SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – Drury men's basketball loses out the 2025-26 regular season Saturday (Feb. 28) with a Great Lakes Valley Conference contest against Missouri S&T at Gibson Arena in Rolla, Mo.
Drury (14-13, 9-10 GLVC) is looking to secure a spot in next week's GLVC Tournament following five straight home victories, including a 76-70 win over UMSL on Thursday in Springfield.
Missouri S&T (19-7, 13-6 GLVC) posted a 78-70 victory over Lincoln Thursday, running its conference mark to 13-6; the Miners claimed the first meeting of the season with the Panthers, 81-79 in Springfield on Jan. 8.
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 41-15 series advantage into Saturday's game.
- The Miners have won three of the last four meetings, including an 81-79 victory over the Panthers at O'Reilly Family Event Center on Jan. 9.
- 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 3-6 vs. Missouri S&T under Chris Foster, who has compiled a 9-9 overall mark vs. the Miners in his 12 years as a head coach.
ABOUT MISSOURI S&T
- The Miners enter play this weekend 19-7 overall and 13-6 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.
- 2025 All-GLVC first-team selection Andrew Young paces the offense with his 16.3 ppg average and 6.7 rebounds per contest.
- Three additional Miners are averaging double figures, led by Blaise Beauchamp's 15.9 points and 67 successful three-point field goal attempts.
- Cameron Stovall (13.8 ppg.) is also a key factor with his 6.2 boards per outing average and .491 field goal percentage.
- Alex Benassi (10.2 ppg.) is also scoring in double figures for an offense that is averaging 80.0 points per outing.
- Defensively, the Miners are holding opponents to .413 shooting and 70.4 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.
- As a team, the Panthers are scoring at an 81.4 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 (17.4 ppg) and sophomore guard Colin Hardrick (15.2).
- 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 24 starts and averaging 9.3 points per outing to date.
- Several talented newcomers have contributed significantly in their first 14 weeks as Panthers: freshman KeShaun Thomas (15.0 ppg) has been a dominant force in the paint, scoring in double-figures in 23 of the Panthers' 27 games, including six double-doubles; fellow rookie Keion Epps is averaging 6.0 points, in addition to his 4.5 assist-per-game average, which ranks third in the GLVC; redshirt freshman Isaiah Otyaluk has provided a lift in his first season at Drury as well, including four 20-point performances.
LAST TIME OUT
- Fueled by a dominant second-half performance and balanced contributions from five double-figure scorers, Drury closed out the home portion of its schedule in style Thursday, claiming its fifth-straight home victory with a 76-70 decision over UMSL at O'Reilly Family Event Center.
- Led by Luke Stubbs' 16-point Senior Night effort and a defense that limited the Tritons to .367 (11-for-30) shooting in the second half, the Panthers utilized a 22-8 scoring run to turn a seven-point deficit into a seven-point lead that they would not relinquish.
- DU converted 57-percent (16-for-28) of its second-half field-goal attempts and outscored UMSL 46-30 in the paint.
- Stubbs scored 10 of his 16 points in the second half, while freshman Keion Epps delivered one of his best performances as a Panther with 13 points, four rebounds, two assists and two steals.
KESHAUN CLIMBING
- Freshman KeShaun Thomas is putting together one of the top all-around rookie seasons in Drury history, with seven 20+ point performances and six double-doubles to his credit through 27 games.
Thomas currently ranks sixth on Drury's all-time freshman scoring list with 404 points, just two points behind Eddie Thomas in the No. 5 position on the chart.
- The Quincy, Ill., product also rates seventh on DU's rookie rebounding chart with 188 -- just one shy of Roland Shultz's 189 in the fifth position.
- Additionally, Thomas has proven to be one of the top freshmen in the GLVC all season, with his 15.0 ppg. average leading all league freshmen, and his .495 field-goal percentage ranking second among all GLVC rookies.
A FINE HOW-ELL DO YOU DO
- Junior guard Zach Howell is closing in on several milestones in what has been a career year for the Springfield product.
- Howell enters the final weekend of the regular season just 31 points away from a 500-point season, which would be the 38th in program history and the first by a Panther since 2019-20 when Conley Garrison totaled 528 points.
- Howell also needs just 55 points to reach the 1,000-point plateau for his collegiate career.
- Howell's three 30+ point efforts this season are the most by a Panther in a single season since Alex Hall's eight in 2012-13.
BLOCK PARTY
- Drury freshman Kevin Sargeant has turned in a strong body of work since making his first collegiate start on Feb. 7 against Truman State.
- In the Panthers last five games, Sargeant has averaged 7.3 points and 5.0 rebounds while shooting .643 (18-for-28) from the floor.
- He has also been a force on the defensive end of the floor, recording 12 blocked shots and 14 steals in those five games.
- In DU's Feb. 5 win over Quincy, he swatted a Panther season-high five shots against the Hawks.
- Sargeant's five blocked shots not only marked a 2025-26 season best by a Panther, but also the most by a DU player since Victor Nwagbarachoa rejected six shots on Jan. 29, 2022.
- Sargeant also recorded a pair of blocks in the Panthers' victory over Truman.
- Sargeant's 1.2 blocks per game rank third among all GLVC players.
- As a team, the Panthers have recorded 98 blocks on the season for an average of 3.6 per game, which leads the GLVC and represents an increase of 1.2 per game from last year's average.
PANTHERS IN THE RANKINGS
- The Panthers rank among the GLVC's top clubs in a number of categories entering Saturday's game, including the top blocked shot (3.6) average, as well as the No. 2 steal (8.8), assist (14.9) and turnovers forced (14.0) averages in the conference.
- Drury also rates among the conference's best teams in scoring (81.4) ranking third in that category.
- The Panthers lead the GLVC and rank 12th nationally in total home attendance of 15,793 fans over their 16 home contests this season at O'Reilly Family Event Center.
- Individually, Keion Epps' 4.5 assists per game ranks fourth in the GLVC and 66th nationally, while his 1.4 steals per game ranks 14th in the league.
- Zach Howell leads the GLVC and fifth nationally in three-point field goal percentage (.456); he also ranks 11th nationally in three-point field goals made (88), while his free-throw percentage (.861) ranks seventh in the GLVC and his 1.5 steals per contest rank ninth in the conference.
- KeShaun Thomas is seventh in the GLVC in free throws made (126), eighth in total rebounding (188) and 13th in total scoring (404).
- Colin Hardrick ranks sixth in the GLVC in total steals (44) and 12th in total rebounds (172).
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 (15,793) and average (987 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 attempt to secure their berth in next week's GLVC Tournament, which will be staged in St. Louis, March 5-8.
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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