SETTING THE SCENE
UMSL opens a four-game road swing on the other side of the state this weekend, traveling to Kansas City to face Rockhurst on Thursday and to Liberty to take on William Jewell on Saturday.
LAST TIME OUT
UMSL went 1-1 last weekend against the top two teams in the GLVC West Division. The Tritons knocked off then co-division leader Quincy, 70-69, last Thursday, rallying from a 14-point second half deficit. Senior
Joseph English scored UMSL's final five points and knocked in two free throws with 1.2 points to play for the win.
The Tritons rallied from a seven-point deficit with 1:14 to play in regulation on Saturday against division leader Truman State to force overtime before falling short, 86-82. Junior
Elijah Watson scored UMSL's eight points in those final 74 seconds, including two free throws with 0.5 seconds remaining to force the extra period.
SIZING UP THE TRITONS
The Tritons are 9-10 overall, including 3-6 in the GLVC, where they sit in fifth place in the West Division standings... UMSL is 4-5 on the road, including 2-3 in the GLVC... the Tritons rank last in the GLVC in scoring offense (69.6 ppg), but are fifth in scoring defense (71.4 ppg)... 11 different players have started at least one game, while eight different players have been the top scorer.
STATISTICALLY SPEAKING
Senior
Hunter Reine and junior
Steven Davis have been the top two scorers all season, both averaging 11.4 points per game.
Reine also averages a team-best 8.3 rebounds and is shooting 61.9 percent from the field. He ranks fourth in the GLVC in rebounding and fifth in shooting percentage. Reine, who also has five double-doubles, has upped his scoring and rebounding production numbers from last season when he averaged 7.9 points and 4.8 rebounds.
82 percent of Davis' scoring comes from beyond the three-point line on a team-best 59 three-pointers. He has made at least one three-pointer in all but one game and has seven games of four or more long balls, including two games of eight three-pointers (at Webster and vs. Truman State), one shy of the program single game record. Davis is shooting 45.7 percent from long range, which ranks 10th in the GLVC. He is third with 3.11 three-pointers per game.
SCOUTING THE OPPONENTS
Rockhurst is 10-7 overall, including 4-5 in the GLVC, and is 9-2 at home, having won six straight there. The Hawks sit in fourth place in the GLVC West Division standings, one game ahead of the Tritons. Rockhurst is second in the GLVC in three-pointers per game (10.18) and are last in rebounding margin (-6.8).
William Jewell enters a Thursday contest against Maryville at 4-12 overall, including 3-4 in the GLVC. The Cardinals are 3-4 at home. They averaged 75.5 points per game and allow 82.6.
THE SERIES
UMSL and Rockhurst have each won 20 games in the series, while the Tritons have won the last four, including a 75-62 decision last season, in St. Louis.
UMSL is 12-6 all-time against William Jewell, having won three of the last four, including a 68-51 verdict in St. Louis a year ago.
UP NEXT
UMSL wraps up the road portion of its schedule next weekend with trips to Illinois Springfield (Thursday) and McKendree (Saturday).
