ST. LOUIS – The University of Missouri-St. Louis men's basketball team looks to bounce back from a tough loss last Saturday as it travels to Rolla to take on Missouri S&T this Thursday at 7:30 p.m. at Gibson Arena. The road trip continues Saturday for the Tritons as they head to Springfield to face Drury at 3 p.m. at the O'Reilly Family Events Center.
Last Time Out – Isaiah Fuller matched his career-high with 31 points, but it wasn't enough in UMSL's 85-77 loss to Rockhurst last Saturday afternoon at the Mark Twain Building. Fuller scored 20 of his 31 points in the second half.
Matt Enright and
Mayson Quartlebaum added 14 and 13 points respectively.
Path to the Postseason – The Tritons enter play this week with a record of 18-5, 10-5 GLVC and are second in the latest GLVC Point Rating System with 3.67 points. UMSL trails Indianapolis by 0.47 points for the top spot but only has a lead of 0.13 points over Rockhurst for third and 0.14 lead over William Jewell for fourth. The PRS determines the eight qualifiers for the GLVC Tournament which will be held March 2-5 at Lindenwood University's Hyland Arena March 2-5. The Tritons are seeking their 14th straight appearance in the conference tournament.
NCAA Regional Rankings – The NCAA will release the first of its three regional rankings next Wednesday (Feb. 15). There will be 10 teams listed in each of the three rankings. The 64 teams that are selected for the NCAA Tournament will be announced during a selection show on Sunday (March 5).
About Missouri S&T – The Miners enter Thursday's game with a record of 13-10, 7-8 GLVC and sit ninth in this week's GLVC PRS. S&T was plagued by cold shooting for the second time in three games in its 86-59 loss to Southwest Baptist last Saturday afternoon at Gibson Arena. Julien Smith leads the team in scoring with 15.6 points per contest. He is joined in double figures by Lovell Williams and Ikenna Okeke with 15.2 and 15.0 points per game respectively. Kaden Froebe is contributing 10.6 points per contest. Okeke leads the team in rebounding with an average of 6.1 per outing.
About Drury – The Panthers enter Thursday's contest against Maryville with a record of 7-15, 3-11 GLVC and have lost four in a row. Drury was defeated 81-73 at Missouri S&T last Thursday. Logan Applegate leads the Panthers in scoring with 12.5 points per contest while Adam Moore is averaging 10.3 points and leads the team in rebounding with 5.6 per game.
Up Next – The Tritons conclude their three-game road trip next Thursday as they take on cross-town rival Maryville at 7:30 p.m. at Moloney Arena.
