ROLLA, MO  --  The Miners will conclude their homestand with the Maryville Saints today at 7:30pm and the Missouri-St. Louis (UMSL) Tritons on Saturday at 3pm.

About the Saints
After starting 1-5 in conference play, the Saints are entering Thursday's game with back-to-back GLVC victories. They defeated Rockhurst 82-79 last Thursday and William Jewell 72-63 last Saturday.

Maryville is one of four teams in the GLVC with a negative scoring margin, with a -0.4 scoring margin. The Saints have shot and defended well though, ranking third in field goal percentage (.488) and fourth in opponent field goal percentage (.437). They have struggled from the three though, only making 7.5 per game... the fourth fewest in the conference.
 
The Saints have two athletes in the top five in the conference for field goal percentage: Lucas Burton in 2nd with .588 and Dewayne Vass in 5th with .571. Meanwhile, Trey Redd is third in the GLVC for assist/turnover ratio with 2.7.
 
The Miners lead the all-time series against the Saints 23-13. The Miners have won the last two games in this series, with the most recent being a 82-65 victory in St. Louis. S&T hasn't lost a game against Maryville in Rolla since 2021.

About the Tritons
UMSL had a difficult non-conference schedule to start their season, playing the #22 and #23 teams in the country which would contribute to an 0-5 start to the season. They went on to win six of their next seven though and are 5-2 in conference play ahead of their Thursday nigh game against Lincoln of Missouri.

The Tritons have relied on their defense this season, ranking third in the GLVC for points allowed per game (68.0). Their offense is only averaging 65.4 points per game though, giving them a -2.6 scoring margin... both stats are worst in the conference.

UMSL's Matt Enright is the team's leading scorer with an average of 13.8 points per game. He is eighth in the conference for both three-point percentage and three-pointers per game. Additionally, the Tritons boast the conference's blocking leader in Troy Glover II who is averaging 1.9 blocks per game, which puts him 21st in Division II.

Missouri-St. Louis holds the lead in the series with S&T, currently ahead 46 games to 28. The Tritons have dominated the matchup in recent years, with the Miners only winning two of the last twelve games. The Miners did win the previous game in Gibson Arena though, taking down UMSL 76-75 back in 2023.

About the Miners
The Miners are off to their best start in program history with an 11-1 record and a 5-0 start to conference play. They are now ranked #15 in the NABC poll and #25 in the D2CSC poll after a 90-74 victory against Drury last week.

The team is in the top two in the conference for 12 different categories, including first in scoring offense, scoring margin, field goal percentage, defensive rebounds, assists per game, and the assist/turnover ratio. The Miners are top ten in Division II in five in the country in five different statistics: 3rd in fouls per game (12.4), T-4th in scoring margin (20.3), 7th in defensive rebounds per game (29.67), 8th in winning percentage (91.7), and 8th in field goal percentage (50.9).

Alex Benassi (Lee's Summit, MO/Lee's Summit) is third in Division II and first in the GLVC in assist/turnover ratio at a 4.78 ratio. Andrew Young (Ballwin, MO/Marquette) is a top four performer in three GLVC categories: 3rd in blocks per game (1.5), 3rd in field goal percentage (.578), and 4th in rebounds per game (7.7). Young was also just named to the Bevo Francis Award watch list.

What's Next
Missouri S&T will play a trio of away games next week with William Jewell on Monday, Illinois-Springfield on Thursday, and McKendree on Saturday.

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