Preview- MSSU men to play Southwest Baptist Thursday

(From MSSU Lions Athletic News)

The Missouri Southern men's basketball team will look to make it four wins in a row when the Lions travel to Bolivar to take on Southwest Baptist Thursday night. Tip off from Meyer Sports Center is slated for 7:30 pm.   

Game Information

Teams: Missouri Southern (13-6, 7-3 MIAA) @ Southwest Baptist (9-11, 4-7 MIAA) 

Date: Thursday, Jan 29, 2015
Tip-Off: 7:30 pm
Location: Bolivar, Mo.
Site: Meyer Sports Center (2,925)
Series Record: Lions lead series 50-41
Coaches: Jeff Boschee (13-6 overall/at MSSU). Clark Sheehy (163-88 overall/9-11 at SBU)

Media Coverage
MSSU Radio: FM 99.7 KBTN - Mike McClure - Play-by-play
Internet Audio: www.mssulions.com
Webcast: www.mssulions.com
Live Stats: www.mssulions.com
Lions on Facebook:  Facebook.com/missourisouthernlions
Lions on Twitter: @mososports; @mssumensbball

A look at the coaches: Jeff Boschee, MSSU - Jeff Boschee is in his first season as the head coach of the Missouri Southern basketball program after serving four seasons as an assistant and associate head coach. He was named the head coach of the Lions on July 1, 2014.  Since Boschee arrived at Southern, the Lions have gone 99-40, made four consecutive MIAA tournaments and had trips to three of the last four NCAA Division II postseason tournaments, while claiming the 2010-11 MIAA regular season championship, and the 2013-14 post-season tournament championship. The 2010-11 team set the MIAA record for conference wins in a season with 19. Under Boschee's leadership, former Lion Skyler Bowlin was the MIAA's Player and Defender of the Year in 2011. He was a first-team All-MIAA, All-Region and All-American selection, being named to three different All-America teams. He was also the Region Player of the Year and a finalist for the National Player of the Year. Bowlin signed a professional contract to play basketball in the German Pro League after completing his eligibility and has since moved on to playing in Denmark.

Clark Sheehy will begin his first season on the Bearcat bench after being introduced as the 13th head men's basketball coach at Southwest Baptist University on May 20, 2014. Sheehy comes to Southwest Baptist after spending the previous seven seasons as the head men's basketball coach at John Brown University. Sheehy holds a career coaching record of 182-106 (.632) across nine seasons as head coach.  Sheehy has coached six different All-Americans, while also coaching over 20 athletes that have moved on to play professional basketball While at JBU, Sheehy compiled a 154-77 record (.667), including leading the Golden Eagles to their first ever Sooner Athletic Conference (SAC) Tournament Championship in 2010 and their first regular season SAC Championship in 2013.

The Series - Southern leads the series 50-41 and has won seven of the last eight against SBU after dropping the previous nine games in a row against the Bearcats. This has been a series of streaks as from the 1976 season through the 1984-85 season, the series saw the two teams have streaks of six, seven then six again. SBU's largest win streak was nine, while the Lions' largest streak is nine done from the 98-99 season through the 2001-02 season. Southern is 31-16 at home, while 18-25 on the road and 1-0 in neutral site games. The 91 games played against SBU is the second-most games played against one school following the 93 vs. PSU.

Defending Champs - The Lions won the 2014 MIAA Basketball Tournament in Kansas City last year, defeating Nebraska-Kearney in the opener. The Lions beat Northwest Missouri in game two and won against Central Oklahoma in the Tournament Championship.    

Player of the Week - Taevaunn Prince was named the MIAA Men's Basketball Player of the Week this week. Prince averaged 22 points and 10.5 rebounds in helping the Lions to wins over Northwest Missouri and Missouri Western.   

Record Breakers - Junior shooting guard Austin Wright set two records for the Lions last year, breaking the single-season three point percentage mark (.493) and he also is the current career-leader in that category (.463). 

Record Breakers II - Wright is climbing the charts in career three pointers made at MSSU. He moved into the top five last week and currently sits in fourth at 152 career treys. He needs 73 to break Skyler Bowlin's record of 224.   

Record Breakers III - Wright broke the MSSU single-game three point record against Northeastern State when the junior hit nine as part of 28 points in the Lions' 90-54 win. 

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

Stingy Defense -  The Lions have held their opponents to 71 points or under in ten of their last 14 games. Against Benedictine, Southern held the Ravens to 48 points, nearly 20 points below the season average for the No. 4 ranked team in the NAIA. The total is the lowest opponent output since the Lions held Central Bible to 39 points in 2012.   

Double-Double This - Taevaunn Prince has six double-double's this season. Against Emporia State, both Prince and Lane Barlow had a double-double each. 

Big Game Tae - In the last ten games, Taevaunn Prince is averaging 18.6 points and 9.8 rebounds, while shooting 48% from the field and 84% from the free-throw line.  

Heatin Up - Over the last ten games, the Lions have gone 8-2. In that time, they're out scoring their opponents by a margin of 13.3, while shooting 45 percent from the field, 37 percent from long range and 78 percent from the free throw line. They are also out rebounding their opponents by a margin of 4.7 and making 7.6 3's per game.

Perfect When - The Lions are perfect this year when they do the following things: score 90+ (4-0), have more assists (8-0) and out shoot the opponent (11-0).

NCAA Stat Leaders - The Lions, as a team, rank 11th nationally in free throw attempts, while ranking 6th in free throws made. They rank 21st in free throw percentage and 22nd in three point defense. Individually, Austin Wright ranks 8th nationally in three point percentage, while ranking 22nd in total threes and 49th in threes/game. Greg Renfroe ranks 22nd in total blocks and 28th in blocks per game, while Taevaun Prince ranks 20th in free throws made and 28th in free throw attempts.         

MIAA Stat Leaders - As a team, the Lions lead the MIAA in free throw percentage, free throws made, free throws attempted and three point defense. The team ranks second in defensive rebounds, while ranking third in offensive rebounds and scoring offense. Individually, Renfroe leads the league in total blocks and blocks per game, while Prince leads the league in free throws made and attempted. Austin Wright leads the league in three point percentage, while ranking second in both total threes and threes/game.

Up Next - Southern will be back in action this weekend when the Lions play host to Central Missouri at 3:30 pm on Jan. 31.