SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – Drury men's basketball will open a two-game weekend road swing Thursday (Jan. 15) evening with a 7:30 p.m. Great Lakes Valley Conference contest against Maryville at Moloney Arena in St. Louis.
Drury (7-8, 2-5 GLVC) will be looking for its second straight GLVC win after the Panthers posted an 85-79 home victory over Lincoln (Jan. 10) in a game Drury led for nearly 37 minutes.
Maryville (2-14, 0-8 GLVC) enters the game on a five-game losing skid following road losses to William Jewell and Rockhurst last weekend.
Fans may follow the action through the GLVC Sports Network (subscription required), where games will be streamed live throughout the regular season. New for the 2025-26 academic year, viewing access to live broadcasts from GLVC regular season and postseason contests will be available via monthly subscription ($30) or annual subscription ($140). Single-event access can also be purchased for $15.
Audio broadcasts for all Drury men's basketball games in 2025-26 will be streamed online through the DU All-Access button via DruryPanthers.com. Fans may access the audio streams by visiting the 2025-26 schedule page for the Panthers and selecting the "Listen" link, or via the DU All Access button located on the home page.
SERIES HISTORY
- Drury brings a 24-4 series advantage against Maryville into Thursday's matchup.
- The Panthers have won each of the last three meetings in the series dating back to the 2023-24 season.
- DU claimed last year's game in Springfield with an 85-71 decision on Jan. 18, 2025.
- Drury is 10-3 vs. Maryville in St. Louis, but the Saints have won three of their last four home contests against the Panthers.
- The Panthers are 4-2 vs. Maryville under Chris Foster, who has gone 11-4 against the Saints over his 12-year career.
ABOUT MARYVILLE
- The Saints bring a 2-14 season mark and 0-8 GLVC record into Thursday's game.
- Maryville is averaging 67.2 points per contest, while shooting .389 from the floor as a team.
- The Saints are allowing an average of 87.8 points per game, and their opponents have shot a collective .492 from the floor and .410 from beyond the three-point arc this season.
- Noah Courtney has average 12.3 points per game while shooting .444 from the floor; Kobe Clark is the GLVC's leading rebounder with his average of 9.4 boards per outing.
- Additionally, Henry Sanchez (10.8) and Eric Hackett (10.0) are averaging in double figures for the Saints.
ABOUT DRURY
- Under fifth-year head coach Chris Foster, Drury is coming off back-to-back winning seasons for the first time since 2019-21 after going 14-13 a year ago and 15-13 in 2023-24.
- As a team, the Panthers are scoring at an 82.8 ppg clip, while allowing an average of 77.2 points per outing.
- Drury is paced by an offense that features three double-figure scorers, led by junior guard Zach Howell (16.6 ppg) and sophomore guard Colin Hardrick (14.9).
- Howell is DU's leading returning scorer, while Hardrick earned GLVC All-Freshman and All-Defensive team honors last winter after averaging 10.2 points, 6.7 boards and 2.0 steals per outing.
- Junior guard Luke Stubbs has returned from an injury that sidelined him for the majority of the 2024-25 season, making 12 starts and averaging 8.3 points per outing to date.
- Several talented newcomers have contributed significantly in their first eight weeks as Panthers: freshman KeShaun Thomas (15.9 ppg) has been a dominant force in the paint, scoring in double-figures in 12 of the Panthers' 15 games, including four double-doubles; fellow rookie Keion Epps is averaging 7.5 points, in addition to his GLVC-best 5.3 assist-per-game average; redshirt freshman Isaiah Otyaluk has provided a lift in his first season at Drury as well, including a pair of 20-point performances.
LAST TIME OUT
- Drury used a 16-4 second-half scoring run to build a double-digit lead, then held off Lincoln's late comeback bid in its win over the Blue Tigers Saturday afternoon at O'Reilly Family Event Center.
- DU relied on balanced contributions from four double-digit scorers to earn their second GLVC win of the season.
- The Panthers shot 26-of-59 (.441) from the floor and committed just eight turnovers, while knocking down 26-of-30 free-throw attempts for the game, including 16-of-18 in the second half.
- Zach Howell led Drury with 21 points, 14 of which came in the second half, to help hold off the Blue Tigers, who whittled what was once a 12-point DU lead down to a one-possession game on six different occasions in the final five minutes of play.
- Luke Stubbs tallied a career-high with 15 points and finished 6-of-6 at the foul line.
- Colin Hardrick came up big for Drury as well, scoring 20 points while pulling down eight rebounds, and KeShaun Thomas delivered his fourth double-double of the season, finishing with 18 points and a career-high 11 rebounds.
PANTHERS IN THE RANKINGS
- The Panthers ranked among the GLVC's top clubs in a number of categories entering the week, including the second-best steal (9.0), offensive rebound (12.7) and blocked shot (3.8 bpg) averages in the conference.
- Drury also rated among the conference's best teams in turnovers forced per contest (14.7), assists per game (15.3) and scoring offense (82.8), ranking third in each of those categories.
- The Panthers lead the GLVC and rank sixth nationally in total home attendance of 8,962 fans over their first 10 home contests this season at O'Reilly Family Event Center.
Individually, Keion Epps' 5.3 assists per game is the top individual average in the GLVC, while his team-leading average of 1.8 steals ranks sixth in the league.
- Zach Howell leads the GLVC and ranks eighth nationally in three-point field goal percentage (.476); he also ranks second in three-point field goals made (50), while his 1.6 steals per contest average rank 10th in the conference.
- KeShaun Thomas is fifth in the GLVC in free throws made (75).
- Colin Hardrick ranks eighth in the GLVC in total rebounds (104).
- Aladji Gassama ranks 10th in the conference in blocks per game (0.9).
STUBBS STREAKING
- Luke Stubbs heated up over the course of the Panthers' recent six-game home stand, averaging 11.2 points while shooting .636 from three-point range.
- The junior guard has notched four consecutive double-digit scoring performances after reaching double figures in just one of DU's first 11 games of the season.
- Stubbs has recorded back-to-back career-high 15-point efforts in Drury's last two outings, going a combined 10-of-18 from the floor and 7-of-8 at the foul line.
A FINE HOW-ELL DO YOU DO
- Zach Howell has hit the ground running in the first nine weeks of the new season, bringing a team-best average of 16.6 points per outing into Thursday's game.
- Howell tallied a career-best 33-point performance in DU's win over Central Christian (Dec. 17), burying his first eight three-point attempts of the night en route to a school-record 11 makes from beyond the arc, which represents the top single-game total by an NCAA Division II shooter this season.
- So far in 2025-26, Howell ranks among the GLVC leaders in three-point shooting percentage (1st), three-point field goals made (2nd), three-point field goals per game (3rd), free throw percentage (5th), field goal percentage (6th), scoring (8th) and steals (10th).
NO PLACE LIKE HO'ME
- Drury is once again enjoying the advantage of playing its home games in front of one of the most loyal fan bases in the country, as the Panthers currently lead the GLVC in both total (8,962) and average (896 per game) home attendance in 2025-26.
- The Panthers have led the GLVC in total attendance every year since 2021-22, ranking as high as 11th nationally in total attendance (2021-22).
- Last year, DU welcomed 16,017 fans through the doors of O'Reilly, which was the 13th-best season total among all Division II men's programs.
LOOKING AHEAD
The Panthers will conclude their road trip Saturday (Jan. 17) with a 3 p.m. GLVC matchup against McKendree in Lebanon, Ill.
For all the latest information on Drury men's basketball, visit DruryPanthers.com. For up-to-the-minute updates, follow the Panthers on X and Instagram.
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