A Look At Thursday's Game• The Lindenwood men's basketball team is home for two games this week, starting with a Thursday night contest against Pittsburg State. Tipoff is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. at Hyland Arena. The game will be a rematch of last year's MIAA Tournament Quarterfinals matchup which was won by the Gorillas.
• The Lions enter this week in a two-way tie for first place in the MIAA with an 8-3 record. Three other teams are one game back, and three others are two games back in the loss column. Lindenwood improved to 12-5 overall last Saturday with a 68-47 win over Southwest Baptist.
• Pittsburg State is currently 9-8 overall and 4-7 in the MIAA. The Gorillas have won two out of their last three games, including an 89-80 win over then MIAA co-leader Missouri Southern last Saturday.
• Lindenwood leads the MIAA in field-goal percentage defense (.385), while Pittsburg State is second in the conference in field-goal percentage (.485).
• Pittsburg State leads the all-time series with Lindenwood by a 3-2 margin. The two teams split two games last year, with the Lions winning on the road and the Gorillas winning on a neutral site. Lindenwood is 1-1 all-time against Pittsburg State at Hyland Arena.
Lindenwood Notes• Lindenwood leads the MIAA in scoring defense (63.2), field-goal percentage defense (.385), and blocks (5.1). It is sixth in NCAA Division II in scoring defense, fifth in field-goal percentage defense, and 15th in blocks.
• Lindenwood's defense has held ten straight opponents under 70 points, and 14 of its 17 opponents this season have not reached that mark. The Lions have held four out of their last five opponents under 60 points.
• Lindenwood has won the rebounding battle in five straight contests, and it has a +10.4 rebounding margin in that span. The Lions have been outrebounded just twice this season, and they rank second in the MIAA with a +6.5 rebounding margin.
• Lindenwood is 7-2 at Hyland Arena this season, and it is now 79-19 (81%) at home since the start of the 2009-10 season. The Lions need three more home victories this year to reach double-figure home wins for the seventh straight season.
• The Lions rank fourth in the MIAA in three-point percentage (.377) and are third in free-throw percentage (.758). Lindenwood is shooting 46.3 percent from the field, which ranks seventh in the conference.
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Cory Arentsen has scored 20 or more points in 11 of the team's 17 games this season. His 21.2 average is fifth in the MIAA, and would be one of the top-five marks in Lindenwood history .
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Stanislas Heili is seven blocks away from Lindenwood's single-season record of 51. He ranks 12th in NCAA Division II with 2.6 blocks a game.
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Cory Arentsen leads the MIAA with a .897 free-throw percentage. He is a perfect 12-of-12 this season in the final two minutes of the game.
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Chandler Diekvoss has scored at least eight points in the last three games. In that span, he is shooting 70 percent from the field, 75 percent from three-point range, and 90 percent from the free-throw line.
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LJ McIntosh is averaging 7.4 points a game in MIAA action, which ranks fourth on the team. He has helped the team average 17.5 points a game off the bench since the start of January.
• Lindenwood is ranked fifth in the region this week according to the D2SIDA poll. The official NCAA regional polls, which decides the NCAA Tournament field, will begin in mid-February.
A Glance At Pittsburg State• The Gorillas returned four starters from last year's squad that won the MIAA Tournament and advanced to the NCAA Division II Tournament.
• Pittsburg State lost six straight MIAA games at one point, but has bounced back and won two of its last three.
• Josiah Gustafson leads the team with 15.4 points a game. He is one of the conference's top shooters, making 48.6 percent of his three-pointers and 86.7 percent of his free throws. Gustafson also leads the team with 5.4 rebounds a game.
• Javis Flynn leads the MIAA with over five assists a game, and he is second with two steals a contest.
