ROLLA, Mo. – After posting back-to-back wins to get the 2022-23 season underway, Missouri S&T will play in front of the home crowd for the first time on Tuesday as it takes on Westminster in a 7:30 p.m. contest at Gibson Arena.

The Miners got off to their first 2-0 start since the 2018-19 season by knocking off Lake Superior State and Northwood at the Greenstay Inn & Suites Classic in Springfield and will look to begin a season at 3-0 for the first time in five years in Tuesday's contest.  S&T edged Lake Superior State 90-89 in overtime after making two defensive stops in the final 30 seconds, then cruised to a 78-43 victory the following day over Northwood.

Ikenna Okeke made a big splash in his S&T debut by scoring 24 points – 18 after halftime – in the win over LSSU, then added 14 the following day as he leads five Miners in double figures in the scoring column with an average of 19 points per game.  Kaden Froebe (Lincoln, IL/Lincoln) recorded double-doubles in both contests to help him earn the GLVC's Player of the Week award; he averaged 16.5 points and 11 rebounds in the two games and also added five assists and five steals while making 77.8 percent of his field goal attempts.

Lovell Williams also opened his S&T career with a pair of double figure outings and is averaging 15 points per game while shooting 66.7 percent from the floor.  Michael Appiah Brefo had his first double figure game as a Miner Saturday with 14 points and Julien Smith (Fort Worth, TX/Northwest) is averaging 13.5 points per game and has a team-high five three-point baskets.

S&T is shooting 52.7 percent from the field on the season and 34.5 percent from three-point range.  It has also outrebounded its opponents by 9.5 boards per contest.

ABOUT THE OPPONENT: The Blue Jays opened their season over the weekend by dropping a pair of games at the SLIAC/ARC Crossover held at SImpson, as they lost contests to Buena Vista on Saturday and to host Simpson on Sunday.  Westminster held a 15-point advantage at halftime on Saturday, but was outscored 56-33 in the second half of an 80-72 loss. Sunday's game saw the Blue Jays fall behind by 17 by halftime as they ended up on the short end of an 83-63 result.

Jaxson Althaus averaged 20.5 points in the two games, including a 30-point outing on Saturday.  Tre Kempker, who scored 20 points in the loss on Sunday at Simpson, is scoring 14.5 points per game and is the only other Blue Jay player in double figures thus far; he is also averaging a team-high 12 rebounds per contest.

As a team, Westminster is shooting 39.3 percent from three-point range -- Althaus has six of the treys -- and has made 26-of-29 at the free throw line, an 89.7 percent mark.

The Blue Jays are playing Tuesday's game as an exhibition contest.