Game Notes (PDF)

Date: February 6, 2021
Time: 3:00 PM
Location: Bolivar, MO 

Bolivar, Mo. - Saturday's matchup will be the first of back-to-back games against the McKendree Bearcats. SBU enters with an 11-4 record and McKendree comes in with a 5-5 record.

SCOUTING THE SOUTHWEST BAPTIST BEARCATS
For the first time this season, the Bearcats lost back-to-back games. After falling 90-91 to Lindenwood in double overtime, #23 Missouri-St. Louis defeated SBU 71-65 on Thursday. SBU trailed by 18 with under 14 to play and got back within 1, but the Tritons held strong to hand the Bearcats their fourth loss on the season. Lindenwood snapped SBU's second 5-game winning streak of the season.

SBU still leads the conference in field goal % defense, holding their opponents to 40.0%. Their scoring defense (67.9 ppg) is second to Truman State's 67.6 ppg. Also 2nd in the GLVC is SBU's scoring margin at +10.2. The team's scoring offense is 3rd at 78.1 ppg and their field goal % ranks 4th at 47.6%. Quinn Nelson (16.1 ppg) and Brady Smith (15.1 ppg) remain in the top 15 in scoring. Nelson's 53.8% from the field ranks him 10th in the GLVC, with Mitch Ganote a couple spots behind at 53.6% shooting. Ganote's 4.33 assists per game puts him 5th in the conference. In the rebounding category, Brady Smith is averaging 5.7 (15th in the conference).

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 MCKENDREE BEARCATS
The McKendree Bearcats (Lebanon, IL) head into Saturday's matchup with a 5-5 record. After facing several postponements due to COVID, the team finally reached 10 games played after their 69-65 win against Rockhurst on Thursday. That win broke their three-game losing streak which featured a high scoring game against Drury, a 23-point loss to Illinois Springfield, and a close loss to Quincy. Earlier in the year, the Bearcats faced Lewis on back-to-back days, losing the first game, but beating the Flyers by 18 in the second game. All 5 losses have been on the road. Bryson Bultman leads the team in scoring at 16.4 ppg (9th in GLVC) and Brendon Gooch is averaging 15.6 ppg (11th in GLVC). The 6'6" 200 pound senior in Gooch leads the team in rebounding with 8.8 rpg, good for 3rd in the conference.

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.

Chris Foster begins his third year as the leader of the McKendree Bearcats. In his first two years, Foster led the Bearcats to an 18-36 (15-23 GLVC) record. Before coaching at McKendree, Foster spent 4 years as the head coach at Truman State, guiding the Bulldogs to four 20-win seasons.

ALL-TIME SERIES
SBU leads the all-time series 5-2. Prior to last year's meeting, the teams had not met since the 1998-99 season. Last year, SBU defeated McKendree on their home floor 76-68. Brady Smith dropped 22 points along with 8 rebounds 4 assists and 3 blocks. Joe Miller also had 12 points and 8 rebounds, and Quinn Nelson added 3 three pointers.