SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – Drury men's basketball returns to O'Reilly Family Event Center for a pair of Great Lakes Valley Conference matchups this week, beginning with a 7:45 p.m., contest Thursday (Jan. 22) against Illinois Springfield.
Drury (8-9, 3-6 GLVC) will be looking to bounce back from a hard-fought road battle with (RV) McKendree, which shot a blistering 73.7-percent from the field in the second half to edge the Panthers by an 89-76 score in Lebanon, Ill.
Illinois Springfield (11-6, 7-2 GLVC) enters the contest looking for its second GLVC win in a row after beating Southwest Baptist, 84-61 on Saturday in Springfield.
DU enters the game tied with SBU for 11th place in the GLVC standings, while the Prairie Stars sit alone in third with their 7-2 league mark.
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.
PROMOTION AT THE O'
- Drury will partner with CoxHealth for its annual Teddy Bear Toss Thursday.
- Fans are encouraged to bring a stuffed animal to throw out at halftime of both games.
- All animals and contributions will be donated to the CoxHealth Dee Ann White Women's and Children's Hospital.
- Thursday is also Drury Staff Appreciation Night
SERIES HISTORY
- Drury brings a 13-7 series advantage over Illinois Springfield into Thursday's game.
- The Prairie Stars have won six of the last nine meetings dating back to the 2018-19 season, including a 73-64 victory over DU in their most recent matchup on Jan. 25, 2025.
- Drury won its last game against UIS at home, a 74-59 decision two years ago (Jan. 27, 2024).
- The Panthers are 2-5 vs. Illinois Springfield under Chris Foster, who has gone 9-7 overall against the Prairie Stars over his 12-year career.
ABOUT ILLINOIS SPRINGFIELD
- The Prairie Stars enter Thursday's contest 11-6 overall and 7-2 in GLVC play after a home victory over Southwest Baptist (Jan. 17) that stopped a two-game slide.
- UIS is averaging 80.6 points per outing, thanks in large part to a GLVC-best .397 team three-point field goal percentage.
- Jordan Rice paces the Prairie Stars with a 17.1 ppg average, as well as a 5.2 apg clip, the latter of which ranks second in the conference.
- Isaiah Davis ranks second in the GLVC in three-point field goal percentage (.456) to go along with a 13.4 ppg scoring average.
- Tye Banks is also averaging in double figures with his 12.1 ppg mark, while pulling down 5.2 boards per game.
- On the defensive end of the floor, UIS is allowing 70.8 points per outing, a figure that ranks seventh in the conference.
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.
- DU posted its first 4-0 start in six years, with wins over Ohio Dominican, Thomas More, Ecclesia and Ozark Christian.
- As a team, the Panthers are scoring at an 82.4 ppg clip, while allowing an average of 77.4 points per outing.
- Drury is paced by an offense that features three double-figure scorers, led by junior guard Zach Howell (16.2 ppg) and sophomore guard Colin Hardrick (14.8).
- 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 14 starts and averaging 7.8 points per outing to date.
- Several talented newcomers have contributed significantly in their first eight weeks as Panthers: freshman KeShaun Thomas (16.0 ppg) has been a dominant force in the paint, scoring in double-figures in 14 of the Panthers' 17 games, including four double-doubles; fellow rookie Keion Epps is averaging 7.1 points, in addition to his GLVC-best 5.9 assist-per-game average; redshirt freshman Isaiah Otyaluk has provided a lift in his first season at Drury as well, including four 20-point performances.
EPPS EXTRA HELPFUL
- Drury freshman Keion Epps has been the Panthers' top ball distributor all season, but the Springfield product has been particularly helpful over DU's last two outings, totaling 19 assists.
- In the Panthers' 82-68 win at Maryville (Jan. 15), he handed out a career-best 10 assists, marking the first double-digit assist total by a Panther since Conley Garrison recorded 10 assists vs. Pittsburg State on Dec. 22, 2019.
- He followed that effort with nine more helpers at McKendree (Jan. 17), finishing the week with a GLVC-best average of 9.5 assists per game.
- Epps currently leads the GLVC in assists per game (5.9) and is on pace to rack up 134 helpers during the regular season; that figure would be the top season total by a DU player since Garrison handed out 149 assists in 2019-20.
PANTHERS IN THE RANKINGS
- The Panthers rank among the GLVC's top clubs in a number of categories entering the weekend, including the top steals per game average (9.1) and the No. 2 assist (15.6), turnovers forced (14.7) and blocked shot (3.5) per game averages in the conference.
- Drury also rated among the conference's best teams in offensive rebounds per game (12.4) and scoring offense (82.4), ranking third in each category.
- The Panthers lead the GLVC and rank ninth 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' 5.9 assists per game is the top individual average in the GLVC and 10th nationally, while his team-leading average of 1.8 steals ranks sixth in the league.
- Zach Howell leads the GLVC and ranks ninth nationally in three-point field goal percentage (.466); he also ranks 14th nationally in three-point field goals made (54), while his 1.7 steals per contest average rank ninth in the conference.
- KeShaun Thomas is fourth in the GLVC in free throws made (84) and field goal percentage (.497).
- Colin Hardrick ranks eighth in the GLVC in total steals (27) and ninth in total rebounds (113).
NO PLACE LIKE HO'ME
- Drury has feasted at home this season, averaging 90.8 points per game at O'Reilly Family Event Center.
- DU is 5-5 at home this season, with an average margin of victory of +10.8 ppg, including three 100+ point performances.
- DU has knocked down 98 three-point field goals — an average of 9.8 per home game at O'Reilly this season.
- Individually, Zach Howell has averaged 18.1 points while shooting .591 (39-of-66) from three-point range at home.
- Three additional Panthers are averaging double figures at home: KeShaun Thomas (16.4), Colin Hardrick (14.3) and Isaiah Otyaluk (11.4).
- The Panthers are forcing an average of 14.1 turnovers and handing out 16.9 assists per contest at O'Reilly this season.
ROOKIE HONOR ROLL
- Drury's talented eight-man 2025 recruiting class has made an immediate impact for the Panthers over their first 17 games.
- Three Drury freshmen — Isaiah Otyaluk, Keion Epps and KeShaun Thomas — combined for 49 points in last week's road victory over Maryville (Jan. 15).
- Thomas has asserted himself in the Panthers' lineup, starting his DU career with 14 double-digit point totals in 17 games, including four double-doubles.
- Thomas, who became the first Drury freshman to earn a GLVC Player of the Week award since the 2011-12 season on Jan. 12, turned in three consecutive 20+ point outings, Dec. 21-Jan. 4; Logan Applegate was the last Panther to accomplish that feat when he averaged 25.7 points over three games, Jan. 5-12, 2023.
- Like Thomas, Epps has shown off his diverse skill set early in his DU career and brings a conference-leading average of 5.9 assists per contest into Thursday's game; the Springfield Central High School product is averaging 7.1 points as well.
- Finally, Otyaluk has turned in significant performances as well, including an average of 24.5 points over DU's two games last weekend.
LOOKING AHEAD
The Panthers will wrap up their home stand Saturday (Jan. 24) with a 3 p.m., GLVC matchup against Indianapolis at O'Reilly.
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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