Preview of today's MIAA championship- MSSU vs. Central Oklahoma

(From MSSU Lions Athletic News)

The Missouri Southern men's basketball team will be playing in its fifth MIAA Basketball Tournament final this afternoon as the Lions will look to take home title No. 3 when Southern faces off with Central Oklahoma at 3:30 pm from Municipal Auditorium. 

Game Information

Teams:   Missouri Southern (23-5) vs. Central Oklahoma (20-9)
Date: Sunday, March 9, 2014
Tip-Off: 3:30 pm
Location: Kansas City, Mo.
Site: Municipal Auditorium (7,316)
Series Record: UCO leads series 4-3
Coaches: Robert Corn (410-304 overall/at MSSU). Ben McCollum (89-55, overall and at NWMO)

Media Coverage
MSSU Radio: 97.9 FM Big Dog - Mike McClure - Play by Play
Internet Audio: www.mssulions.com
Webcast: www.mssulions.com
Live Stats: livestats.prestosports.com/mssu
Lions on Facebook:  Facebook.com/missourisouthernlions
Lions on Twitter: @mososports; @mssumensbball

The Series: This is a short series between the Lions and the Bronchos as Central Oklahoma has a 4-3 advantage in the all-time series. The Lions lost the first game of the series at home on 11-23-73 to then Central State University as UCO was known. Southern then won a game against the Bronchos in the Pittsburg State Tournament in 1991.Southern is 1-2 at home 1-2 on the road and 1-0 in neurtral site games. The Lions have won two of the three games the teams have played as members of the MIAA.  

MIAA Team Ranks: The Lions lead the MIAA in blocks per game, defensive rebounds, field goal percentage, free throws made, offensive rebounds, rebounding margin, scoring margin, scoring and total blocks, while ranking second in field goal defense, free-throw attempts, steals and three point shooting. Southern ranks third in scoring defense, while ranking fourth in assists per game, total assists, free-throw shooting, three point defense, total rebounds and total steals. 

MIAA Individual Ranks: Marquis Addison ranks 10th in the MIAA in scoring, while ranking 11th in field goal percentage, fifth in free-throw shooting and fourth in steals. Jordan Talbert is fourth in rebounding and blocks and 28th in scoring, while ranking fourth in offensive rebounds. Slim Magee leads the league in field goal percentage, while ranking 5th in rebounding and third in blocks. Lane Barlow ranks eighth in assists, 11th in steals and 6th in assist/turnover ratio, while Austin Wright leads the league in three point shooting and fifth in three's per game. 

National Ranks: The Lions, as a team, rank seventh in field goal percentage, 8th in scoring margin and ninth in three point shooting. Southern ranks tenth in scoring, 12th in free-throws made, 14th in blocks per game and 20th in total blocks. The Lions also rank 23rd in both rebound margin and win-loss percentage, while ranking 25th in free-throw attempts and 32nd in assists per game. Individually, Slim Magee ranks 36th in blocks per game and 42nd in total blocks. 

Passing 1,000: Marquis Addison became the newest member of the 1,000 point club at MSSU with 20 points against Central Missouri last season. He currently has 1,592 points, putting him in front of Keane Thomann for sixth all-time and he is 72 behind Skyler Bowlin for fifth all-time. He is the fifth Lion in the past three seasons to pass 1,000, joining Jason Adams, Skyler Bowlin, Jordan Talbert and Thomann.       

Moving Up: With his first steal at SBU, Marquis Addison moved into rare company as one of only four players to ever play at MSSU with 200 or more steals. He currently sits in fourth place all-time in career steals with 219, 39 behind Hiram Ocasio for third place. 

Passing 1,000 II: Jordan Talbert comes into the Kearney game with 1,023 career points and joins Addison as one of five Lions in the last four years to pass 1,000.

Career Numbers: Both Jordan Talbert and Marquis Addison are climbing the career lists in MSSU Basketball history. Addison sits at No. 6 in the career scoring list, No. 2 in career free-throw percentage and No. 4 in steals. Talbert ranks second in career blocks, and third in career rebounds. His 61 blocks last season are No. 1 on the all-time list, while Slim Magee's .653 field goal percentage is on target to break that mark this season, while his 56 blocks rank second in a single-season.  

Corn Wins No. 400: Coach Robert Corn won his 400th career game on Jan. 15, 2014 in a 70-50 win at home over Lindenwood He now has 411 wins and is second among active coaches (Bob Chipman). 

Corn is 2014 MIAA Coach of the Year: Head coach Robert Corn won his fourth MIAA Coach of the Year honor this week. He has helped the Lions to nine, 20-win seasons and 16-straight trips to the MIAA Tournament. 

Three Point Streak: The Lions failed to make a three-pointer at Arkansas Tech in their match-up in 2012-13. It was the first time in 403 games that Southern had failed to hit a three pointer, dating back to Jan. 20, 1999 against Missouri S&T. The Lions have had a three in 50-straight games since Arkansas Tech in 2012-13.  

1,000 points/700 rebounds: With his eight rebounds against Nebraska-Kearney, Jordan Talbert joined rare company at Southern as only the third person in school history to record 1,000 points and 700 rebounds. He joins both John Thomas and Chris Tucker as players to accomplish the feat. 

Lions in the MIAA Championship Game: Missouri Southern has played in the MIAA Championship game four times in the program's history. The Lions are 2-2, winning the title in 1993 and 2000 and falling in the title game in 2005 and 2011. 

Leading at the Half: The Lions have led the game at the half in 23 of the 26 games this season, going 20-3 when that happens. 

Outshoot the Opponents: Southern has out-shot their opponents in 21 of 27 games played this year, going 21-0 when that happens.

Big Time Scoring: The Lions have scored 90 points in 12 games this season and have had 11 different games where they have won by 20 or more points. 

Up Next: The Lions will play in the NCAA Central Regional next weekend.