LIBERTY, Mo. - The William Jewell men's basketball is back on the road this weekend with stops at McKendree and Maryville. 

CARDINAL NOTES

• Jewell snapped a four-game skid last Friday with a 78-72 win over Drury University. The Cardinals led by as many as 24 in the first half and held off a Panther rally late to earn the win.    
• The Cardinals, who have been bit hard by the injury bug this winter, got a big morale boost last week with the return of Justice Sutton. The sophomore missed the first 11 games of the season but came off the bench against Drury to score 12 points and grab four rebounds over 25 minutes of action, including hitting four critical free throws over the final 60 seconds. 
• Sutton's return will assist the Cardinals in multiple areas on both ends of the floor. Most notably last week was in the scoring column as Jewell hadn't scored more than 59 points since December 5 but put up 78 against Drury, assisted by Sutton's dozen. 
• Despite a little bit scoring troubles through the early going of the GLVC schedule, the Jewell defense has continued to be outstanding as the Cardinals come into the week fourth in the league and top-55 in Division II in scoring defense, allowing opponents just 68.8 points per game. 
• Kanukayi Gudza has played a crucial role this winter, particularly over the last six games, averaging more nearly 27 minutes per game, over 20 more than this time a year ago. The sophomore grabbed a career high and team-high seven rebounds last Friday in the win over Drury. 
• Luke Jordan enjoyed a career day last week as the senior went off for 25 points, including 21 in the first half as the Cardinals built a 24-point lead. He hit seven three-point field goals, all in the first half and was just one off tying the NCAA era single game record of eight set by teammate Isaac Patterson last season. 
• With injuries to others, freshman Bryce Mitchell has been thrust into a starting role as of late and continues to make improvements on both ends. After averaging 15.5 minutes and 3.2 points per game over the first six contests of the season, he has upped those totals to 22.6 minutes, 4.7 points, 4.2 rebounds, and 1.8 assists since his first start on December 2. In the win over Drury, he played in a career high 28 minutes, scoring six points, grabbing five rebounds, and handing out a team high four assists. 
• The Cardinals are one of the best not only in the GLVC, but in Division II in taking care of the basketball, coming into the week ranked third nationally and tied with UIndy for tops in the league with just 9.2 giveaways per game. Jewell has committed double-digit turnovers just three times this season and not since November 23. 
• Jordan Jermain has established himself as one of the best players in Division II, coming into the week ranked fourth among all active Division II players in scoring with 1,821 points, which also ranks 28th across all NCAA divisions. The fifth year senior is also sixth in three-point field goals and free throws, seventh in free throw attempts, 13th in field goals made, 28th in scoring average, and 34th in assists. 
• Jermain remains No. 7 on Jewell's all-time scoring chart, reaching the 1,800 mark at Newman on December 17. He now chases Lee Roark's (1968-72) 1,880 points for sixth all-time and is just 179 from becoming the fourth player in program history score 2,000 career points.  
• 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.