand by besting Maryville and Lincoln after falling to Missouri S&T. The Tritons hold a 12-8 overall record with a 6-5 mark in GLVC play. 

The Saints have struggled quite a bit this season as they have won only two of their first 20 games this season with yet to pick up a conference win, sitting at 0-12 in that department. Maryville has lost nine straight and 14 of their last 15 as both of their victories have come on their own court in St. Louis. The Saints, who were picked to finish 14th in the GLVC this year, has a –20.1 scoring margin average. 

DEFENSE IS ON THE DOT 

As of Tuesday, January 27th, the Bearcats are second-ranked in all of NCAA Division II in field goal percentage defense, allowing only 36.8% of opponents' shots to go in. That is 4.4% greater than the next-best GLVC team in the rankings, which happens to be Missouri S&T at 37th with a 41.2 percentage. 

McKendree is also holding firm in scoring defense as well, being 4th in the entire division and allowing only 60.9 points per game in 19 contests so far. It is 5.8 points better than the next GLVC team, William Jewell (27th – 66.7). 

PLAY WELL AND YOU SHALL RECEIVE 

McKendree this week, has shown up once again on the national scale within the NABC Coaches Poll, by receiving votes (20 total points). 

It is the fifth consecutive week the team made an appearance in the rankings, which is conducted by 16 members of the NABC, with two representing each of the eight NCAA Division II regions. It is also the sixth time overall this season that the Bearcats were listed. Should McKendree win out this weekend, they might have a chance to appear in the top 25 for the first time ever. 

THE NUMBER TO KNOW 

When McKendree converts on 50.0% or better on their field goal attempts, they are all but guaranteed to win the match, as the Bearcats are a perfect 7-0 when they cross that threshold so far this season. 

All their losses have come when going under 50.0%, however, they have eight wins on that side of the mark, making it double to the amount of setbacks they have. 

Interesting too, that the lowest McKendree has ever shot all season was 36.7% on December 4th at Illinois Springfield. 

NCAA'S TOP 100 (as of 1/27/26) 

McKENDREE 

Team: 

• Effective field goal percentage (69th – 53.6%) 
• Field goal percentage (59th – 47.3%) 
• Field goal percentage defense (2nd – 36.8%) 
• Rebounding margin (47th  +5.3) 
• Defensive rebounds per game (25th – 27.9) 
• Scoring defense (4th – 60.9) 
• Scoring margin (33rd  – +10.8) 
• Three-point percentage defense (46th – 30.5%) 
• Turnover per game (66th – 11.7) 
• Winning percentage (29th – 78.9%) 

Individual: 

• Rini Harris –– field goal percentage (83rd – 51.9%) 

MISSOURI-ST. LOUIS 

Team: 

• Assist-to-turnover ratio (75th – 1.2) 
• Assists per game (55th – 16.1) 
• Bench points per game (82nd – 26.6) 
• Effective field goal percentage (28th – 55.6%) 
• Field goal percentage (46th – 48.1%) 
• Free throw percentage (93rd – 73.6%) 
• Rebounding margin (87th – +3.3) 
• Scoring defense (31st – 67.4) 
• Scoring margin (50th – +9.0) 
• Steals per game (60th – 8.7) 
• Three-point percentage (20th – 38.4%) 
• Three-pointers per game (90th – 8.6) 
• Turnover margin – (96th – +1.0) 
• Turnovers forced per game (97th – 14.1) 

Individual: 

• Miles Boland –– assist-to-turnover ratio (51st – 2.3), total assists (39th – 90), assists per game (46th – 4.7) 

MARYVILLE 

Team: 

• Offensive rebounds per game (55th – 12.9) 
• Three-point attempts per game (72nd – 25.7) 

Individual: 

• Kobe Clark –– total assists (86th – 74th), total rebounds (15th – 178) defensive rebounds per game (38th – 6.2), offensive rebounds per game (72nd – 2.7), total rebounds per game (30th – 8.9), total steals (59th – 36) 
• Henry Sanchez –– field goal attempts (85th – 241), three-point attempts (28th – 140), total three-pointers made (66th – 48) 

LOOKING AHEAD 

After the Bearcats battle the two St. Louis schools on their home floor, the team will remain in Lebanon for one more game in a short slate next week, as they will host the University of Illinois Springfield for McKendree's Sports Hall of Fame Day on Saturday, February 7th at the Harry M. Statham Sports Center with tip-off set for 3:00 PM CT. 

The contest will be streamed live and on-demand on the Bearcats' GLVC Sports Network via a subscription/download purchase, as live stats will also be available for fans to tune in. Ticket information can be found at mckbearcats.com. 

TUNE IN-FO 

DATE	TIME (CT)	HOME TEAM	AWAY TEAM	LIVE STATS	WATCH LIVE
1/29/26	7:30 PM	McKendree	Missouri-St. Louis	STATS	WATCH ($)
1/31/26	3:00 PM	McKendree	Maryville	STATS	WATCH ($)

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