ROLLA, Mo. – After spending the better part of the last two weeks away from home, Missouri S&T's men's basketball team will play a pair of contests at Gibson Arena this week starting with Tuesday's non-conference matchup with Principia that will get underway at 7 p.m.

Missouri S&T comes into the game at 5-2 on the season after dropping a 76-67 decision Saturday at Missouri-St. Louis.  The Miners led by six at the half against the nationally-ranked Tritons, but shot just 34.5 percent in the second half and were outscored 45-30 as they dropped to 1-2 in Great Lakes Valley Conference play.

Julien Smith (Fort Worth, TX/Northwest) led the Miners with 20 points in the loss and during the first half, became the 26^th player in program history to reach the 1,000-point mark for a career.  Smith, who currently ranks second in the GLVC in scoring with his average of 17.4 points per game, is also among the league leaders in three-point baskets with a team-high 17.

He is among four Miners averaging in double figures on the season, as Ikenna Okeke (Bolingbrook, IL/Romeoville) is averaging 14.3 per game following a 17-point outing at UMSL, Lovell Williams (Rogers, MN/Maple Grove) is at 12.9 per contest and Kaden Froebe (Lincoln, IL/Lincoln) is averaging 12 per game.  All three players are also among the GLVC leaders in various categories heading into play on Tuesday night.

Okeke ranks in the top 10 in scoring and rebounding, where he shares the team lead with Froebe with 6.3 per game.  Froebe, meanwhile, is also third in the GLVC in field goal percentage with his mark of 64.8 percent and is tied for second with two steals per game

Williams ranks high in several departments, as he is fifth in three-point percentage at 55 percent, sixth in assists with 3.4 per game and seventh in field goal percentage at 56.9 percent.

S&T leads the GLVC in several team categories, including scoring at 84.9 points per game, rebounding margin at plus 7.5 per game and blocked shots with 3.7 per contest.  The Miners are also second in scoring margin at plus 17.6 points per game, field goal percentage at 50.7 percent and steals with 8.9 per game.
 
The Miners rank among the top 20 in NCAA Division II in turnover margin, where they are 16^th as they have forced 5.6 more turnovers than they have committed, in field goal percentage, where they are 17^th and scoring margin, where S&T is 19^th in the nation.

ABOUT PRINCIPIA: The Panthers -- who will be playing Tuesday's game as an exhibition game -- are off to a 6-1 start on the season and have won four consecutive games.  The latest win for Principia came on Nov. 29, when it knocked off Maranatha Baptist 100-48 behind 20 points from Kevin Wingert as five Panthers scored in double figures.

Principia has five players averaging in double figures in scoring, paced by Jake Kampf with an average of 15.1 points per contest.  Kampf has been especially good behind the three-point line, where he has made 26 of his 47 attempts (55.3 percent) and has also gone 20-of-21 from the free throw line.

Jaquan Adams is scoring 13 points per game for the season and is also the top rebounder with 6.9 points a game, while Clark Davidson is scoring 12.1 points per contest and is shooting 55.2 percent from the floor.  Shemarri Miles has a team-igh 31 assists to go along with his 11.4 points per game, which is also what Wingert has averaged off the bench.