INDIANAPOLIS – The University of Missouri-St. Louis men's basketball team will meet McKendree in the Midwest Regional Championship on Tuesday evening at Nicoson Hall on the campus of the University of Indianapolis at 6 p.m. (CDT). The Tritons (23-10) are making their second consecutive appearance in the Regional Final while the Bearcats (20-12) are appearing in their first NCAA Tournament since reclassifying from the NAIA in 2012.

UMSL advanced to the final defeating seventh seeded Parkside 85-60 on Saturday afternoon behind 26 points from Isaiah Fuller and 17 more from Victor Nwagbaraocha. Saturday's quarterfinal was tied at 48 all with 15 minutes remaining in the game when the Tritons went on a 25-5 run over the next 10 minutes to cruise to the victory.

UMSL jumped out to an early nine-point lead in its semifinal contest against sixth seeded Ferris State on Sunday evening but the Bulldogs rallied for a 39-37 lead at the break. Like Saturday's contest, the start of the second half went back-and-forth before the Tritons began to pull away taking a nine-point advantage. FSU got as close as six at 62-58 with 7:41 remaining in the contest but UMSL pulled away over the final seven minutes closing the game on a 20-10 run to win 82-68.

Donovan Vickers is leading the Tritons in scoring through the first two games of the regional with 18 points per game while Fuller is adding 17.5 points per contest and Nwagbaraocha and Bowen Sandquist are contributing 14.5 and 13.5 points per outing respectively.

McKendree is one of the hottest teams in the country having won eight straight including two wins over UMSL in the last 17 days. The Bearcats beat the Tritons 78-74 at the Mark Twain Building on Feb. 25 and 62-51 in the GLVC Championship contest eight days ago.

During its winning streak, McKendree is averaging 78.5 points per game while giving up just 65.8 points per contest. UMSL held the Bearcats to their lowest point total during their winning streak last Sunday but McKendree held the Tritons to its lowest point total of the season in the GLVC Championship contest.

The Bearcats road to the final includes wins over top seeded and host UIndy 77-63 in their quarterfinal matchup on Saturday behind 26 points from Milos Vicentic and 17 more from Eric Powell II. The duo teamed up for 55 of McKendree's 93 points in the semifinal win over fifth seeded Northern Michigan on Sunday evening. The Bearcats and Wildcats were tied at 78 with three minutes to play in the contest but McKendree went on a 15-5 run over the final three minutes to grab the 93-83 victory.

Tuesday's matchup is the fourth this season between UMSL and the Bearcats. The Tritons defeated the Bearcats 83-73 back on January 12 in Lebanon.