ROLLA, Mo. – The second half of the 2023-24 season begins for Missouri S&T's men's basketball team on Saturday as the Miners play host to Principia in their final non-conference contest of the season.  Game time is at 3 p.m. at Gibson Arena.

The Miners return to the floor for the first time since beating Health Sciences & Pharmacy 79-53 on Dec. 18, which improved their record to 7-2 on the season.  Saturday's game against the Panthers will be the last non-conference tilt for S&T before it returns to Great Lakes Valley Conference play Jan. 3 at Lewis.

S&T had balanced scoring in the win over UHSP, getting 11 points from Julien Smith (Fort Worth, TX/Northwest) and 10 apiece from Andrew Young (Ballwin, MO/Marquette) and Alex Benassi (Lee's Summit, MO/Lee's Summit), who also recorded his first double-double as a Miner.  Twelve of the 13 Miners who suited up for the game got into the scoring column in the contest.

Lovell Williams (Rogers, MN/Maple Grove) leads the Miners in scoring as the second semester schedule begins as he is averaging 15.3 points per game, while also leading the team with 42 assists and shooting 52.7 percent from the field and 55.6 percent from three-point range.

He is among three Miners averaging in double figures along with Smith, who is scoring 14.9 points per game and Ikenna Okeke (Bolingbrook, IL/Romeoville), who is averaging 13.6 points and a team-leading 6.2 rebounds per contest.  Young leads S&T with 14 blocked shots and shares the team lead in steals with Smith with 13, while Kaden Froebe (Lincoln, IL/Lincoln) is just outside of double figures at 9.8 points per game.

ABOUT PRINCIPIA: The Panthers, who are playing Saturday's game as an exhibition contest, are 2-9 on the season and have lost their last three games since beating Mississippi University for Women on Dec. 7.  Principia has lost all three games in its current skid by at least 20 points.

Jaquan Adams is the top scorer for Principia with averages of 24.8 points and 9.2 rebounds per game, but has been out of the lineup throughout the month of December.  Three others are averaging in double figures, led by Bobby Alford with a mark of 14.5 points per game, while AJ Byrd is scoring 13.4 per contest and Shemarri Miles is at 13.1 per game heading into the weekend.