ROLLA, Mo. – Missouri S&T's men's basketball team had a limited schedule in December and has not played a game since Dec. 17, but will crank its season up in earnest for the start of the new year as it resumes its Great Lakes Valley Conference schedule with a pair of road games this weekend.

The Miners will open the 2020 portion of the slate Thursday night when they face Lindenwood in a 7:30 p.m. contest in St. Charles, Mo., followed by a 3 p.m. matchup Saturday at Missouri-St. Louis.

S&T comes into start of the new calendar year with a 3-4 record, but won its two December contests that included a GLVC win at home over Maryville and an upset of 24^th-ranked Northeastern State on the road in its most recent outing.  In the latter game, the Miners trailed by as many as 21 points in the first half, but used a hot hand from long range to rally back and won it on CJ Hedgepeth's (Evansville, IN/Harrison) three-pointer with 3.2 seconds to play.

The Miners have made 41 three-pointers in their last three contests, shooting 47 percent from beyond the arc during that span.  Hedgepeth has hit a team-high 19 treys on the year and is among three Miners averaging in double figures with an average of 12.1 points per game. 

Dulan Scott (Chicago, IL/Farragut Academy) leads the Miners in scoring at 14.4 points per game, while Mitch Fairless (St. Charles, MO/Duchesne) is also in double figures at 11 per game.  Fairless also leads S&T with 20 assists and is pulling down 6.1 rebounds per game, second on the team to Chima Oduocha's (Hoffman Estates, IL/Conant) 7.3 per contest.

S&T is shooting 36.6 percent from three-point range on the season and despite hitting just 39.5 percent overall from the floor, is coming off its best shooting game of the year as it shot 50.9 percent from the field in the win at Northeastern State.

ABOUT LINDENWOOD: The Lions bring a 6-3 record into their return to action this week and won their last three games prior to the break.  Following an overtime loss to nationally-ranked Florida Southern on Dec. 7, Lindenwood recorded wins over Hannibal-LaGrange, Avila and Culver-Stockton to close out the first semester of play.  The Lions lost their only GLVC contest when they fell 93-69 at Missouri-St. Louis on Dec. 3.

Lindenwood has three players averaging in double figures in the scoring column, including two of the top eight scorers in the GLVC.  The league's leading scorer is TJ Crockett, who brings an average of 26 points per game into play on Thursday and has the GLVC's top scoring game of the season with a 41-point performance in the Florida Southern contest.  Crockett is shooting 51 percent from the field and has gone 62-of-67 (92.5 percent) at the free throw line -- the 62 made free throws lead the conference by a wide margin.

Vijay Blackmon ranks eighth in the GLVC with his average of 18.3 points per game and is tied for the team lead in three-point baskets with 23 with Cameron Scales, the Lions' third double figure scorer with his mark of 11.6 points per game.  Anthony Christian leads the way on the boards with 5.2 per game, while Sukhman Bhinder has a team-high 36 assists.

ABOUT MISSOURI-ST. LOUIS: The Tritons bring a 10-1 record into play this week -- their 10 wins are the most of any team in the GLVC -- and have captured nine straight contests since an opening weekend loss at Walsh.  UMSL, who received votes in this week's national poll, won its only conference game with the Dec. 3 victory over Lindenwood and hosts Maryville Thursday prior to the Miners' visit on Saturday.

UMSL has been one of the most balanced team in the conference statistically, with five players averaging between 8.6 and 13.6 points per game.  That group is headed by Jose Grubbs, who is scoring the 13.6 per contest and has shot better than 50 percent from the field and nearly 40 percent from three-point range.  Yaakema Rose, Jr., is averaging 11.2 points per game and Jalen Wilkins-McCoy is at 10.7 per game; Jason Towery is just outside of double figures at 9.6 points per game.  Wikins-McCoy is also second in the GLVC with 18 blocked shots.

Steve Webb leads the Tritons in rebounding with 5.9 per game and in assists with 47, as UMSL ranks second in NCAA Division II in points allowed per game at just 56.7 and has outscored its opponents by an average of just over 21 points per contest.