Drury Panthers Game Preview
Drury Panthers (7-4, 0-3) at Illinois Springfield Prairie Stars (10-4, 3-1)
Wed., Jan. 3, 2024 – 7:30 pm – The Recreation & Athletic Center – Springfield, Ill.     
 
Live Coverage
Radio- KICK 92.3 FM / 1340 AM
Live Audio- www.923kick.com, TuneIn app
Live Video: GLVCSN (pay-per-view)
Live Stats: uisprairiestars.com
 
Drury resumes schedule at Illinois Springfield 
Drury resumes their schedule on Wednesday with their first game since Dec. 19 when they travel to Illinois Springfield for a 7:30 pm contest.
 
The Panthers are 7-4, 0-3 in the Great Lakes Valley Conference, and coming off a 72-68 win at home over Southern Arkansas.
 
Illinois Springfield has also been idle since Dec. 19 and is 10-4 with a 3-1 mark in the GLVC. The Prairie Stars have won three straight and picked up a 70-57 win against Grand Valley State in their last contest. Illinois Springfield's only league loss came against Missouri-St. Louis, 87-81, at home on Dec. 9.
 
Drury leads the all-time series against their Prairie Stars 14-5, but UIS won both games last year and four of the last six meetings.
 
Juok Riak leads the Panthers entering Wednesday's game, averaging 15 points and shooting .690 from the field. Logan Applegate is averaging 12.5 points and 5.2 rebounds.
 
After Wednesday's game, Drury is back at home when they host Rockhurst at 3 pm on Saturday. 
 
About Illinois Springfield
The Prairie Stars are second in the GLVC in shooting, hitting a .521 clip from the field and a league-best .428 mark from three-point range. Illinois Springfield is out-scoring opponents by 12.5 points per game as they put up 83.2 points per contest while allowing just 70.7.
 
Jordan Rice leads the Prairies, averaging 15.6 points, while Jacob Hanna puts in 14 per game with 6.4 rebounds per contest.
 
UIS is coached by Matt Brock, who played high school basketball at Camdenton then collegiately at Truman State. After assistant coaching stops at Hannibal-LaGrange, Pittsburg State, and Columbia, he went 87-40 as head coach at Missouri Baptist and is in his fifth year at Illinois Springfield.
 
2022-23 Series
Ill. Springfield 99 Drury 89 (Feb. 23, 2023 at DU)
-- Max Kunnert led the Prairie Stars with 26 points going 10 of 13 from the field and 5 for 7 from three-point range
-- Jack Weber added 20 points on 10 of 14 shooting and had 9 rebounds
-- Preston Cook led the Panthers with 26, while Logan Applegate added 22
 
Ill. Springfield 81 Drury 58 (Jan. 14, 2023 at UIS)
-- Jack Weber had 14 points and 8 rebounds for UIS
-- Logan Applegate led Drury with 14 points
-- The Prairie Stars out-rebounded Drury 41-31 and limited the Panthers to 37 percent shooting
 
All-Time series
Drury leads the all-time series against Illinois Springfield 14-5, but two of the Prairie Stars wins against the Panthers came last year, 99-89 at Drury on Feb. 23 and 81-58 in Springfield, Illinois, on Jan. 14. The Panthers are 5-4 in their history at UIS with their last road win in the series coming on Jan. 25, 2018 in an 80-60 win.
 
Drury's last game
Drury 72 Southern Arkansas 68 (Dec. 19 at DU)
-- Juok Riak led Drury with 24 points, went 8 for 11 from the field and 8 for 8 from the free throw line
-- Logan Applegate added 18 points and 9 rebounds
 -- Carel Ray, Jr. had 23 points and 11 rebounds to lead Southern Arkansas
-- Drury held the Muleriders to 37 percent shooting as Southern Arkansas went 24 for 65 from the floor and 6 for 26 from three-point range
-- The Muleriders had a 41-27 rebounding advantage and had 17 offensive boards
 
QUICK FACTS
Records 
Drury: 7-4 (0-3)
UIS: 10-4 (3-1)
 
Head Coaches
Drury: Chris Foster (3^rd year, 26-39/10th year, 143-119)
UIS: Matt Brock (5^th year, 63-57/9^th year, 149-98)
 
Last Game
Drury: Won vs. Southern Arkansas 72-68 (Dec. 19)
UIS: Won vs. Grand Valley St. 70-57 (Dec. 19)
 
Streak
Drury: Won 1
UIS: Won 3
 
Last 5 Games
Drury: 2-3
UIS: 4-1
 
All-Time Series
Drury 14-5
 
2022-23 Series
Illinois Springfield 99 Drury 89 (Feb. 23 at DU)
Illinois Springfield 81 Drury 58 (Jan. 14 at UIS)
 
Next
Drury vs. Rockhurst – Sat., Jan. 6, 2024
3 pm – O'Reilly Family Event Center
 
 
#allwewDUiswin