EDITOR'S NOTE: With Thursday's GLVC contests results, McKendree holds third-place in the standings (behind Rockhurst) heading into Saturday, while Illinois Springfield leads in first-place.

LEBANON, Ill. – The No.23 men's basketball team will look to battle the current top team in the GLVC standings this Saturday, February 7th, as they host the University of Illinois Springfield for McKendree's Sports Hall of Fame Day at 3:00 PM CT at the Harry M. Statham Sports Center in Lebanon, Illinois. 

All those in attendance are encouraged to WEAR WHITE! 

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. 

[Illinois Springfield] 

SCOUTING THE LAST OUTINGS 

The team kept their momentum going in their return home last week, as they escape the University of Missouri-St. Louis, and beat Maryville University handily to up their win streak to six games, which marks the longest for the program since the 2022-23 season, where they reeled off eight in their last nine contests. 

Against UMSL, defense was the name of the game in the first five and a half minutes for the Bearcats, as they held UMSL to two points, both coming at the charity stripe, as McKendree started out with a pair of tough layups to be up 7-2. Yet, the Tritons were able to respond on a 9-1 run to take their first lead of the night after their forward Demetris Phillips contributed on seven of them. McKendree would swing things back into their favor by scoring eight straight as a response to go up by five with just a little under 10 minutes in the first half of play. In what was mostly pound-for-pound to get buckets,The Bearcats would spread the wealth within the final moments of the half with six different players contributing to their point total as the squad treaded evenly to go into the locker room up narrowly, 38-35. Coming into the second half of play, Woods would catch fire from distance, nailing a trio of three-point shots over a two-minute span to stay on top with a six-point edge. Looking to put away the game for good, a set play by George Suggs on the offensive end found Franklin well beyond the three-point line, to where he would hit nothing but the net to take the two-possession advantage as McKendree would escape on their home floor with an 82-78 victory. Woods led the Bearcat platoon with 21 points on an even 6-for-12 (50.0%) shooting, including a 4-for-8 (50.0%) mark from distance to go with five rebounds and an assist. Franklin followed with 14 points on the board, missing only one shot attempt on the evening with 5-for-6 (83.3%) from the field and a perfect 3-for-3 from the line, plus six boards, a pair of assists and one each of a block and a steal. Freshman guard Andrew Moore (Montgomery County, Mo.) and sophomore guard Rini Harris (O'Fallon, Ill.) each finished the victory with 13 points, as the former had a trio output of rebounds and assists, while the latter corralled nine boards and a trio of dishes. 

Against Maryville, Moore drew first blood in the Saturday afternoon matchup by corralling the offensive rebound off a missed shot as Harris earned his keep from the line, sinking a small handful of free throws. A breakaway driving dunk by redshirt junior guard Justin King (Mascoutah, Ill.) opened up the gates for McKendree, with Woods and sophomore forward Joshua Schönbäck (Kierling, Austria) keeping the pace going from the line and from beyond the arc. Moments later, Schönbäck dumped off a pocket pass to fifth-year forward Noah Franklin (Cobden, Ill.), who would throw it down with two hands, as Schönbäck would too get himself a fastbreak slam, assembling a Maryville timeout up three. A 18-9 run by the Saint Closed the half in their favor 42-38.Coming into half number two, McKendree would waste no time flipping the script, as the home team blazed their way to a 16-5 spurt to recapture the lead with Harris and Moore contributing seven and six points within that span, respectively. With Maryville getting back to within four, the Bearcats would not let up, as the team could not miss on a 16-0 run that saw them sink all four of their field shots, including four coming from long distance. With the Bearcats displaying themselves up by 20 in a matter of seconds, they did not let up at all, as they buried a trio more of three-point shots, two of which came via senior guard Caleb Burton (O'Fallon, Ill.). McKendree's hot second half kept the Saints at bay with finishing off the conference matchup with an 88-71 victory. Moore led all scorers with 21 points on a very efficient 8-for-11 (72.7%) shooting, including a 3-for-5 mark from deep (60.0%), plus six rebounds. Woods also tabbed a 20-point night on 5-for-10 (50.0%) shooting from the floor and three-point range to go with four boards and one each of steal and a block. Harris and Schönbäck rounded out the double-figure scoring for the Bearcats, as the former pulled down nine rebounds and dished out four assists. The latter had 11 on a perfect 3-for-3 scoring with a pair of boards, and collected two assists. 

HISTORY SHOWCASE 

Against Illinois Springfield, this will be the 25th meeting as a member of NCAA Division II, with their 36th overall matchup since the 2005-06 season. The Prairie Stars won the last matchup earlier this season on their home floor [63-58] after McKendree won the previous three straight. The Bearcats have not lost in Lebanon to UIS since February 23rd, 2019 [75-76] as they hold the 18-17 edge in the overall series (12-12 in Division II). 

