LIBERTY, Mo. – After suffering back-to-back losses for the first time since November, the William Jewell men's basketball team got back on track with a win over Maryville on Saturday. Now, the Cardinals welcome two of the hottest teams in the GLVC to the Mabee Center in McKendree and Missouri-St. Louis for key matchups.  

ADMISSION 🎟
😷 Spectators are permitted. Masks required in the Mabee Center

BROADCAST 🎥 
• vs. McKendree
• vs. Missouri-St. Louis

LIVE STATS 📊
• vs. McKendree
• vs. Missouri-St. Louis

CARDINAL NOTES

• Mason Alexander recently moved into the top-five in program history with more than 180 three-point field goals. The senior is now chasing another milestone, sitting 53 points from 1,000 for his career, which would make him the 44th Cardinal to reach the plateau. 
• Jevaughn Ferguson has emerged lately as one of the top shot blockers in the GLVC, now up to fifth in the league with 1.2 per game. The junior has totaled a career best 19 rejections this season, including nine in the last four games, and owns 35 blocks for his career. 
• Jewell has created matchup issues for opponents this season with a multitude of weapons, particularly from long range. The Cardinals are the only team in the GLVC with three different players, Jordan Jermain, Mason Alexander and Trey Shannon, who each have hit at least 30 three-point field goals this winter. As a team, Jewell is second in the conference with 157 made triples and third with an average of nearly nine makes per game. Of the Cards 10 wins, eight have come when making at least 10 threes, making them tough to slow down when clicking from the outside. 
• Kobe McKinley has been a defensive menace from the opening tip of the season and hasn't let up. The 6'5 guard has used his length and quick hands to disrupt, passers, drivers and shooters, accounting for 41 steals, 31% of the team's total takeaways, and is second in the GLVC with more than 2.4 per game. Additionally, he is up to ninth in the league with 0.94 blocked shots per game.
• John Zimmerman has proven time and again this season to be one of the best distributors in the GLVC with 2.7 assists per game but last week showed that he can score it himself as well. After handing out 17 assists over a three-game stretch, the senior led the offensive charge at Lindenwood with a career-high 14 points.   
• The Cardinals have not been to the conference tournament since 2018 but are now guaranteed an appearance with the recent adjustment of GLVC policy. Due to COVID-19 cancelations and the inequities of the number of games played across the league, the conference tournament will now feaure all 15 teams, with the regular season champion receiving a first round by while seeds 2-8 will host first round games on February 28. This policy is in place for the 2022 tournament only. 
• Chris McCabe is now in his third season at the helm of the Cardinal program and has matched his highest win total with the team's tenth win last week. Under McCabe, the Cardinals have defeated two nationally ranked teams, No. 12 Bellarmine (2020) and No. 11 Washburn (2021) along with Indianapolis (2020) who was receiving votes in the polls at the time. 
• Jewell is in its 123rd season of men's basketball on The Hill and are chasing win No. 1,700. The Cardinals entered the season with 1,668 victories, winning nearly 60% of the time over the last century-plus.

 
ABOUT MCKENDREE

• Winners of four in a row, including an upset of then-No. 16 Truman on January 8, McKendree enters the week at 9-4 on the season and 5-4 in league play. 
• The Bearcats are near the bottom in the GLVC in total offense, averaging just 69.4 points per game while allowing 65.8. Former GLVC Freshman of the Year Bryson Bultman, now a junior, is a dynamic scorer at 18.7 points per night, fourth in the conference while also dishing out 49 assists. 
• Brendon Gooch adds 10.7 points and a team-high 6.9 rebounds as McKendree pulls down 34.2 boards per game, including 26.5 on the defensive end. 
• The Bearcats take care of the basketball well, committing just 12.2 turnovers per game, good enough for sixth in the GLVC. 
• One of the youngest head coaches in Division II George Suggs (27) is in his first year at the helm of the McKendree program after an impressive playing career at then-GLVC member Bellarmine. As a senior, he led the league in blocks and was fifth in three point percentage, helping the Knights to four NCAA Tournament appearances.
   

ABOUT MISSOURI-ST. LOUIS

• Missouri-St. Louis enters the week at 12-4 on the season, but 6-3 since the start of league play. The Tritons won a season high five games between December 4 and January 8 but have since dropped two of four. 
• Marty Jackson leads the UMSL offense with 17.5 points points per game, shooting an impressive 58.8% from the floor. Yaakema Rose, Jr. and Jose Grubbs add 12.7 and 11.7 points, respectively, to give the Tritons three in double figures. 
• UMSL prefers to use the dribble and their defense to score, averaging 75.1 points but only 5.5 three pointers per game, last in the GLVC. Instead, the Tritons lead the league with 9.3 steals per game which leads to nearly 17 points. 
• While forcing other teams into turnovers, UMSL commits few themselves, leading the conference with just 10.4 giveaways per game. 
• Bob Sundvold is in his ninth year with the Tritons and was the 2020 GLVC Coach of the Year. Prior to UMSL, he bounced around the state, spending time at Missouri, Missouri State, Central Missouri and UMKC.