Wednesday, March 13, 2019

MSSU to play Washburn in opening round of NCAA Tournamenbt

(From MSSU Lions Athletic News)

The Missouri Southern men's basketball team makes its seventh trip to the NCAA Tournament as the Lions face off with the 23rd ranked Washburn University Ichabods in Maryville this weekend. Tip off from Bearcat Arena on the campus of Northwest Missouri State is slated for noon.

Game Information


Teams: Missouri Southern (23-7) vs. (23) Washburn (24-7)
Date: March 16, 2019
Tip-Off: 12 PM
Location: Maryville, Mo.
Site: Bearcat Arena
Series Record: Washburn leads 48-32
Coaches: Jeff Boschee (99-52 overall/at MSSU - 5th year). Brett Ballard (46-17 overall/at WU - 2nd year)








Media Coverage

MSSU Radio: Mike McClure - Play by play - Fox Sports Joplin - 101.3, 107.9 FM, AM 1340, 1560, KXMS 88.7 FM
Internet Audio: http://www.mssulions.com
Live Video: http://themiaanetwork.com/
Live Stats: http://stats.statbroadcast.com/statmonitr/?id=259386
Lions on Facebook: Facebook.com/mososports
Lions on Twitter: @mososports; @mssumensbball

The Series

Washburn holds a 48-32 lead in the series, but Southern has won 16 out of the last 21 games. The series is tied 19-19 in games played in Joplin, and Washburn holds a 29-11 vs. MSSU in Topeka. The Lions lead 2-1, on neutral floors.The Lions have had few winning streaks in the series. The longest, five games, is the current streak and also spanned the years of 2007-09. The Ichabods won 11-straight from February 1984 through February 1989. Missouri Southern's most convincing victory was 37 points, 110-73, in 2013-14. Washburn's largest victory margin was 38 points, 94-56, and came in the 88-89 season. The Lions have won both of the meetings in the NCAA Tournament, both coming in overtime.

MIAA Team Stat Leaders


The Lions, as a team, lead the MIAA in three point attempts, defensive rebounds, free throw attempts, free throws made, scoring and total rebounds.

MIAA Individual Stat Leaders


Cam Martin leads the MIAA in field goal percentage, double-double's, free throw attempts and free throws made. Elyjah Clark leads the MIAA in three point attempts, minutes per game and total minutes.

All-MIAA

Four Lions earned All-MIAA status this year as Cam Martin led the way with a first-team selection. Elyjah Clark was a third-team pick, while Kinzer Lambert and Braelon Walker earned honorable mention.

Streak Stopper

Coming into the season Elyjah Clark had made a three pointer in 47-straight games, dating back to his freshman season. Clark, however, missed out on a three in the first game of the year, but has made a three in each game since, taking his current streak to 29.

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 203-straight games since Arkansas Tech in 2012-13.

Sharp Shooting Lions

Southern has broken two records this year in regards to three-point shooting as the Lions have destroyed two records that were set by last year's squad. Southern has set the record for single-season three pointers made (317) and three pointers per game (10.6).

Perfection


The Lions are perfect this season when they do the following: scoring 90 or more points (11-0), out shooting their opponents (19-0), and playing on Tuesday (3-0).

Hard Working Man

Elyjah Clark leads the MIAA in minutes per game and total minutes.

Corndogs Jackie

Southern is averaging 86 points per game this season and the Lions have topped the century mark six times.

Former Teammates


Jeff Boschee and Washburn coach Brett Ballard were teammates at Kansas. Boschee is 2-1 against his former teammate.








Record Against The Regional Field

The Lions are 2-2 this season with teams in the NCAA Central Region Tournament. The Lions have wins against Washburn and Minnesota State and losses to Northwest Missouri and St. Cloud State.

NCAA Tournament Against Washburn

Missouri Southern and Washburn have met twice before in the NCAA Tournament and both games have gone to overtime. The Lions defeated the Ichabods 79-73 in 2000 at home, and 82-79 in 2011 at Central Oklahoma.

All-Time NCAA Tournament


The Lions are 5-7 all-time in the NCAA Tournament. The Lions' last win came in 2014 in the first round against Fort Hays State.

Bevo Francis Award Watchlist


Sophomore Cam Martin has been named to the Small College Basketball Bevo Francis Award Watchlist. The award is for the Division II Player of the Year.

Record-Breaking Sniper

Junior Elyjah Clark already has the Missouri Southern single-season record for three pointers with 110. Clark broke the career record against Fort Hays State last weekend and has 280 career three pointers now as a junior. With one season left to play, Clark now can target the MIAA record of 370.

Reachin' A Grand

Elyjah Clark went over 1,000 points in his career with 18 points against Minnesota-Crookston in the Puerto Rico Tournament. He currently has 1,366 in his career and is the 22nd person in MSSU history to crack the 1,000 point plateau. Clark has moved into 11th place all-time, passing Taevaunn Prince. Next up is Terry Shumpert at 1,379 points.

Elyjah For Three

Clark has the top-two single-season three-point totals in MSSU history and his 280 threes made in his two-plus year career rank first. His career three-point percentage of .399 is fifth-best all-time, while he also tied the single-game record for three's made with nine. He has the season and career record for three pointers per game, while also holding the MSSU season and career record for consecutive games with a three (47)

Up Next

With a win, Southern will play on Sunday, March 17 against the winner of Northern State and Southeastern Oklahoma at 5 pm.

No comments:

Post a Comment