KNOW THE FOE 

Illinois Springfield is arguably the conference's biggest surprise this season after being picked ninth in this season's GLVC Preseason Coaches Poll, which would have put them outside of making the postseason tournament. The Prairie Stars are sitting at 14-6 overall and have a 10-2 mark in conference play, as the team is riding a four-game win streak and has won seven of their last nine outings. UIS will face off against Maryville University on Thursday prior to their matchup against the Bearcats. 

CONFERENCE CHAOS 

Today's game features two of the top teams in the entire Great Lakes Valley Conference. As of this publishing (2/5/26), Illinois Springfield holds the slight advantage in first place with a 10-2 GLVC record while going 14-6 overall. McKendree, meanwhile, is tied for second [with Rockhurst] with a 10-3 mark in conference play, and is posting a league-best 17-4 overall slate. UIS will take on Maryville in St. Louis prior to Saturday's contest  

Another thing to note is the GLVC's Point Rating System, which is expected to be released Saturday (2/7/26). The PRS is the main qualifying procedure for its annual men's and women's basketball tournaments. 

TOP 25... AND NOT 25 

For the first time ever in its NCAA Division II History (since 2012-13), McKendree has appeared on the national NABC Coaches Poll on Tuesday, as the team was placed at No.23. The Bearcats were knocking on the door for quite a while this season by receiving at least one vote on six prior releases, including the last five straight. 

Missouri S&T is right behind McKendree at No.24, as Rockhurst is receiving votes (11 points) in this week's poll. Illinois Springfield is in neither. 

50 SHADES OF PURPLE & GOLD 

With McKendree's most recent victory against Maryville last Saturday, Head Coach George Suggs has reached the 50-win plateau in GLVC contests, as he is now 50-43 (.538) in conference action. The win also pushed the man in his fifth year at the helm with 80 total wins in his career (all at McKendree), with an 80-56 (.588) overall mark. 

Coach Suggs is currently 4th all-time at McKendree in total wins (80), trailing only Harry M. Statham, James Oldfield, and James Collie. He is also placed 10th in the coaching history in win percentage (.588). 

NCAA'S TOP 100 (as of 2/5/26) 

McKENDREE 

Team: 

• Effective field goal percentage (47th – 54.5%) 
• Field goal percentage (45th – 47.9%) 
• Field goal percentage defense (2nd – 37.0%) 
• Rebounding margin (40th – +5.5) 
• Defensive rebounds per game (19th – 28.2) 
• Scoring defense (6th – 62.2) 
• Scoring margin (32nd – +10.8) 
• Three-point percentage (89th – 34.8%) 
• Three-point percentage defense (62nd – 31.2%) 
• Turnover per game (60th – 11.6) 
• Winning percentage (23rd – 81.0%) 

Individual: 

N/A 

ILLINOIS SPRINGFIELD 

Team: 

• Assist-to-turnover ratio (15th – 1.5) 
• Effective field goal percentage (43rd – 54.7%) 
• Field goal percentage (69th – 47.0) 
• Fouls per game (12th – 14.3) 
• Rebounding margin (66th – 4.1) 
• Scoring defense (80th – 71.5) 
• Scoring margin (55th – 8.1) 
• Scoring offense (99th – 79.6) 
• Three-point percentage (6th – 39.7%) 
• Three-pointers per game (46th – 9.4) 
• Turnovers per game (3rd – 9.6) 
• Winning percentage (58th – 70.0%) 

Individual: 

• Jordan Rice –– assist-to-turnover ratio (19th – 2.6), total assists (28th – 103), assists per game (16th – 5.4), field goal attempts (75th – 272), free throw attempts (61st – 123), free throws made (89th – 87), points per game (89th – 17.7) 
• Alex Stell –– total blocks (94th – 24), blocks per game (84th – 1.3), total rebounds (67th – 163), offensive rebounds per game (9th – 3.8), total rebounds per game (43rd – 8.6) 
• Isaiah Davis –– three-point attempts (26th – 157), three-point percentage (12th – 44.6%), three-pointers per game (3rd – 3.7), total three-pointers (7th – 70) 

LOOKING AHEAD 

After McKendree faces Illinois Springfield on Saturday, they will get back on the road and head north for a pair of second meetings this season. The team will face the University of Indianapolis on Thursday, February 12th at 6:30 PM CT and will take on Lewis University in Romeoville, Illinois on Saturday, February 14th at 3:00 PM CT. 

Both games will be streamed live and on-demand on the respective institutions' GLVC Sports Network via a subscription/download purchase, as live stats will also be available for fans to tune in. Ticket information found on the opposing team's athletic website. 

TUNE IN-FO 

DATE	TIME (CT)	HOME TEAM	AWAY TEAM	LIVE STATS	WATCH LIVE
2/7/26	3:00 PM	McKendree	Illinois Springfield	STATS	WATCH ($)

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