ROLLA, Mo. – After dropping a pair of road games to begin the 2020-21 season, Missouri S&T's men's basketball team will look to get into the win column when it opens its home schedule this weekend with a pair of Great Lakes Valley Conference contests at Gibson Arena.

The Miners will begin their 11-game home slate at Gibson Arena by hosting McKendree Thursday in a 7:30 p.m. game, then faces Rockhurst on Saturday at 3 p.m.  These are the first two games of a scheduled three-game homestand for the Miners, who will close it with a game against Southwest Baptist on Dec. 12.

S&T opened its season with an 89-70 loss Friday at Lindenwood, a game in which the Miners trailed by just three with over 10 minutes remaining in the contest, then fell 76-67 Sunday at Maryville after being tied with just under four minutes to go.

Freshman Julien Smith (Fort Worth, TX/Northwest) opened his S&T career by pouring in 20 points in the Lindenwood contest as five Miners scored in double figures; he followed that up with a 14-point effort at Maryville and brings a team-high average of 17 points per game into Thursday's matchup.  Smith also has a team-high seven three-point baskets and is shooting 43.8 percent from beyond the arc.

Four Miners are averaging in double figures two games into the campaign, as Mitch Fairless (St. Charles, MO/Duchesne) is scoring 11.5 points per game, Kaden Froebe (Lincoln, IL/Lincoln) 11 per game and Kevin Legardy (Las Vegas, NV/Canyon Springs) – who led S&T with 18 at Maryville – is at 10.5 per outing.  Froebe shares the team lead in rebounding with Mahamadou Kaba-Camera (Conakry, Guinea/Balboa City (San Diego, CA)) with seven per game and leads the Miners with 10 assists and seven steals; he is currently tied for third in the GLVC in assists and fourth in steals after the first weekend of action.

ABOUT McKENDREE: The Bearcats opened their season Sunday by picking up an 87-75 win over a Rockhurst team that was fresh off a road win over 25th-ranked Southern Indiana two days earlier.   McKendree used an 11-0 run to take a sizeable lead in the contest, then it held off a second half run by the Hawks as they drew to within four with just under six minutes remaining.  An 8-0 run posted by the Bearcats allowed them to break free for the victory.
 
Bryson Bultman led five Bearcats in double figures with 20 points, while they also got 18 points from Aleksandar Davitkov and 15 apiece from Oliver Stephen and Jacob Donaldson.  McKendree shot 52.2 percent from the floor and made nine-of-21 from three-point range in the contest.

Brendon Gooch, a transfer from Southern Illinois, led the Bearcats with eight rebounds and Luke Hensler had five assists to lead the way in that department.

Even though the season is young with only one or two games played throughout the GLVC, the Bearcats currently own the top field goal and defensive field goal percentage marks in the conference; they held Rockhurst to 36.1 percent shooting on Sunday.

Missouri S&T has won the last four matchups against McKendree, including last year's 73-71 win at Gibson Arena.

ABOUT ROCKHURST: The Hawks opened the 2020-21 season by splitting a pair of road contests, defeating 25th-ranked Southern Indiana 81-70 before losing Sunday at McKendree. Rockhurst's home game on Thursday against William Jewell has been postponed.

Chris Hamil leads Rockhurst in the scoring column with an average of 22.5 points per game after pouring in 24 in the loss at McKendree, while Curtis Lewis is scoring 12.5 points per game and leads the Hawks with nine assists.  Lewis had 18 points and six assists in the win at USI.

The Hawks have three others averaging in double figures in the early stages of the season, with Jake Auer scoring 11.5 points a game and Quinton Curry and Nick Volz at 10.5 apiece.  Curry is also the top rebounder for the Hawks with eight per game.

Rockhurst has won six consecutive games from the Miners after taking a 78-67 decision last season in their only meeting in Rolla.