Joplin, Mo. -- The Missouri Southern men's basketball team will venture out of MIAA play for a pre-Christmas matchup with Arkansas Tech Monday night. Tip off from
Robert Corn Court inside the Leggett & Platt Athletic Center is slated for 6 pm.
Game Information
Teams: Missouri Southern (8-2, 4-0 MIAA) vs. Arkansas Tech (4-2, 2-2 GAC)
Date: Monday, Dec. 10, 2016
Tip-Off: 6:00 pm
Location: Joplin, Mo.
Site: Leggett & Platt Athletic Center (3,240)
Series Record: MSSU leads 17-8
Coaches: Jeff Boschee (46-25 overall/at MSSU). Chad Kline (37-29 at Arkansas Tech/ overall
Media Coverage
MSSU Radio: None
Internet Audio: None
Live Video: www.mssulions.com
Live Stats: www.mssulions.com
Lions on Facebook: Facebook.com/mososports
Lions on Twitter: @mososports; @mssumensbball
The Series
Southern is 17-8 overall against Arkansas Tech. The two teams hooked up nearly every year in the early to mid 70's and then became a regular opponent in the Lions' Thanksgiving tournament from 1991-97. The two teams have played three out of the last four years with the Lions taking two of the three meetings. Southern has won six out of the last eight games against the Wonder Boys. The Lions are 15-2 at home, 2-5 in Russellville and 0-1 in neutral locations.
NCAA Individual Stat Leaders
CJ Carr is fourth nationally in total steals, eighth in steals per game, 13th in field goal attempts, 15th in total points and scoring, 18th in free throws made and total assists, 34th in total field goals made, 37th in assists per game, 39th in free throw attempts and 43rd in minutes. Elyjah Clark ranks 43rd in total three pointers made.
NCAA Team Stat Leaders
Southern ranks ninth in turnover margin, while ranking 22nd in both free throws made and free throw percentage. The Lions rank 23rd in turnovers forced, 29th in total steals, 34th in free throw attempts, 35th in turnovers per game, 36th in scoring, 39th in total three pointers made, and 49th in steals per game.
MIAA Individual Leaders
Carr leads the MIAA in assists per game, free throws made, total assists and total steals. He ranks second in total field goal attempts, while ranking third in three point attempts, minutes, points per game, total field goals and total points.
MIAA Team Stat Leaders
The Lions lead the MIAA free throw percentage, offensive rebounds, scoring, and turnover margin, while ranking second in turnovers forced and three pointers per game. The team ranks third in free throw attempts and made, as well as steals per game, total steals and turnovers per game.
There's Our Rebounds
For the fourth time this season, the Lions won the rebound battle as they held a 35-28 advantage against Lindenwood. In the last three games for the Lions, Southern has out rebounded its opponents by a margin of 11.3, including 12.3 on the offensive boards. Those offensive rebounds have led to 15.3 second-chance points per game over the last three for the Lions.
LJ's Night At The Boards
LJ Ross had a career-night against Nebraska-Kearney as the junior from Tulsa had 19 rebounds in the game against the Lopers, besting his previous career-high of 13 set earlier in the year against Minnesota State.
Red-Hot Freshman
Elyjah Clark is second on the team in scoring this year with 15.1 points per game and he ranks 12th in the MIAA in that category. However, he is the top-scoring freshman in the entire MIAA.
Give Me That Ball
The Lions lead the MIAA in turnover margin, while ranking second in turnovers forced and fewest turnovers themselves. Southern is forcing 18.0 turnovers per game this year, with a turnover margin of 6.4.
Let's Try That Again
The Lions lead the MIAA in offensive rebounds this year, averaging 12.8 offensive boards per game. That equates to 15.7 second-chance points a game.
Three Point Streak
The Lions failed to make a three-pointer at Arkansas Tech in their match-up in 2012-13. It was the first time in 403 games that Southern had failed to hit a three pointer, dating back to Jan. 20, 1999 against Missouri S&T. The Lions have had a three in 122-straight games since Arkansas Tech in 2012-13.
Quadruple Double
In the sport of basketball, a triple double (double-digits in three stat categories) is thought of as an awesome feat. CJ Carr nearly got a quadruple double in the season opener at St. Cloud State with 25 points, 12 assists, 7 rebounds and 7 steals.
New Starting Five
For the first time in program history (since joining the NCAA), the Missouri Southern men's basketball program started five entirely new players to the roster the first two games to the season this year. All five players in the starting lineup did not play last year at MSSU.
D2 SID's Regional Ranking
After going 8-2 to start the season, the Lions are at No. 6 in the Division II SID's regional rankings this week.
Keep Em Low
The Lions held Lindenwood to just 55 points which is a season-low for any MSSU opponent. The 55 points are the lowest allowed in a single-game for Southern since 48 in the 2014-15 season against Benedictine and the lowest against an MIAA opponent since 54 against Northeastern State on Jan. of 2015.
4-0 Start To MIAA
MSSU is off to a 4-0 start in league play for the first time since the 2010-11 season when the Lions went 4-0 to start MIAA play.
New School Record
The Lions set a new school record with 42 attempted three pointers against Missouri S&T. The mark surpassed the 34 set last season against Washburn.
Lions On The Radio
The majority of the Lions games this season can be heard on the Missouri Southern Radio Network in Joplin. Partnering with ESPN Joplin, the Lions can be heard on 101.3 FM, 103.5 FM, 88.7 FM and AM 1560.
Lions on TV
All Missouri Southern conference home games will be brought to you live this season courtesy of KGCS TV in Joplin. Fans can catch the action over the air live on Digital Channel 22 as well as on local cable systems.
Up Next
The Lions will be back in action on December 31 as they play host to Oklahoma Wesleyan at 3 pm inside the Leggett & Platt Athletic Center.
