ST. LOUIS – The University of Missouri-St. Louis men's basketball team heads to North Canton, Ohio this weekend to open its 2022-23 season in the GLVC/GMAC Challenge hosted by Walsh University.
The Tritons will take on the host Cavaliers this Friday at 4:30 p.m. (CST) at Alumni Arena and then will play Tiffin on Saturday afternoon at 12 p.m. (CST).
UMSL was picked to finish seventh in the GLVC Preseason Poll receiving 87 points and are coming off a 26-7 season that saw them advance to the Midwest Regional Final and win its first GLVC Championship since joining the conference.
The Tritons return two players off last year's squad in
Isaiah Fuller and
Trever Moore. Fuller appeared in 33 games with seven starts and averaged 6.2 points per game while Moore played in 32 games with five starts and averaged 5.1 points per outing.
UMSL and Walsh meet twice last season with the Tritons defeating the Cavaliers 80-76 in the season opener at the Mark Twain Building and then the two teams met again in the Midwest Regional semifinals with UMSL, seeded fifth, winning by a score of 87-58 over the top seeded team in the region.
UMSL lost to Saint Louis University 81-58 in its lone exhibition contest on Oct. 24. Fuller led the Tritons with 12 points in the contest while
Bowen Sandquist and
Donovan Vickers finished with 11 and 10 points off the bench respectively. Vickers and
Dylan West had five rebounds each in that contest.
Walsh looks to repeat as Great Midwest Athletic Conference champions after being picked to win the GMAC in the league's preseason poll. The Cavaliers are also ranked 20th in the National Association of Basketball Coaches Preseason Top 25 Poll.
Walsh lost Darryl Straughter and Caleb Canter, but do return several key players. Garrison Keesler was a First Team All-GMAC selection last season after averaging 13.7 points per game while ranking second in the conference in assists with 4.9 per outing and was third in rebounding with 223 total rebounds. Also returning is forward Tim Smith Jr., who averaged 12 points per contest for the Cavaliers.
Tiffin was picked to finish ninth in the GMAC Preseason Poll and is coming off a 10-18 season in 2021-22 which included a 5-15 mark in GMAC play. The Dragons return three standouts from last season including leading scorer Morgan Taylor who averaged 12.8 points, 3.8 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 1.0 steal per game while shooting 33.3 percent from three. Trent Williams and Wesley Jordan contributed 11.3 and 10.4 points per contest respectively.
Tiffin kept pace but ultimately fell in an exhibition contest at Butler 75-65 on Oct. 29. Jordan led the Dragons with 12 points while Williams and Joshua Rivers added 10 points apiece.
UMSL beat the Dragons 87-77 last season at the Mark Twain Building.
