ST. LOUIS – The 11th ranked University of Missouri-St. Louis men's basketball team begins a pivotal three-game stretch on Thursday as it travels to McKendree for a 7:30 p.m. contest. The road trip continues Saturday afternoon at Indianapolis and concludes at Lewis next Monday (Jan. 16) afternoon.

The Tritons (13-1, 5-1 GLVC) bounced back from its first loss of the season at Rockhurst last Thursday with an 88-81 win over Maryville on Saturday afternoon at the Mark Twain Building. Donovan Vickers scored a career-high 24 points off the bench to lead UMSL while Bowen Sandquist knocked down seven three-pointers to finish with 21 points.

The Tritons dropped to 11th in this week's National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) Coaches Poll and are joined by Indianapolis who checks in at No. 24 this week as the only teams from the Great Lakes Valley Conference that are ranked.

Isaiah Fuller continues to lead the team in scoring and rebounding with 13.9 points and 3.8 rebounds per outing. Sandquist is averaging nearly 12 points per game and is one of the top three-point shooters in the GLVC at 49.5 percent. Victor Nwagbaraocha is adding 10.1 points per contest. Vickers leads the team with 56 assists and 24 steals.

About McKendree – The Bearcats enter Thursday's contest with a record of 6-7, 2-4 in the GLVC and have lost two straight. They were edged at Drury 75-73 last Thursday and then dropped a 94-77 contest at Missouri S&T on Saturday afternoon.

McKendree is led in scoring by Milos Vicentic with 15.8 points per game while Bryson Bultman is averaging 15.2 points per outing and leads the team with 7.0 rebounds per game. Eric Powell II is contributing 14.3 points per contest. Bultman also leads the Bearcats with 74 assists and 17 steals.

About Indianapolis – The Greyhounds enter Thursday's contest against Missouri S&T with a record of 12-2, 4-2 GLVC and have won six straight. They are coming off an 89-76 win at Drury last Saturday afternoon. Jesse Bingham led four Hounds in double figures with 23 points while Bruno Williams added 22 points, Kendrick Tchoua dropped home 17 and David Ejah had 11 points off the bench.

Bingham leads the team in scoring with 16.1 points per contest, assists with 39 and blocked shots 14. Tchoua is averaging 12.6 points and 7.6 rebounds per game and leads the conference in field goal percentage at 72.2 percent. Jakobie Robinson leads the squad with 17 steals.

About Lewis – The Flyers (5-8, 1-5 GLVC) begin a three-game homestand against Drury on Thursday and are coming off a 77-65 loss at Southwest Baptist last Saturday afternoon. Beau Frericks led Lewis with 14 points in the contest while Devon Vanderheydt added 13 off the bench.

Frericks and Jamere Hill lead the team in scoring at 14.7 and 12.3 points per game respectively. Atakan Sahinkaya leads the team in rebounding with 5.5 per contest while Hill leads the squad in assists with 36 and steals with 24.

Series History – Thursday's game marks the 30th meeting all-time between the Tritons and Bearcats with UMSL having won 21 of the previous 29 contests. UMSL won the lone meeting last season 72-49 on Feb. 26 at the Mark Twain Building.

Saturday's game is the 36th meeting between the Tritons and Greyhounds with UIndy holding a 25-10 advantage. UMSL won both meetings a year ago defeating the Hounds 63-55 in Indianapolis and 66-56 in the GLVC Championship game at SIU Edwardsville on March 6.

Lewis leads the all-time series against the Tritons 22-11 but UMSL has won the last four meetings including a 63-60 decision earlier this season on Dec. 10 at the Mark Twain Building as Mayson Quartlebaum scored on a conventional three-point play in the final seconds to break a 60-all tie.