Drury Panthers (6-7, 1-4 GLVC) vs. No. 16 Missouri S&T Miners (10-2, 4-1 GLVC)
Opponent	Missouri S&T
Date | Tip	Thursday, Jan. 8 | 7:45 p.m.
Location  | Site	Springfield, Mo. | O'Reilly Family Event Center (2,850) | Drury University
Game Links	Drury Game Notes | Missouri S&T Preview | Listen | Watch | Live Stats
Tickets	Purchase Online | $12 - adults | $8 - students | Free - 12 and under
Promotion	Community Outreach Night
Follow	X: @DruryMBB | IG: @DruryMBB

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – Drury men's basketball opens a busy weekend at O'Reilly Family Event Center Thursday (Jan. 8) evening with a 7:45 p.m., Great Lakes Valley Conference contest against No. 16 Missouri S&T.

Despite picking up its first GLVC win with a 104-98 victory over Rockhurst last Friday, Drury (6-7, 1-4 GLVC) split its two conference home  games last week, falling in a hard-fought 73-69 decision to William Jewell on Sunday (Jan. 4). Freshman KeShaun Thomas notched his third straight 20-point performance Sunday after pouring home a career-best 29 points against Rockhurst en route to earning GLVC Player of the Week honors.

Missouri S&T (10-2, 4-1 GLVC) swept its two home games last weekend, edging Jewell by a 72-69 score on Friday, before knocking off Truman State (83-75) Sunday at Gibson Arena.

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 commanding 41-14 series advantage into Thursday's game.
• The Panthers have won 13 of the previous 15 contests against the Miners in O'Reilly Family Event Center dating back to 2011.]
• Last year, the two clubs split their two meetings, with the Miners claiming a 94-70 win in Rolla (Jan. 11) before the Panthers earned an 89-77 victory in Springfield (March 1).
• The Panthers are 3-5 vs. Missouri S&T under Chris Foster, who has compiled a 9-8 overall mark vs. the Miners in his 12 years as a head coach.

ABOUT MISSOURI S&T

• The Miners enter play this week 10-2 overall and 4-1 in GLVC games under the direction of head coach Bill Walker, who led last year's club to a regular-season conference title as part of a 25-6 campaign.
• Missouri S&T returns 2025 All-GLVC first-team selection Andrew Young, who paces the offense with his 16.2 ppg average; Young also pulls down 6.5 rebounds per contest, while shooting .530 from the floor and .395 from beyond the arc.
• Three additional Miners are averaging double figures, led by Cameron Stovall's 13.1 points, as well as his team-high 7.2 rebounds per game.
• Blaise Beauchamp (13.0 ppg) and Alex Benassi (11.4 ppg) are also scoring in double figures for an offense that is averaging 81.3 points per outing.
• Defensively, the Miners are holding opponents to .392 shooting, which ranks second in the GLVC, and 67.6 points per game.

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 a 82.9 ppg clip, while allowing an average of 76.8 points per outing.
• Drury is paced by an offense that features three double-figure scorers, led by junior guard Zach Howell (16.5 ppg) and sophomore guard Colin Hardrick (14.7). 
• 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 seven starts and averaging 7.1 points per outing to date.
• Several talented newcomers have contributed significantly in their first three weeks as Panthers: freshman KeShaun Thomas (16.4 ppg) has been a dominant force in the paint, scoring in double-figures in 11 of the Panthers' 13 games, including a trio of double-doubles; fellow rookie Keion Epps is averaging 8.4 points as the Panthers' fourth-leading scorer, in addition to his 5.4 assist-per-game average that ranks second in the GLVC.

GRAND LARCENY

• The Panthers have recorded a GLVC-best average of 9.23 steals as per game through the first 13 contests of the season.
• Entering play Thursday, Drury ranked 50th nationally in steals per game at the Division II level, paced by freshman Keion Epps' 1.8 average.
• Drury is on pace to post 259 steals during the regular season, which would rank as ninth-best single-season total on record at DU.
• The Panthers have converted those 120 steals into an average of 16.1 points per game off of turnovers.

PANTHERS IN THE RANKINGS

• Drury ranked among the GLVC's top clubs in a number of categories entering the week, including league-best averages in steals (9.2) and blocked shots (3.9 bpg).
• DU also rated among the conference's best teams in assists  per game (15.3) and turnovers forced per contest (15.0).
• The Panthers also rank second in the conference in offensive rebounds per game (12.9) and third in the circuit in scoring offense (82.9 ppg).
• The Panthers led the GLVC and ranked 20th nationally in home attendance with their average of 882 fans per game over their first eight home contests at O'Reilly Family Event Center.
• Individually, Keion Epps' 5.4 assists per game is the No. 2 average in the GLVC, while his team-leading average of 1.9 steals ranks sixth in the league.
• Zach Howell ranked second in the GLVC in three-point field goal percentage (.463) and three-point field goals made (44) entering the week, while his 1.8 steals per contest average rank 12th in the conference.
• KeShaun Thomas ranks sixth in the GLVC in free throws made (62).
• Colin Hardrick ranks ninth in the GLVC in total rebounds (89).
• Aladji Gassama ranks fifth in the conference in blocks per game (1.1).

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 (7,056) and average (882 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.

ROOKIE HONOR ROLL

• Freshman forward KeShaun Thomas was named the Athletic Solutions GLVC Player of the Week on Monday.
• Thomas delivered a pair of 20-point performances, pacing the Panthers with team-leading averages of 24.5 points and 7.0 rebounds.
• The Quincy, Ill., product tallied a career-high 29 points on 9-of-11 shooting from the floor and 9-of-9 at the foul line in DU's 104-98 win over Rockhurst on Friday.
• For the week, Thomas shot just under 70-percent from the floor, connecting on 16-of-23 field goal attempts, as well as 15-of-19 (.789) free-throw tries.
• Thomas's citation marked the first GLVC weekly honor for a Drury freshman since Drake Patterson won the same award on Feb. 6, 2012.

LOOKING AHEAD
The Panthers will conclude their six-game home stand Saturday (Jan. 10) with a 3 p.m., GLVC matchup against Lincoln 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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