Saturday's Game At A Glance 
• The Lindenwood men's basketball team has its toughest task of the season on Saturday afternoon when it hosts the No. 1 team in NCAA Division II. The Lions will take on Northwest Missouri in a 3:30 p.m. contest.
 
• Lindenwood has won two straight contests, including a 71-63 victory over Missouri Western on Thursday night. The Lions are 16-9 on the season, and they are tied for ninth in the MIAA with a 6-7 mark.
 
• Northwest Missouri is undefeated on the season after 20 games. It had one of its closest games of the season on Thursday when it knocked off Lincoln by an 80-75 score. The Bearcats lead the MIAA by four games with a 12-0 mark.
 
• Northwest Missouri leads the all-time series with Lindenwood by a 9-1 margin. The two teams have met just three times at Hyland Arena, with the Lions winning one of those games.
 
• Last season, Lindenwood and Northwest Missouri split its regular season meetings, and the Bearcats won in the MIAA Quarterfinals. The Lions outscored Northwest Missouri by nine points for the year, including a 16-point win at Hyland Arena. The Bearcats won their two games by two and five points, respectively.
 
Lindenwood Notes
• Lindenwood is fourth in the MIAA with a 69.0 scoring defense. The Lions are 9-1 when holding opponents below 70 points, and 7-8 when opponents score over that mark.
 
• The Lions have done a good job closing out games this season. Lindenwood is 14-0 when leading or tied with five minutes remaining in the game.
 
• Lindenwood has committed more turnovers than its opposition in just three contests this season, It has not committed more in a game since Dec. 8, a span of 14 contests.
 
• Zac Haese had his first double-figure scoring game of the year against Fort Hays State with 14 points. He was four-of-five from three-point range, and his first two free throws of the season gave the Lions the lead for good with 5:44 remaining.
 
• Since the start of 2017, Bakari Triggs is averaging 10.7 points a game, and is shooting 46.6 percent from the field. Triggs is also averaging 2.0 steals and 4.8 rebounds a game in that span.
 
• Lindenwood has two of the top-10 rebounders in the MIAA. Dominique Dobbs is fourth with a 7.8 rebounding average. Chandler Diekvoss is currently ninth in the league by pulling down 6.2 boards a contest.
• Adam Pohlman did a good job directing Lindenwood's offense the last three games, averaging five assists a game. He also had just one turnover in that span. Pohlman is now third in the MIAA and 28th in NCAA Division II in assist-to-turnover ratio with a 2.79 mark.
 
• Dominique Dobbs has averaged 1.8 blocks a game over the last five contests. He ranks eighth in the MIAA with 1.1 blocks on the season.
 
• Chandler Diekvoss has scored in double-figures in each of the last four games. He is averaging 16.3 points in that span.
 
• The Lions rank fourth in the MIAA with a .743 free-throw percentage. Among its top seven players in terms of playing time, every player is shooting over 69 percent. Four of those players are making over 80 percent, including Bakari Triggs who has not missed a free throw this year in 19 attempts.
 
• The trio of Jackson Price, Brenon Larson-Gulsvig, and LJ McIntosh have all hit over 40 three-pointers this season, and have a combined 141 three-pointers.
 
• In the latest national rankings, the Lions rank in the top-50 in scoring defense (40th) and fewest turnovers per game (24th).
 
A Look At the Bearcats
• Northwest Missouri has won 32 straight regular season games, a streak which goes back to Jan. 13 when it lost at Emporia State.
 
• The Bearcats are third in NCAA Division II by allowing just 61.6 points a game. It is also in the top-10 in assist-to-turnover ratio, field-goal percentage, scoring margin, three-point field-goal percentage, and fewest turnovers per game.
 
• Last season's MIAA MVP Justin Pitts leads the Bearcats with a 19.7 scoring average. He leads the league in assists with a 5.8 average, and also leads the team in steals.
 
• Chris-Ebou Ndow is second on the team with 12.8 points a game, and leads the team with a 6.7 rebounding average. Zach Schneider leads the team with 66 three-pointers.