Game Notes (PDF)

Date: January 6, 2021
Time: 7:30 PM
Location: Bolivar, MO 

Bolivar, Mo. - Southwest Baptist (4-1, 4-1 GLVC) continues this new year home stretch with a matchup against the University of Indianapolis. The teams met twice last year, including the first round of the GLVC tournament. This marks the first meeting between the teams in the 2020-21 season.

SCOUTING THE BEARCATS
SBU opened the season 1-1, defeating Missouri S&T and falling to nationally ranked Missouri-St. Louis on the road. In their home opener against Rockhurst, Mitch Ganote had a near triple-double which led the Bearcats to a 91-83 victory. SBU defeated William Jewell 89-71 on the road just before the break. The Bearcats opened 2021 with a solid 87-73 victory over former MIAA foe Lindenwood. Quinn Nelson was one rebound shy of a double-double, and Brady Smith scored 20 points in the win. In the most recent national poll, SBU received 10 votes, one of five teams recognized in these rankings. SBU leads the conference in scoring margin (+9.2) and field goal percentage (51.4%). They rank 2nd in scoring offense (83.2 ppg) and field goal percentage defense (40.5%). Brady Smith leads the team in scoring, averaging 18.2 points per game. Tyler Williams rank 3rd in the GLVC in field goal percentage, shooting 64.0% from the field. Mitch Ganote follows closely with 62.5% from the field.

The Bearcats are coming off their best season in program history since 2009-10. Last year, the Bearcats finished 20-9 (13-7 GLVC). In the regular season rankings, the Bearcats finished fourth out of the sixteen GLVC teams. They upset #12 Southern Indiana and #1 Bellarmine both on the road, and defeated Drury at home for the first time in eight years. Eight players return from last year's roster. Second team All-GLVC honoree Brady Smith returns for his senior campaign. Two other starters from last season also return in juniors Quinn Nelson and Joe Miller. Sophomore Mitch Ganote was SBU's sixth man last season, and will play quite a bit during the 2020-21 season. The Bearcats will see several other new faces make an impact as well.

SCOUTING THE GREYHOUNDS
The Indianapolis Greyhounds (Indianapolis, Ind.) enter Wednesday's matchup with an 0-5 record. UINDY began the season with three straight losses, then had to postpone their contest with Southern Indiana due to COVID protocols. The Cardinals of William Jewell upset UINDY in a 69-70 decision to kick off the season. Truman State then came to town, defeating the Greyhounds 66-64. Lewis handed UINDY their third straight loss on December 15, 64-77. The Greyhounds come to Bolivar after playing back-to-back nights against Quincy and McKendree on January 3 and 4. Those contests resulted in losses as well, 73-83 and 74-88. Cory Miller Jr. leads the team in scoring, averaging 16.2 points per game. Kendrick Tchoua leads the team in rebounding, bringing down 7.5 per game.

THE COACHES
SBU head coach Clark Sheehy begins his seventh season on the SBU bench after compiling an 82-92 (45-73 conf.) record while at SBU. Coach Sheehy holds a career coaching record of 264-198 across fifteen seasons while coaching six different All-Americans and over 40 athletes that have moved on to play professional basketball.

Paul Corsaro is in his first year as the head coach of the Greyhounds. Corsaro is very familiar with UINDY, spending 6 years on the bench as an assistant coach, and was a two-sport Greyhound athlete. Most recently, Corsaro spent 2 seasons as the Fort Wanye assistant.

ALL-TIME SERIES
The Bearcats trail the all-time series 1-4. In the two meetings last year, Indianapolis claimed both victories, defeating the Bearcats 79-97 during the regular season and 68-80 in the first round of the GLVC tournament.