Tonight's Game

• The Lindenwood Lions will be back on its home court Thursday night when they take on the top team in the MIAA, Northwest Missouri. The Lions are in the midst of a four-game losing skid and look to get back in the win column.

• Lindenwood is coming off a 77-58 loss to the Central Missouri Mules. The loss dropped the Lions to 8-12 on the season and 3-7 in the MIAA.
 
• Northwest Missouri enters the game with a record of 14-5 overall and are 9-1 in MIAA play. The Bearcats have won their last nine-of-10 games.
 
• Lindenwood and Northwest Missouri have met four times. Northwest Missouri holds a 4-0 advantage.

Lindenwood Notes

• Three-point shooting has been a strength this season. The Lions have made at least five threes in every game but two. Three times this season, Lindenwood made a season-high 10 threes in a game.

• The first half has not been kind to the Lions this season. The team is averaging just 36.5 points in the opening half. But the second half is where the team has scored its points. Lindenwood is averaging 40 points in the final half and has outscored its opponents 800-773.

• Darris Smith and Tyler Ressel have become the Lions go to scorers over the past 10 games. One of the two have led the team in scoring in every game but two over that span. The duo is averaging over 34 points during the stretch.

• Darris Smith is the team's lone returning starter is averaging over 33 minutes a game and has just 29 turnovers compared to 58 assists. Twice this season the junior has played in all 40 minutes.

• When the Lions attempt more threes than their opponents the team is 7-5 and are 4-5 when its makes more threes.

• Tyler Ressel has been getting to the free throw stripe frequently this season. Ressel is third in the MIAA in free throw attempts (144) and fourth free throw percentage (.833).

• A halftime lead has been very important to the Lions. In seven of the Lions eight wins the team has led at the half.

• There has not been too many close games for the Lions this season. In the team's eight wins, there has only been two wins that weren't single digits.

• Michael Boos has become the Lions best three-point shooter this season. Boos is shooting at a 49 percent clip which ranks him fourth in the conference.

• Free throw attempts are up all across the NCAA and that is definitely the case for the Lions. Four times this season Lindenwood's free throw attempts have been in the top 10 of attempts in program history.

• In every game but two this season the Lions have shot at least 10 free throws. Eight times this season Lindenwood has had games when it took 30 free throws.

• When the Lions offense has been clicking they have been tough to beat. When they score over 80 points the team is 6-2.

• In a win against Pittsburg State the Lions 50 free throws attempted was the most free throws in school history.

• The Lions starting five have been frequent visitors to the charity stripe this season. The five starters have taken 374 free throws and are shooting 78 percent from the stripe.

• Tyler Ressel had his best game of his career and one of the best in program history. Against Missouri S&T, his 41 points scored was the second highest point total in program history. He also broke the school record for free throw attempts with 24 and tied the record for free throws made with 21.

• Unlike last year's team which had six seniors this season's squad has just one. Tyler Ressel is the only senior on the roster.

• The Hyland Arena floor has been very good to the Lions since Brad Soderberg took over. In his first five seasons, Lindenwood is 58-13 at home.

• Coach Soderberg is the all-time leader in school history in wins and winning percentage. It took Soderberg just four years to become the schools all-time winningest coach.

Northwest Missouri Notes

• The Northwest Missouri State Bearcats enter tonight's game with a record of 14-5 overall and 9-1 in MIAA play. The Bearcats won their six games.

• As a team, the Bearcats are averaging 81.9 points a game and are giving up just 70.0. Northwest Missouri is shooting 50 percent from the field and 44 percent from behind the arc which is the top percentage in the MIAA. The Bearcats are also shooting 75 percent from the free-throw line.  

• The Bearcats are led by four players who score in double figures. Dillon Starzl leads the team with an average of 15.3 points a game.  DeShaun Cooper is second on the team with an average of 15.0 points. Conner Crooker chips in with 12.9 points and Grant Cozad rounds out the top scorers.

• Ben McCollum is the head coach of the Bearcats and is in his 6th season at Northwest Missouri.