LIBERTY, Mo. - The William Jewell men's basketball team rounds out their early season non-conference slate of MIAA opponents this week as they travel to Missouri Western for a pre-Thanksgiving tune up before returning home on Monday to open Great Lakes Valley Conference play against Illinois Springfield.

CARDINAL NOTES

• Jewell is coming off a 81-73 loss to No. 5 ranked Washburn last Saturday. The Cardinals fell behind by as many as 15 in the second half before making a late push but couldn't overcome the deficit, falling to the unbeaten Ichabods.   
• Eli Wingert has started the season being the match up nightmare he was expected to be. The athletic 6-foot-8 forward can not only score and rebound true to his size, but also distribute, currently sitting fifth in the GLVC with an assist-to-turnover ratio of 3.00, handing out a team high 15 assists with only five turnovers. The redshirt junior is averaging 11.6 points and team best 7.2 boards and 2.2 steals coming into the week. 
• With the current absence of Isaac Patterson and Justice Sutton, two transfers, Bradley Lightbourne and Jason Thirdkill, Jr. have stepped in and provided immediate impact. Thirdkill, Jr. is second on the team with 13.2 points per game and is ranked eighth in the league with a field goal percentage of better than 53%. Meanwhile Lightbourne chips in 10.6 points and 1.8 steals per game while playing nearly 26 minutes. 
• Rookies Bryce Mitchell and Ashton Jermain have also been leaned upon early to fill critical minutes. The former is averaging nearly 16 minutes per game, shooting 44% from the floor and pulling down 4.6 rebounds. Jermain, is putting in around just five minutes per game but scored a season best seven points in the win over Emporia State. 
• Luke Jordan shined last week, averaging 15 points and two rebounds, while going 10-for-22 from three point land. The senior scored a career high 18 points in the win over Emporia State, hitting six triples. After averaging just 3.8 minutes per game a year ago, he comes into the week with 8.2 points per game over nearly 24 minutes of action and five starts. 
• Jordan Jermain continues to creep closer to the top-10 all-time scoring list, currently sitting at No. 11 with 1,678 points, 12 shy of surpassing Tim Sieg (1980-84) for 10th place. The fifth year guard would become the first player since 2012 to join the top-10 with Nick Larson (2009-12) is ninth all-time, being the most recent.  
• This winter, the Cardinals were picked third in the GLVC preseason poll, their highest ever pick for the third straight season, and are receiving votes in the Division II national polls. 
• Chris McCabe has orchestrated one of the top turnarounds in the GLVC over the last five years. In his second season, the Cardinals were just 5-16 overall but since then he has led Jewell to 54 wins over last three years, third most in the league with a conference title. 
• This winter McCabe beefed up the schedule with hopes of preparing his team for the postseason. The Cardinals will face off with 28 Division II opponents, one of only five schools in the GLVC to do so, including seven who are among the preseason national polls. 
• The William Jewell College men's basketball program is the second oldest in NCAA Division II, beginning in 1898 and trailing only West Chester by one year. With their win over Purdue Northwest on November 11, 2023 the Cardinals reached the 1,700 victory plateau, becoming the fifth program in Division II to do so, joining Central Washington, Northern State, McKendree and Central Missouri.