ROLLA, Mo. – With its five-game stretch away from home now in the books, Missouri S&T's men's basketball team will play its first home games of the 2020 calendar year in the upcoming week, as the Miners begin a stretch of three of four contests at home Thursday night when they host Southwest Baptist at Gibson Arena.

Thursday's game against one of the two newcomers to the Great Lakes Valley Conference will get underway at 7:30 p.m., which will be followed by a Saturday afternoon clash against Drury that will start at 1 p.m.  Following a game Monday against Maryville in St. Louis, the Miners will host Rockhurst a week from Thursday in the third home game in the four-game stretch before beginning a three-game road swing.  As part of Thursday's game, a drawing -- which fans can sign up for upon entry into Gibson Arena -- will be held for a chance to win tickets to the upcoming Harlem Globetrotters event in Rolla.

The Miners enter Thursday's contest looking to snap a four-game losing streak following Saturday's 88-81 loss at Quincy.  The setback came despite a career-high performance from CJ Hedgepeth (Evansville, IN/Harrison), as he poured in 32 points and hit a career-high six three-pointers along the way.  Hedgepeth comes into Thursday's game as S&T's second-leading scorer on the season with an average of 12.8 points per game and also leads the team with 28 assists and 18 steals.

Dulan Scott (Chicago, IL/Farragut Academy), who had 18 points at Quincy, continues to lead the Miners in the scoring department with an average of 14.4 per contest, while Mitch Fairless (St. Charles, MO/Duchesne) is also in double figures at 10.2 per game to go along with 6.1 rebounds per outing.  Chima Oduocha (Hoffman Estates, IL/Conant) leads the Miners on the boards with 6.2 per game, while Jordan Newt (San Francisco, CA/Malibu) has made 25 three-point baskets and is shooting 44.6 percent from beyond the arc.

ABOUT SOUTHWEST BAPTIST: In their first season in the GLVC, the Bearcats are off to a 10-3 start and have won three of their first five conference tilts, including a road win over a nationally-ranked Southern Indiana team.  SBU's five-game winning streak came to an end Saturday with a loss to Missouri-St. Louis despite a 24-point effort by Brady Smith.

Smith leads a five-player contingent in double figures for the Bearcats with an average of 15.2 points per game, while Damian Prgomet is averaging 12.5 points per game and is shooting 55.6 percent from the floor; he also leads the team in rebounding with 8.1 per game and has a league-high 27 blocked shots.  Quinn Nelson is averaging 11.6 points per contest with a team-high 35 three-point field goals.

Joe Miller and Godrey Rolle are also scoring in double figures with marks of 10.7 and 10.2 points per game, respectively, with Rolle also leading the Bearcats witih 46 assists.  Defensively, the Bearcats rank second in the GLVC in field goal defense as opposing teams are making just 39.4 percent of their shots against them.

ABOUT DRURY: The Panthers opened the 2019-20 season with seven straight wins and landed in the national top 25 in the process, but lost four of their next five games before rebounding on Saturday with an 83-62 win over Lindenwood to improve to 9-4 overall and 2-3 in the GLVC.

Drury has scored nearly 40 percent of its points this season from three-point range and has two players in double figures on the year, led by Conley Garrison's 15.6 points per contest.  Garrison, who is coming off a 24-point outing in the win over Lindenwood, has made 34 three-point baskets on the year and also leads the Panthers with 72 assists, 21 steals and 5.1 rebounds per game.

Cal Hartley, the other double figure scorer at 13.8 a game, has made a team-high 41 treys and is third in the GLVC in three-point shooting at 53.2 percent.  Brandon Emmert is just below double figures at 9.5 points per game and is shooting just under 60 percent from the field, while Asa Hutchinson has scored 9.1 points per game.  Isaac Johnson has connected 31 times from three-point range and is shooting 44.9 percent from outside the three-point line.

ABOUT MARYVILLE: The Miners will face the Saints for the second time this season on Monday; S&T took the first meeting between the teams 72-59 in Rolla on Dec. 3 behind 21 points from Dulan Scott (Chicago, IL/Farragut Academy).  The Saints have lost four straight heading into play this week and are 4-8 on the season with a 0-5 mark in GLVC play.

The Saints have a pair of double figure scorers in Parker Long, who is leading the way with an average of 14.5 points per contest and Jalen Gant, who is scoring 14.3 per game.  Maryville comes into this week's action with the GLVC's lowest scoring average at 65.9 points per game and has made just 40.7 percent of its field goal attempts as a team on the year.

Long and Gant are also leading the Saints in other statistical categories, as Long has a team-high 51 assists and shares the team lead in three-pointers made with 19 and steals with 13, while Gant is the top rebounder for the Saints with his 5.7 rebounds per game and is shooting 51.9 percent from the field.  Chris White is the Saints' leader in field goal shooting at 55.2 percent and Dezmond McDaniel is hitting 36.2 percent of his three-point attempts.