ROLLA, Mo. -- Missouri S&T's men's basketball team opens a stretch of five straight games at Gibson Arena with a visit from a long-time rival, as the Miners host Truman State Thursday in a Great Lakes Valley Conference contest at 7:30 p.m..

It will be the first of two home contests for the Miners in the upcoming week, as S&T will also host Quincy on Saturday at 3 p.m. on Military Appreciation Day at Gibson Arena.  All military personnel – active or retired – will be admitted free along with their immediate family members with a military identification card to Saturday's game.

The Miners, who enter the week at 3-14 on the year, played seven of their first nine GLVC games away from home -- winning just one of the nine -- and will play seven of the final nine at home beginning with Thursday's game against a Bulldog squad that has already scored road wins over Lewis and Northern State, last year's NCAA Division II national runner-up.

CJ Hedgepeth (Evansville, IN/Harrison) is the top active scorer for the Miners as he is posting an average of 12.6 points per contest, while Dulan Scott (Chicago, IL/Farragut Academy) is scoring 9.2 points per game and Jalen Myers (Shorewood, IL/Minooka) and Juwan Miller (Kitchener, Ont./Huron Heights) are each at 8.6 points a game.  Myers posted his first career double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds in the Miners' loss Saturday at No. 1-ranked Bellarmine.

Miller leads the Miners in rebounding with 5.1 per game, while Hedgepeth is the S&T leader in assists with 56 and in steals with 30; that duo also ranks among the top six in the GLVC in steals per game.

ABOUT TRUMAN: The Bulldogs' rollercoaster season under first year head coach Jeff Horner had an upswing last week, as they defeated Illinois Springfield and McKendree by big margins to get back to the .500 mark at 10-10 and 5-5 in the GLVC.  Truman's two wins last week – both of which were by more than 20 points – came on the heels of a five-game skid.

Brodrick Thomas leads the Bulldogs in scoring with an average of 19 points per game and also paces the squad in rebounding with 6.7 per game and blocked shots with 16.  He is one of four players averaging in double figures for Truman, who is also getting 11.9 points a game from Cade McKnight, 10.4 per game from Turner Scott and 10.1 a game from Taurin Hughes.

McKnight is shooting 56.3 percent from the field which ranks 10th in the conference, while Scott has recorded 70 assists and 22 steals to lead the team in those categories.   The Bulldogs have also made the second-most three-point baskets in the GLVC, as they have hit 202 or 10.1 per contest.  Nathan Messer has made 55 shots from beyond the arc, while Hughes has connected 46 times from long range.

ABOUT QUINCY: The Hawks enter play this week at 8-12 overall and 2-8 in the GLVC;  they will play at Drury Thursday before its visit to Rolla on Saturday.   Quincy has dropped three straight games and seven of its last eight, with the only win in that stretch coming against Maryville when Marcus Hinton scored a late basket to decide the contest.
 
Hinton lead the Hawks in scoring with an average of 13.2 points per game as one of four double figure scorers on the squad.  Demetrius Houston is averaging 13.1 points per game and Jah-Kobe Womack is averaging 11.9 points a game with all three aforementioned players having made at least 21 three-point baskets apiece for a team that has made the fewest long-range shots on average in the conference.
 
Ryan Briscoe is Quincy's fourth double figure scorer with an average of 10.1 points a game and he also leads the team with 56 assists.  Hinton is the Hawks' top rebounder with 6.9 per game, while Houston has 23 steals to lead the way.