Game Notes (PDF)

Date: February 20, 2021
Time: 3:00 PM
Location: Bolivar, MO

Bolivar, Mo. - The Bearcats (13-5) will play host to the University of Illinois Springfield Prairie Stars (7-11) in their last home game of the 2020-21 regular season. Tip-off for the senior day game is at 3:00 PM.

SCOUTING THE BEARCATS
Southwest Baptist is coming off an exciting 64-63 win over Lewis, scoring the go-ahead basket with 7 seconds left. They have won two in a row and are now 13-5 on the year with 3 games to play. In the PRS standings, SBU holds the 4th place spot with a 3.69 rating. Once again, the Bearcats received votes in the latest coaches poll.

SBU leads the GLVC in field goal % defense, holding opponents to 40.2%. They rank 2nd in rebounding margin (+6.3), scoring margin (+8.3), and scoring defense (68.8 ppg). Ranking 3rd is their field goal % at 47.3%. Individually, Quinn Nelson (16.0 ppg) and Brady Smith (14.9 ppg) rank 10th and 13th in the scoring category. Smith and Mitch Ganote are the best rebounders on the team, averaging 5.8 and 5.3 respectively. All three are top 15 in field goal %, Ganote at 54.9% (5th), Nelson at 51.4% (12th), and Smith at 51.1% (13th). Ganote also leads the team in assists at 4.06 per game, 7th most in the GLVC. Nelson now has the third-most three's made in SBU history at 183, 6 away from tying the second most.

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 PRAIRIE STARS
The Illinois Springfield Prairie Stars (Springfield, Ill.) enter Saturday's matchup at 7-11 on the year. They began the season with an 89-82 victory over Quincy before losing their next two at Rockhurst and against Maryville. Several big wins include beating Lewis twice, Lindenwood, and McKendree by 23. Most recently, UIS has lost four in a row to Quincy, Truman State, William Jewell, and McKendree on Thursday. They only scored 42 points in that contest, shooting 16-48 from the field and 5-24 from three. In most of the GLVC categories, the team ranks middle-to-lower amongst the 15 teams. However, they have the 9th and 15th best scorers in Chase Robinson (17.2 ppg) and Keymonta Johnson (14.4 ppg). Johnson also leads the team in rebounding with 8.1 per game, 4th best in the GLVC. The 6'8" 215 pound freshman in Jack Weber leads the conference in field goal percentage, making 102-158 from the field (64.6%).

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.

Matt Brock is in just his second season with the Prairie Stars, leading them to a 14-14 record last season and upsetting 3 nationally ranked teams. Previously, Brock served as the head coach of Missouri Baptist with a four year record of 87-40 during his time there.

ALL-TIME SERIES
The Bearcats lead the all-time series 1-0. The lone game of this series was played in Bolivar last year, resulting in an 88-82 victory for the Bearcats. Quinn Nelson was 6-8 from the field with 20 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists, and 2 steals. Brady Smith was also a large contributor, adding 18 points, 6 rebounds, and 6 assists.