Game Notes (PDF)
Date: February 13, 2021
Time: 3:00 PM
Location: Indianpolis, IN
Bolivar, Mo. - Southwest Baptist (11-5) resumes play after a week of rest, forced to postpone their competition against McKendree earlier this week due to weather. SBU and UINDY (7-9) meet for the second time this season.
SCOUTING THE BEARCATS
After starting the season 11-2, SBU has dropped their past three. It took double overtime and a plethora of threes for Lindenwood to defeat the Bearcats last Saturday. Against UMSL and McKendree, SBU has gotten off to very slow starts, trailing by 18 and 20 in those games. The Bearcats battled back in both of those games, but couldn't complete the comebacks.
The Bearcats now rank 2nd in field goal % defense (40.5%), scoring defense (68.5 ppg), and scoring margin (+8.8). They are averaging 77.2 ppg on offense, 3rd in the GLVC. Quinn Nelson continues to sit in the top10 in scoring, averaging 16.4 ppg. Brady Smith is also averaging 14.8 ppg. Mitch Ganote leads the team in field goal % at 54.2% (5th in GLVC) and assists with 4.19 (6th in GLVC). Quinn Nelson has made 43 three pointers this season, bringing his total to 177 on his career. That ranks him fourth in SBU history. The rebounding category is being led by Brady Smith, hauling in 5.5 rebounds per game, and Mitch Ganote is averaging 5.2. Ganote has the team's only double-doubles on the year (2).
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 Saturday's matchup with a 7-9 record. After starting the season 0-7, the Greyhounds have since gone 7-2, falling only to Truman State and Southern Indiana, both at the top of the GLVC rankings. Their first win of the year came against the USI Screaming Eagles, defeating them 62-61. Several other wins have come by a very narrow margin, including Thursday's 61-60 win over Rockhurst. UINDY is last in the GLVC in scoring offense at 67.8 ppg. Their field goal % defense at 44.5% ranks 5th, but their rebounding margin is second to last at -4.3. Dee Montgomery leads the team in scoring with 14.5 ppg. Cory Miller Jr. and Jesse Bingham are averaging 12.8 and 12.7 ppg respectively. Kendrick Tchoua has the second best field goal %, shooting 62-98 (63.3%) on the season.
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 2-4. 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. Earlier this season, SBU came from behind to defeat the Greyhounds 64-58. The Bearcats trailed by 11 with 10:19 remaining in the game and erased the deficit thanks to their 37-23 second half score.
