ROLLA, Mo. – Missouri S&T's men's basketball team seeks to get back on the winning track in Great Lakes Valley Conference play as it heads to the road for games at Southwest Baptist and Drury this weekend.

The Miners will open their weekend at SBU, where they will meet up in a 7:30 p.m. contest Thursday in Bolivar, Mo., before heading to Springfield Saturday to face Drury in a 1 p.m. game at the O'Reilly Family Events Center.

Missouri S&T fell below the .500 mark in GLVC play last week after losing to Lewis and McKendree, putting it at 2-3 in conference play and 8-4 overall.  The Miners struggled on the offensive end in both games, shooting just 37.5 percent at Lewis and 34.3 percent in Saturday's loss to McKendree, the first games this season in which S&T has been below the 40 percent mark in a game.

Ikenna Okeke (Bolingbrook, IL/Romeoville) averaged 21 points in the two games, including a 23-point effort against McKendree that matched his season best and comes into Thursday's game leading the Miners with an average of 14.8 points per game.  He is one of three double figure scorers in the S&T lineup, joining Lovell Williams (Rogers, MN/Maple Grove) at 14.3 per game and Julien Smith (Fort Worth, TX/Northwest) at 13.8 per contest.

Okeke is also the seventh-leading rebounder in the GLVC with his team-leading average of 6.6 per game after an outing in he was one of three Miners to record double-doubles.  Okeke had 11 rebounds to go with his 23 points, while Andrew Young (Ballwin, MO/Marquette) and Kaden Froebe (Lincoln, IL/Lincoln) also reached double figures in both the scoring and rebounding columns.

Williams has a team-leading 46 assists – his 5.1 per game leads the conference -- and is shooting 52 percent from three-point range, while Smith has a team-leading 16 steals and Young has recorded 21 blocked shots that has him ranked second in the GLVC.  As a team, the Miners still rank third in the conference with an average of 80.9 points per game.

ABOUT SOUTHWEST BAPTIST: The Bearcats have struggled to gain traction in the GLVC this season as they come into Thursday's contest at 5-8 overall and 1-4 in league play.  SBU lost games to William Jewell and Quincy last week, giving up 17 three-point baskets in the loss to William Jewell and then shooting only 31.7 percent Saturday when it fell 66-50 at Quincy.

Drenin Dinkins leads the Bearcats with an average of 13.7 points per game while Drew McMillin, who has a team-leading 26 three-point baskets, is scoring 12.7 per game after scoring 17 in the loss on Saturday.  David Hector leads SBU with an average of six rebounds per game and in assists with 44, while Graham Chenault has connected on just over 60 percent of his three-point shots as he has made 17 on the year. 

ABOUT DRURY: The Panthers picked up their first win in GLVC play on Saturday with an 89-79 victory over Rockhurst behind a 14-point, 14-rebound effort from Riek Riek and three others in double figures.  Drury is 1-4 in the GLVC, but had a mark of 7-1 in non-conference games this season and is the fifth-highest scoring team in the conference with an average of 79.2 points per game.

Juok Riak leads Drury in the scoring department with an average of 15.2 points per game, the ninth-best mark in the conference, while Logan Applegate is averaging 13 points per contest and has a team-high 34 three-point baskets.  The Panthers have averaged nine three-pointers per game and have six players who have made at least 10 three-point baskets this season.  Applegate also leads Drury in the rebounding department with five per game and in steals with 19.