The headline: Northeastern State has three home games remaining in the regular season with Central Missouri coming to the Event Center on Saturday. Against schools in the MIAA, Northeastern State leads the field at the free-throw line by making 79.1-percent of their shots.
Montre' Williams paces NSU with 12.9 points per game and in his third season has scored 721 points.
Last time out for NSU: In one of their stronger defensive efforts of the season, Northeastern State couldn't get things going on the offensive side of the ball falling 51-43 on Thursday against Southwest Baptist.
The RiverHawks shot a season low 26.8-percent from the field or 15-for-56, while not making a single three-pointer against the Bearcats. For the first time all season, NSU didn't have a player in double-figures with
Montre' Williams leading the way with eight points.
Despite the shooting woes on Thursday, Northeastern State had their second highest rebounding night of the season with 38. On the offensive glass they had 16 which matched a season mark for the year that was last set in their second game of the season against Northwestern Oklahoma. Northeastern State also forced 20 turnovers with a season high six blocks on the Bearcats. However, NSU only scored eight points on turnovers and had ten points in their second chance.
Northeastern State (3-17, 2-10 MIAA) vs. Central Missouri (14-6, 8-4 MIAA)
Feb. 4, 2017 | 2:30 p.m. | NSU Event Center
Live Stats | Live Video | Live Audio
The series with Central Missouri: In five games, the RiverHawks trail the overall series 3-2 when facing Central Missouri, at Northeastern State the series is tied 1-1.
Last time out for Central Missouri: Central Missouri saw its five-game winning streak come to an end as the Mules fell at Central Oklahoma 58-54 on Thursday night. The Mules fall to 14-6 overall and now find themselves in a three-way tie for second place in the MIAA at 8-4.
The win was the third straight in the series for the Bronchos and their fourth in the last five meetings.They are now tied with the Mules and Nebraska-Kearney for second in the league standings.
Kyle Wolf led UCM with 15 points, while Spencer Reaves had 11 and Jakob Lowrance finished with 10. UCM shot just 39 percent from the field (19-49), including 29 percent (5-17) from three-point range. UCM was 11-of-14 at the foul line.
The Mules out-scored the Bronchos 26-18 in the paint and 20-9 in points off turnovers, but UCO held a 33-23 advantage on the glass.
Scouting Central Missouri: Five of the six losses for the Mules this season have come on the road with Central Missouri scoring under 74 points a game. On defense, the Mules hold teams to 66.6 points a game which is second lowest in the MIAA. Spencer Reaves leads the Mules with 16.5 points a game while Marquiez Lawrence leads UCM in rebounds with 6.1 a game. In steals, the Mules average the second most takeaways per game in the league with 7.5.
NSU's last time out against Central Missouri: The Northeastern State men's basketball team lost to Central Missouri 70-61 last season inside the NSU Event Center.
Dakota Caudill tied his career high with 11 rebounds and registered his second career double-double after pouring in 17 points.
Javon Wallace tallied a season-high 13 points and nine rebounds, while also adding a pair of blocks in 24 minutes off the bench.
Montre' Williams contributed 10 points, six assists, three rebounds and two steals.
NSU shot 36.8 percent (21-for-57) from the field, 26.9 percent (7-for-26) from behind the 3-point arc and 52.2 percent (12-for-23) at the free-throw line. UCM shot 43.2 percent (19-for-44) overall, 26.3 percent (5-for-19) from deep and 77.1 percent (27-for-35) at the charity stripe.
