Game #29
Northeastern State (18-10) vs. (22/RV) Missouri Southern (21-7)
Friday, March 6 at 8:15 p.m. | Kansas City, Mo. - Municipal Auditorium

Game Coverage	goriverhawksgo.com/coverage.aspx
NSU Game Notes	Game Notes
Live Audio	NSU Digital Network & Billy Country 96.3
Live Video	The MIAA Network

Opening Tip 

• Will head into the conference tournament with the most extended break out of all ten teams. 
• As NCAA members, NSU is 10-12 in conference postseason tournaments with two appearances in a tournament final (2002 and 2004) when they were members of the Lone Star Conference.  
• At 18 wins, the RiverHawks have won its most games in a season since 2013 where they won 19.   Since 2003, when NSU won the NCAA Division II National Title, the program has won more than 18 games three times.
• The RiverHawks have 32 wins in the last two seasons, the four years prior, they had 28. 
• NSU's last win over a ranked team was against #23 UA-Fort Smith (11/22/16).
• Northeastern State finished with a winning record in MIAA play for the first time since 2013.  In the last two seasons, they have won 19.  From 2014 to 2018, they won 20 in four years.
• The RiverHawks had three All-MIAA selections in 2020, the most in one season as a member (2012-Present).  
• The RiverHawks are third in the MIAA in blocks with a 102 and are 61st nationally. 
• Northeastern State leads the MIAA and is third nationally in field-goal percentage defense (39.8).
• On the offensive glass, NSU is fourth in conference play with 10.2 boards a game. 

NSU individual player notes are on page one of the game notes.

NSU's MIAA Tournament History
2013 - (4) Northwest Missouri 69, (5) Northeastern State 65  Kansas City, Mo., March 7, 2013
2014 - (5) Central Oklahoma 61, (9) Northeastern State 60  Kansas City, Mo., March 8 2014
(9) Northeastern State 84, (1) Central Missouri 82 Kansas City, Mo., March 7, 2014
(9) Northeastern State 79, (8) Washburn 75   Topeka, Kan., March 4, 2014
2015 - (5) Pittsburg State 69, (12) Northeastern State 54  Pittsburg, Kan., March 5, 2015
2017 - (5) Fort Hays State 61, (12) Northeastern State 53 Hays, Kan., Feb. 27, 2017
2019 - (8) Emporia St. 72, (9) Northeastern State 68 Kansas City, Mo., March 6, 2019

The Series with Missouri Southern

• Friday's meeting is the third neutral site game between NSU and Missouri Southern. 
• There has been one meeting in Kansas City between the two programs in 2011 at the College Basketball Experience at the Sprint Center.
• The last three meetings with the Lions have been decided within six points. 
• Last win for NSU over Missouri Southern away from Tahlequah was on Jan. 26, 2013.
• Nine of the last ten games outside of Tahlequah have been Missouri Southern wins.
• Head Coach Mark Downey is 2-2 all-time against the Lions.

About the Lions

• Finished third in the MIAA standings. 
• Ranked sixth in the Central Region and #22 in the NABC National Poll.
• Lineup features four 2020 All-MIAA selections.
• The Lions lead the MIAA in scoring offense with 85.0 points and rebound per game (38.1).
• MOSO has three on their roster that are inside the top-13 in their program's all-time scoring list.
• All three are from Oklahoma as well. Edmond native Elyjah Clark has the 16th most active points in Division II men's basketball with 1,755 and is on top of the active list in three-pointers made with 355. 
• Yukon's Cam Martin has 1,514 points in his second playing season at MOSO and paces averages 24.9-points against MIAA teams. Owasso's Kinzer Lambert has 1,389 career points.
• Martin leads the MIAA in free throws (211) and free-throws made (174).

Looking Back

• Finished the regular season with wins in three of their final four games. 
• Had three runs of ten unanswered points in the regular season finale at Emporia State.
• Only trailed the Hornets for 1:20 and handed the Hornets its largest loss margin with NSU in the series' history. 
• Kendrick Thompson had eight three-pointers and NSU hitting a Downey era high 16.