ROLLA, MO  --  #9 Missouri S&T hosts their final two home doubleheaders of the season this week, with William Jewell coming on Thursday and Truman State on Saturday. Thursday's game will be Greenout night, where all attendees are encouraged to wear green, while Saturday's game will be the annual Military Appreciation/Senior Day.
 
About the Cardinals
The defending Great Lakes Valley Conference Tournament Champions from the 2023-24 season have struggled to find the same success as last season, entering this week's game with an 8-14 record and sitting in the bottom four of the conference with a 5-9 conference record. William Jewell has had to rely heavily on their defense this season as they have the lowest average points per game in the GLVC at 67.8. Contrarily, they are allowing the third fewest points per game to opponents this season at 70.9.
 
Fifth-year Jordan Jermain and junior Jason Thirdkill Jr. have combined for more than half of the team's points this season, carrying the bulk of the Cardinal's offensive attack. Jermain's 21.5 points per game are second in the conference, while Thirdkill Jr.'s ranks fifth with 16.2 per game. Thirdkill Jr. was unable to play when they hosted S&T in late January. He will prove to be tough competition, ranking top ten in the conference in blocks per game, field goal percentage, and rebounds per game.
 
Jewell leads the head-to-head series, up 31-20. The Miners will look to extend their win streak to two against the Cardinals after ending a five-game skid against them with their win last month.
 
About the Bulldogs
Truman did not live up to their #1 preseason ranking early in the season, starting the year 8-7 and going 2-5 in their first seven GLVC games. They have bounced back over the last month though, winning six of their last seven, including their last three in a row. They will stop in Jefferson City, Missouri to face the Lincoln Blue Tigers on Thursday night before making their way to Rolla for Saturday's game.
 
Kobi Williams and Xavier Hall are the top two for the Bulldogs, with Williams averaging 14.0 PPG and Hall averaging 13.9 PPG. Hall is also the conference lead in assists per game with 5.9 and is top ten in the conference for both assist to turnover ratio and field goal percentage.
 
The Miners 72-69 win at Truman at the start of the year ended one of their longest active losing streaks and brought their all-time series against the Bulldogs to 47-105.
 
About the Miners
S&T's first conference loss of the season came on Saturday against the Upper Iowa Peacocks in the 100-85 loss in Fayette, Iowa. The Peacocks high-powered offense grabbed a lead early and continued to keep putting up points to prevent a Miner comeback. The Miners still performed well in the loss, recording their fourth best field goal percentage in a conference game this season as they outshot the Peacocks by 2.7%.
 
Andrew Young (Ballwin, MO/Marquette) and Lovell Williams (Rogers, MN/Maple Grove) continue to highlight an incredible S&T squad that has broken numerous program records. Andrew Young (Ballwin, MO/Marquette) is top five in the conference in twelve different statistics and leads the GLVC in field goal percentage (51.2). Meanwhile, Lovell Williams (Rogers, MN/Maple Grove) is third in-conference for assist-turnover ratio at 2.39.
 
What's Next
The Miners begin a four-game road stretch next week, heading to Southwest Baptist and Rockhurst first.
 
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