Drury Panthers Game Preview
Drury Panthers (6-3, 0-2) vs. Southwest Baptist Bearcats (3-6, 0-2)
Sat., Dec. 9, 2023 – 3 pm – O'Reilly Family Event Center
 
Tickets
$12 (kids 12 and under FREE)
Order Online
417-873-7000
 
Live Coverage
Radio- KICK 92.3 FM / 1340 AM
Live Audio- www.923kick.com, TuneIn app
Live Video
Live Stats
 
Promotion
Overflow the O' presented by O'Reilly Auto Parts
Hall of Fame Day
 
Highway 13 Catfight renewed on Overflow the O' 
Drury and Southwest Baptist tangle on Saturday at 3 pm in the O'Reilly Family Event Center for the first time this season.
 
The Panthers are 6-3 and 0-2 in the Great Lakes Valley Conference. Drury is coming off a 105-65 win over University of the Ozarks on Tuesday as they bounced back from two road losses last week. Drury started conference play with road losses at Lewis and Indianapolis.
 
The Bearcats are also 0-2 in the GLVC, as they lost to the same two opponents on the road as Drury did a week ago. After falling to Indianapolis and Lewis last week, SBU picked up an 80-39 victory against Ozark Christian on Tuesday in Bolivar to raise their overall record to 3-6.
 
Drury leads the all-time series against the Bearcats, 41-23, but SBU won last year's meeting, 82-67, in Bolivar on Jan. 26, 2023.
 
Freshman Juok Riak leads Drury's offense, averaging 14 points and shooting .667 from the field. Sophomore guard Logan Applegate is coming off a 27-point game on Tuesday against the University of the Ozarks and is scoring 11.4 points per game and has made 22 three's in nine games.
 
After Saturday's game, the Panthers will have a 10-day gap between games and return to the court for a home game on Dec. 19 against Southern Arkansas. Game time is at 4 pm in the O'Reilly Family Event Center.
 
About Southwest Baptist
The Bearcats are led by head coach Aaron Niven, who is in his first year leading the program. Niven served as an assistant at Southwest Baptist for the previous five seasons and was the head coach at Spring Hill in Alabama for five years from 2014 to 19.
 
Drenin Dinkins leads Southwest Baptist in scoring, averaging 17.2 points and shooting .455 from the field. Dinkins was a high school teammate of Drury's Brock Wakefield at South Iron HS and both are from Annapolis, Missouri. Drew McMillin puts in 12.2 points per contest and is a .377 shooter from three-point range. 
 
Last Meeting
Southwest Baptist 82 Drury 67 (Jan. 26, 2023 at SBU)
-- Southwest Baptist owned a 45-25 lead at halftime
-- Quinn Nelson led five SBU players in double-figures and finished with 15 points
-- Quenton Shelton had 14 points to lead DU
-- The Bearcats shot 50 percent from the field, going 28 for 56, while the Panthers shot 39 percent, hitting 24 of 62 shots and they were just 7 for 24 from behind the arc
 
All-Time series
Drury is 41-23 on the court all-time against Southwest Baptist but the Bearcats have won five of the last six meetings. SBU won the only match-up between the two teams last year, 82-67, in Bolivar on Jan. 26, 2023. Southwest Baptist has only won at Drury once since 2008. The Bearcats took down the Panthers, 81-46, on Jan. 26, 2021, in the O'Reilly Family Event Center.
 
Drury's last game
Drury 106 Univ. of the Ozarks 65 (Tue. at DU)
-- Logan Applegate led all scorers with 27 points and went 10 for 16 from the field, including 7 of 12 from three-point range
-- Drury led 50-28 at halftime
-- The Panthers had 29 assists on 41 made shots
-- Luke Stubbs came off the bench to add 15 for Drury
-- The Panthers shot 59 percent from the field, hitting 41 of their 69 shots
 -- Drury hit 16 three's going 16 for 35 behind the arc
 
QUICK FACTS
Records
Drury: 6-3, 0-2
SBU: 3-6, 0-2
 
Head Coaches
Drury: Chris Foster (3^rd yr., 25-39/10th yr., 142-118)
SBU: Aaron Niven (1^st yr., 3-6/7^th yr., 50-100)
 
Streak
Drury: Won 1
SBU: Won 1
 
Last 5 Games
Drury: 3-2
SBU: 3-2
 
All-Time Series
Drury 41-23 vs. Southwest Baptist
 
Last Meeting
Southwest Baptist 82 Drury 67 (Jan. 26, 2023 at DU)
 
Next Game
Drury vs Southern Arkansas -- Tue., Dec. 19
4 pm – O'Reilly Family Event Center
 
 
#allweDUiswin