SETTING THE SCENE
UMSL continues play in the 2015 Great Lakes Valley Conference Tournament on Thursday in one of four quarterfinal round games. The Tritons, the field's No. 7/8 seed, defeated No. 9 seed Missouri S&T last Sunday, 80-68, to advance in the tournament. UMSL will face No. 2 seed and West Division champion Drury at 6 p.m. at the Family Arena in St. Charles, Mo. The winner advances to Saturday's semifinals against the winner of the No. 6 seed Truman State and No. 3 seed UW-Parkside contest.   

UMSL IN THE GLVC TOURNAMENT
UMSL is 3-9 in GLVC Tournament games and playing in its second straight quarterfinal round game and just its third overall since the field expanded to 12 teams from eight in 2009-10.

UMSL and Drury have met just once in the GLVC Tournament with the Tritons posting a 71-60 victory in the 2012 quarterfinals.

THE REST OF THE GLVC TOURNAMENT FIELD
Other quarterfinal round games include No. 1 Bellarmine vs. No. 8 Maryville (12 p.m.), No. 4 Indianapolis vs. No. 5 Lewis (2:30 p.m.) and No. 3 UW-Parkside vs. No. 2 Truman State (8:30 p.m.).

EARLIER THIS SEASON VS. DRURY
UMSL saw a 22-point second half lead erased by Drury as the Panthers rallied back for an 80-76 overtime win on January 22 to move into first place in the West Division standings. The Tritons owned a 38-22 halftime lead behind 53.8 percent first half shooting and opened the second half with a 6-0 run, taking their largest lead of the game at 44-22 with 16:39 to play. However, the rest of the game belonged to Drury, who didn't even net its first field goal of the second half until the 14:43 mark. The Panthers were led by Kameron Bundy's game-high 28 points, all of which came in the second half, while senior Tylor Wimbish led the Tritons with 18 points.

SIZING UP THE TRITONS
UMSL punched its ticket to the GLVC Tournament Quarterfinals with an 80-68 win over William Jewell in a first round game at home last Sunday as seniors Aareon Smith (26 points, 13 rebounds) and Tylor Wimbish (19 points, 11 rebounds) each recorded a double-double. The Tritons shot 50 percent in the victory, including 53.8 percent in the second half in which they outscored the Cardinals, 40-27, to overcome a 41-40 halftime deficit.

UMSL improved to 19-10 overall with the win and notched 19 wins for the first time since 2011-12 (19-9) and just the second time since the 1990-91 team went 22-6.

AN UMSL WIN OVER DRURY WOULD...
... be the Tritons' fourth-ever GLVC Tournament win.
... send the Tritons to the GLVC Tournament Semifinals for the second time in program history.
... snap a four-game losing streak to Drury.
... be the Tritons' 20th win, a program first since 1990-91.

STATISTICALLY SPEAKING
Senior Aareon Smith averages team-bests of 17.5 points and 9.6 rebounds per game, which included 18.4 points and 9.9 rebounds per game in GLVC play. Senior Tylor Wimbish follows with 13.3 points and 5.8 rebounds per game, while freshman Max Cook leads the squad with 2.7 assists per game. Junior Brandon Marquardt owns team-highs of 25 steals and 52 three-pointers made, while junior Kevin Swanson is shooting 53.1 percent from the field and has a team-best 17 blocks.

HIGH SCORING SMITH
Senior Aareon Smith has scored at least 26 points in each of his last four outings, including a career-high and GLVC second-best single game 38 points at Truman State on Feb. 21, and is averaging 29.5 points per game during that stretch. He has 508 points this season, which is 10th on the single season charts and is the most by an UMSL player in a season since Jonathan Griffin tallied 538 points during the 2004-05 campaign.

AT THE CHARITY STRIPE
- Aareon Smith is averaging 7.9 trips to the free throw line per game, where he is 188-of-229 (.821).
- He ranks sixth in NCAA DII in free throws made and eighth in free throws attempted.
- His 188 free throws made this season and his 229 attempts are third on the single season charts.
- Smith is fourth in program history with 361 career made free throws and is sixth with 470 free throws attempted. His career average at the charity stripe of 76.8 ranks ninth all-time.

REBOUND THAT BASKETBALL
Aareon Smith ranks  ninth all-time in career rebounds with 643, while his 277 this season puts him sixth on the single season charts.

FROM THREE-POINT RANGE
- The Tritons have netted 244 three-pointers, an average of 8.4 per game, which is fourth in the GLVC.
- The 244 three-pointers is a new single season record, betting the previous mark of 228, set in 2012-13.
- UMSL is shooting a league-best 39.9 percent from long range, which ranks 25th in NCAA II.
- UMSL has netted double-figure three-pointers 11 different times this season, which ties the most in a season.
- Six different players have made at least 20 three-pointers this season.

FRESHMAN ORIENTATION
Freshman Max Cook is the only true freshman to see playing time this season, averaging 18.5 minutes per game and earning a start in each of the last five games. He is second on the team in assists (2.7 apg) and is coming off back-to-back career-highs, including nine in the GLVC Tournament First Round game victory over William Jewell. Cook also has just 15 turnovers this season for an assist-turnover ratio of 5.3.

SCOUTING THE OPPONENTS
Drury is 18-8 overall and finished GLVC play with a West Division-best record of 12-6 to garner the regular season title. The Panthers won their final two regular season games to snap a three-game losing streak. Kameron Bundy (16.8 ppg, 3.6 apg, 58 three-point field goals) and Cameron Adams (16.4 ppg, 5.9 rpg, .649 field goal percentage) provide the one-two punch for the Panthers, which lead the GLVC in three-point field goal percentage defense (.326)

SERIES HISTORY
Drury holds a 17-7 advantage in the all-time series and have won four straight in the series.