Josh Palmer

Men's Basketball Scott Puryear, Associate AD For Marketing & Communications

Panthers Entertain No. 20 Indianapolis Thursday In GLVC Showdown At The O'

Men's Basketball Scott Puryear, Associate AD For Marketing & Communications

Panthers Entertain No. 20 Indianapolis Thursday In GLVC Showdown At The O'

Josh Palmer
Thursday's matchup between the Drury Panthers and No. 20 Indianapolis Greyhounds, at a glance ...

*THE MATCHUP: Drury (8-5, 3-2 in the Great Lakes Valley Conference) will play host to No. 20 Indianapolis (10-2, 4-0) in a 7:45 p.m. tipoff Thursday night at the O'Reilly Family Event Center.

*PROMOTIONS: All fans are encouraged to bring gently used or new youth winter coats and gloves to the O'Reilly Center as part of Drury Baseball's Coat and Glove Drive for area elementary school kids. Bins will be placed in the lobby at The O' for collection, and DU Baseball players and coaches working the parking lots on game night will accept coat, glove or cash donations there to help the cause.

*RADIO/TV/INTERNET: The games can be heard on JOCK 98.7 FM, and online at www.radiospringfield.com. A free, live webcast is available at www.drurypanthers.com/watch as part of the GLVC Sports Network (GLVCSN).

*ABOUT THE PANTHERS: Drury had a three-game winning streak snapped with last Saturday's 84-67 loss at Wisconsin-Parkside, a game that got away from DU in a big way late. The Panthers led the Rangers 50-45 with 11 minutes to play in the nationally televised contest (American Sports Network), but saw Parkside get loose for a flurry of baskets from close range late to pull away for the win. Joshua Palmer had a career-high 24 points (on 10 of 12 shooting) to lead DU, while Drew Moore added 13 points and a career-high 14 rebounds for his third double-double (points-rebounds) in the last four games. Preseason All-America guard Kameron Bundy finished with just nine points, ending a streak of 17 consecutive games in double-figures dating back to last season. Bundy averages 18.8 points to lead the Panthers, who get 13.9 points per game from sophomore guard Tevin Foster. 

*SCOUTING INDIANAPOLIS: Coach Stan Gouard's Greyhounds are one of the hottest teams in the country, bringing to The O' a nine-game winning streak that has UIndy tied with Bellarmine and Southern Indiana atop the GLVC East standings at 4-0. Indianapolis has not lost since dropping back-to-back decisions to Ashland and Hillsdale in mid-November. Gouard's latest edition features a lot of D-I transfer help, as 6-4 senior Jordan Loyd (Furman) averages a team-high 20.4 points and 6.7 rebounds to lead the way. Eric Davidson, a 6-1 sophomore, adds 12.2 points, while senior point guard Luke Barker (formerly the GLVC Freshman of the Year at Kentucky Wesleyan) contributes 9.7 points and a team-high 4.3 assists. Joe Retic, a 6-4 senior transfer from D-I Liberty, adds 10.5 points per game, and transfers Alex Etherington (6-5 sophomore from Indiana State) and Tyler Rambo (Murray State) are key contributors off the bench for the Greyhounds, who swept Maryville (82-75) and UMSL (79-68) in Indianapolis last weekend.

*THE SERIES: Drury leads the all-time series with Indianapolis 7-3, including a 74-57 loss at UIndy last season.

*BUNDY CLIMBING THE CHARTS: With 244 points this season, Bundy now has scored 1,463 points in his Drury career, good for 18th on the Panthers' all-time charts after he surpassed Marc Ridlen (1,448 from 1980-84) with his 20-point effort last Thursday at Lewis.  Bundy needs 11 points to pass Jim McKnight (1,473 from 1953-56) for 17th place. Bundy has scored in double-figures in 12 of 13 games this season and 17 of his last 18 dating back to last year after being held to nine at Parkside on Saturday. Bundy has reached double-digits in 62 of his 71 games since moving into the starting lineup for the Panthers at the beginning of his sophomore season, including 30 games of scoring 20 or more points. Interestingly, he has yet to have a 30-point game (career high of 28 points against Parkside in the GLVC tourney last season); although, Bundy did score 40 in an exhibition win over Missouri Baptist to begin this season.

*HESSER REACHES 250: Drury head coach Steve Hesser, now in his 12th season at the helm of the Panthers and the winningest coach in the program's history, secured career collegiate coaching victory No. 250 with the Tarleton State triumph in Las Vegas, and now owns a 252-93 mark (.733 win percentage) in his DU and collegiate coaching career. That includes an 88-22 record dating back to the start of the 2012-13 season, when the Panthers went on to finish 31-4 and claim their first NCAA-II national championship. His DU squads have also captured two of the past three GLVC Championships and made three consecutive NCAA-II tourney appearances in that stretch. Hesser's Panthers are 4-1 this season in games decided by five points or less, continuing his outstanding trend in that regard: In 12 seasons, Hesser's Panthers are 64-27 (.701 win percentage) in that scenario, including 27-8 (.774) since the start of the 2012-13 campaign.

*ON DECK FOR THE PANTHERS: Drury will host Saint Joseph's on Saturday at the O'Reilly Family Event Center as part of the annual "Educator Appreciation Day," with all teachers and administrators at all school levels in southwest Missouri - and their families - admitted for free by presenting a school ID at the ticket window. For tickets, call (417) 873-6389 (kids 12-and-under are admitted free to all DU home regular season games).
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Players Mentioned

Kameron Bundy

#3 Kameron Bundy

G
6' 2"
Senior
Guard
Drew Moore

#41 Drew Moore

F
6' 7"
Sophomore
Forward
Joshua Palmer

#31 Joshua Palmer

F
6' 7"
Junior
Forward
Tevin Foster

#10 Tevin Foster

G
6' 0"
Sophomore
Guard

Players Mentioned

Kameron Bundy

#3 Kameron Bundy

6' 2"
Senior
Guard
G
Drew Moore

#41 Drew Moore

6' 7"
Sophomore
Forward
F
Joshua Palmer

#31 Joshua Palmer

6' 7"
Junior
Forward
F
Tevin Foster

#10 Tevin Foster

6' 0"
Sophomore
Guard
G