PINEVILLE, La. – Coming off an impactful road win at Concordia Texas last week, McMurry University Men's Basketball will cross over into the American Southwest Conference East Division for a pair of out-of-state games against Louisiana College and Belhaven on Feb. 4-5.
The first stop is Pineville, Louisiana, as the War Hawks and Wildcats tip off on Thursday night at 7:30 p.m. inside the H.O. Fieldhouse.
Due to an overlap in scheduling, the War Hawks will play Belhaven the very next night in Jackson, Mississippi. Friday evening's tip-off is set for 8:30 p.m. inside Rugg Arena.
Both host teams will provide live stats and live video for their games. Additionally, both schools will open their gyms at limited capacity.
Louisiana College is granting 50 tickets to the visiting team and guests will only be allowed if they are on the pass list at a limit of 200 spectators. Belhaven will manage pass lists and ticket sales through HomeTown Ticketing.
LC: STATS l VIDEO
BU: STATS l VIDEO
RECORDS
McM: 2-9, 2-5 ASC
LC: 4-3, 4-3 ASC
BU: 3-5, 2-4 ASC
NOTES
LAST TIME OUT – The War Hawks won a dramatic road game at Concordia Texas this past Saturday, pulling out an 80-77 victory. After Jordan Sherman made it a three point game with a successful trip to the free throw line, the Tornados threw up a pair of treys in an attempt to tie with 15.0 to go. The first attempt was blocked by Michael Imariagbe, but a missed dunk at the other end allowed CTX one more try, which rimmed out into the hands of the War Hawks as time expired.
Four players scored double digits for McMurry, led by junior forward DJ Worrell with 17 points and Imariagbe with 14 points. Imariagbe also had a team-best nine rebounds and three blocks. Sherman and sophomore Rob Charles chipped in 12 points – a new career high for Charles.
SCOUTING THE WILDCATS – Louisiana College missed out on a non-conference season, but that has not hindered it from success as the Wildcats sport a 4-3 record both overall and in the ASC. Their wins include Howard Payne and Sul Ross State to open conference play, Concordia on Jan. 16 and UT Dallas on Jan. 21. The team will look to shake a two-game skid at the hands of division foes East Texas Baptist and LeTourneau. LC is undefeated at home (3-0) and are led by Kae'ron Baker at 24.1 PPG – third best in the league.
SERIES HISTORY VS. LC – McMurry leads the all-time series 11-6, dating back to 2000-01. The very first matchup was the highest scoring in the series, a 126-109 win for McMurry. The most recent matchup happens to be the lowest scoring affair, with Louisiana College edging out a 67-57 win in a close defensive battle. McMurry has dropped the last two to LC in Abilene, but won the last matchup in Pineville 95-73.
SCOUTING THE BLAZERS – Belhaven enters the week with a 3-5 record and a 2-4 mark in conference play. Despite a pair of 90-point offensive games the last few times out, the Blazers are on a four-game losing skid. Their most recent defeat came at the hands of ETBU in a 78-56 final – marking Belhaven's first time not scoring at least 70 points in a game. BU has the second-best scorer in the league with Luke Couch averaging 26.0 per game.
SERIES HISTORY VS. BU – Friday will be the eighth all-time meeting between McM and BU, with McMurry holding the 4-3 advantage. This series has seen a number of dramatic moments, including a 94-89 overtime win for Belhaven last season and a 105-100 double-overtime victory for McMurry in 2018-19. McMurry has won three of the last four games in this series.
ASC ROUNDUP – At the halfway point in the conference schedule, McMurry is in good shape at a 2-5 record. The War Hawks are fourth in the West Division ahead of Concordia Texas (0-4) and Howard Payne (0-7). The top three are currently Mary Hardin-Baylor (6-0), Sul Ross State (5-3) and Hardin-Simmons (4-3).
In the East, LeTourneau is the top team at 3-1, followed by ETBU (5-2), Ozarks (2-1), Louisiana College (4-3), UT Dallas (2-2) and Belhaven (2-4). Both division standings are based on win percentage due to cancelations from the COVID-19 pandemic.
NO MINOR PLAYER – Junior transfer Remy Minor has been the offensive spark plug this season, starting all nine games and averaging a team-best 14.4 points per game. He also leads the way in minutes with 33.7 per contest and in assists with 43 total.
BLOCK PARTY – McMurry has two of the top seven block leaders in the conference manning the front court, as junior DJ Worrell has 11 blocks and freshman Michael Imariagbe has 10 blocks this season. Worrell and Imariagbe both average 1.1 block per contest. As a team, McM ranks second in the league for total blocks at 36.
BALANCING ACT – Scoring-wise, the War Hawks have spread the love this season. McMurry has five players averaging at least 8.5 points per game and three in double-digit scoring averages.
TRIP-PENA – Freshman Matt Pena is the team's biggest three-point threat this season, shooting 28 of 65 behind the arc. He ranks 12th in the ASC for three-point shooting percentage (43.1) and made a season-best five triples against UMHB on Jan. 28.
SWISS ARMY KNIFE – Junior Jordan Sherman has done it all this season, totaling 32.0 minutes per game with starts in all 11 contests. As a defender, Sherman has covered almost every position and has six blocks and seven steals on the season. Offensively, Sherman averages 8.5 PPG and 6.0 RPG.
ALL-TIME RECORD – McMurry has played 2,254 games as a program, dating back to its first year as a college in 1923. The War Hawks hold a 1150-1104 all-time record for a 51.0 win percentage.
