SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – Drury men's basketball concludes its Great Lakes Valley Conference road trip Saturday (Jan. 31) with a 3 p.m., contest against Upper Iowa at Dorman Memorial Gymnasium in Fayette, Iowa.
Drury (10-10, 5-7 GLVC) will be looking to extend a two-game win streak Saturday, following its 75-63 victory over Lewis Thursday evening in Romeoville, Ill. Upper Iowa (13-6, 8-4 GLVC) enters Saturday's game seeking a win following losses in its last three contests, including an 86-74 home setback against SBU on Thursday.
DU enters the game tied with SBU for 10th place in the GLVC standings, while the Peacocks sit in a tie for sixth with their 8-4 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.
SERIES HISTORY
- Drury and Upper Iowa have split their previous six meetings in a series that dates back to 2008.
- The Panthers claimed the most recent meeting in the series -- an 82-81 DU win in Springfield on Jan. 30, 2025.
- Upper Iowa won the only previous matchup of the two programs in Fayette when the Peacocks came away with an 84-73 decision on Feb. 29, 2024.
- UIU has won two of the three contests in the series since joining the GLVC for the 2023-24 season.
- The Panthers are 1-2 vs. UIU under head coach Chris Foster.
ABOUT UPPER IOWA
- The Peacocks are off to a 13-6 start under first-year head coach Casey Kasperbauer, despite dropping an 86-74 home loss to SBU on Thursday.
- UIU has dropped three straight games and four of its last five overall following a 12-2 start to the season.
- Junior forward Kyle Hrncir leads UIU in most statistical categories, including scoring (17.7 ppg), rebounding (9.0 rpg) and assists (3.8 apg), and ranks among the GLVC's top five players in each of the latter two categories.
- Additionally, former Panther Trey Lewis enters Saturday's game averaging 16.1 points for the Peacocks, while Tate Petersen is shooting a team-best .439 from beyond the arc and averages 10.0 points per game off the UIU bench.
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 82.7 ppg clip, while allowing an average of 77.7 points per outing.
- Drury is paced by an offense that features three double-figure scorers, led by junior guard Zach Howell (18.1 ppg) and sophomore guard Colin Hardrick (15.4).
- 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 17 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 (15.5 ppg) has been a dominant force in the paint, scoring in double-figures in 17 of the Panthers' 20 games, including four double-doubles; fellow rookie Keion Epps is averaging 6.5 points, in addition to his 5.5 assist-per-game average, which ranks second in the conference; redshirt freshman Isaiah Otyaluk has provided a lift in his first season at Drury as well, including four 20-point performances.
LAST TIME OUT
- Zach Howell's 33-point, 11-rebound performance propelled Drury to a 75-63 GLVC road victory over Lewis Thursday evening in Romeoville.
- Howell, who scored a career-best 35 points in Drury's win over Indianapolis last Friday, went 8-of-11 from three-point range and corralled a season-high 11 rebounds for his second career double-double.
- The junior from Springfield also became the first Panther to record back-to-back 30+ point performances since Alex Hall accomplished the feat during DU's 2013 NCAA-II national title run.
- Drury also got a lift from Colin Hardrick, who came within one rebound and two assists of registering a triple-double.
- The Panthers forced 18 turnovers and limited the Flyers to 33-percent shooting in the first half to open up an early double-digit lead.
- Hardrick finished with 10 points, nine boards, a game-high four steals and a career-high eight assists.
A FINE HOW-ELL DO YOU DO
- Junior guard/forward Zach Howell has found his shooting touch in the new year, bringing a team-best 20.3 ppg. average in DU's nine games this month into the Panthers final January contest Saturday.
- Howell scored a game-high 33 points on 8-of-11 shooting from beyond the three-point arc, as well as a season-high 11 rebounds as part of his second career double-double for the Panthers in Thursday's win at Lewis.
- With that effort, the Springfield, Mo., product became the first Panther to record back-to-back 30+ point performances since the 2013 NCAA Division II Tournament, when Alex Hall scored 33 vs. USC-Aiken in the NCAA Elite Eight (March 28) and 35 against Western Washington in the Final Four (March 30).
- Howell tallied a career-best 35-point performance in DU's win over Indianapolis last Friday, recording 19 second-half points to fuel the Panthers' comeback victory.
- He also registered a 33-point outing Dec. 17 vs. Central Christian in a game in which he buried 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.
- Howell's three 30+ point efforts are the most by a Panther in a season since Hall's eight in 2012-13.
PANTHERS IN THE RANKINGS
- The Panthers rank among the GLVC's top clubs in a number of categories entering the weekend, including the No. 2 turnovers forced (14.4) and blocked shot (3.7) per game averages in the conference.
- Drury also rated among the conference's best teams in offensive rebounds (12.4), assists (15.5), three-point field goals (9.0) and scoring offense (82.7), ranking third in those categories as well.
- The Panthers lead the GLVC and rank ninth nationally in total home attendance of 10,759 fans over their first 12 home contests this season at O'Reilly Family Event Center.
- Individually, Keion Epps' 5.5 assists per game ranks second in the GLVC and 17th nationally, while his 1.6 steals per game ranks 10th in the league.
- Zach Howell leads the GLVC and fourth nationally in three-point field goal percentage (.476); he also ranks third nationally in three-point field goals made (70), while his 1.5 steals per contest average rank 13th in the conference.
- KeShaun Thomas is third in the GLVC in field goal percentage (.498) and fifth in free throws made (95).
- Colin Hardrick ranks sixth in the GLVC in total steals (33) and 10th in total rebounds (134).
GRAND LARCENY
- The Panthers have recorded an average of 8.7 steals as per game, which ranks fifth among all GLVC teams.
- Drury ranks 62nd nationally in steals per game at the Division II level, paced by Colin Hardrick's 1.7 average.
- Drury is on pace to post 244 steals during the regular season, which would rank 11th on DU's single-season list.
- The Panthers have converted those 174 steals into an average of 16.3 points per game off of turnovers.
LOOKING AHEAD
Drury returns to Springfield to open a two-game conference home stand Thursday (Feb. 5) with a 7:45 p.m., contest against Quincy at O'Reilly Family Event Center.
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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