FULL GAME NOTES (PDF)

Sat., Jan. 12  | vs. Washburn | 3:30 p.m. | Maryville, Mo. (Bearcat Arena)
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NORTHWEST LOOKS TO REMAIN PERFECT VS. WASHBURN
The No. 2-ranked Northwest Missouri State men's basketball team (15-0 overall, 5-0 MIAA) will look to extend the nation's longest win streak with a Saturday matchup vs. Washburn. Tip is set for 3:30 p.m. in Bearcat Arena.

ONE OF FOUR REMAINING UNDEFEATED TEAMS
Northwest will enter Saturday's contest vs. Washburn as one of four undefeated teams in the nation. Northwest is joined in the ranks of the unbeatens by Ashland (13-0), Bellarmine (12-0) and Indiana Pa. (14-0).

WASHBURN
The Ichabods and Bearcats are the only two remaining undefeated teams in MIAA play. Washburn is 4-0 with league wins over Southwest Baptist (97-72), Central Missouri (70-50), Emporia State (94-81) and Missouri Western (95-94 OT).
    Washburn enters Saturday riding a four-game win streak since losing Dec. 17 vs. West Texas A&M in overtime, 98-93. The Ichabods are averaging 87.2 ppg.
    The Ichabods are under the direction of second-year head coach Brett Ballard. Ballard led Washburn to a mark of 22-10 in his first year at the helm.

ALL-TIME SERIES
Washburn holds a 63-44 lead in the all-time series vs. Northwest.
    Northwest has won six straight games in the series, which includes the 2018 MIAA tournament championship game when the Bearcats claimed an 80-74 victory.

30-POINT GAMES
Senior Joey Witthus has scored 30-plus points in back-to-back games. Witthus scored a career-high 34 points Saturday at Central Oklahoma and followed that up with 32 points vs. Emporia State on Wednesday.
    Witthus is the first Bearcat to do that since Justin Pitts tallied three straight 30-point games in 2016. Pitts went for 38 vs. Minnesota State (3/13/2016), 34 vs. Augustana (3/15/2016) and 31 vs. Upper Iowa (10/11/2016).

Northwest's 30-Point Games in 2018-19
34, Joey Witthus at Central Oklahoma (1/5/19)
33, Joey Witthus vs. Ill.-Springfield (11/19/18)
32, Joey Witthus vs. Emporia State (1/9/18)
31, Ryan Hawkins at Northeastern State (1/3/19)

BEST IN THE NATION
Northwest ranks No. 1 in the nation in four stat categories: Assist-to-Turnover Ratio (2.13), Scoring Margin (+25.6), Three-Point Field Goal Percentage (45.5%), Turnovers Per Game (7.5).

CENTRAL REGION RANKINGS
Northwest holds down the top spot in the D2SIDA Central Region rankings that were released on Jan. 8. Northwest owns all six first-place votes in the region.


D2SIDA CENTRAL REGION
1.   Northwest Missouri State
2.   Washburn
3.   Southern Nazarene
4.   Northern State
5.   Minnesota State, Mankato
6.   Missouri Southern
7.   Wayne State
8.   St. Cloud State
9.   Lincoln (Mo.)
10. Pittsburg State

BEARCATS RANKED NO. 2
Northwest is ranked No. 2 in the nation in both Division II top 25 polls.
    Bellarmine is ranked No. 1 with 16 first-place votes in the NABC poll. Bellarmine is ranked No. 1 with 12 first-place votes in the D2SIDA poll.
    Northwest is receiving four first-place votes in D2SIDA's top 25.

HOME-COURT ADVANTAGE
Northwest has enjoyed a tremendous home-court advantage in the last six-plus seasons in Bearcat Arena. Northwest has put together a mark of 81-5 in Bearcat Arena over its last 86 home games. The Bearcats are 8-0 at home this year.

Northwest in Bearcat Arena (since 2012-13)
2012-13 - 12-3
2013-14 - 12-1
2014-15 - 13-2
2015-16 - 13-0
2016-17 - 18-0
2017-18 - 12-2
2018-19 - 8-0

ROAD STREAK AS WELL
Northwest ran its road winning streak to seven in a row with a pair of triumphs at Northeastern State (W, 105-70) and at Central Oklahoma (W, 78-67).
    Northwest's seven-game road win streak ranks T-No. 2 in the nation behind only Bellermine's 10-game road win streak.


Current Road Win Streaks
1. Bellarmine - 10
2. Northwest Missouri State - 7
    Lee - 7
    Morehouse - 7
5. UNC Pembroke - 6
    Queens (NY) - 6

HAWKINS NAMED MIAA PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Northwest Missouri State University sophomore Ryan Hawkins has been named the MIAA co-player of the week. Hawkins will share the honor with Lincoln's Terrance Smith.
    Hawkins (Atlantic, Iowa) averaged 26.0 points per game, 4.3 steals per game and shot 66.7 percent from the field (including 52.2 percent from 3-point range) in a trio of Northwest Missouri State victories.
    Hawkins went for a career-high 31 points on 10-of-13 shooting (5-of-7 3-point FGs) in a 105-70 win at Northeastern State. Hawkins added five steals and a block while also draining all six of his free throw attempts in the Bearcats's road victory.
    He scored 18 points on 7-of-13 shooting and chipped in with eight rebounds and two steals in a 78-67 road triumph at Central Oklahoma.
    Hawkins posted a then-career-high 29 points, eight rebounds, six steals and a block in a 108-58 victory over Simpson on Dec. 30. Hawkins went 11-of-16 from the field, including 5-of-8 from three-point range against the Storm.

MIAA TITLE DEFENSE
Northwest has won five consecutive MIAA regular season titles under 10th-year head coach Ben McCollum. Missouri State under the direction of head coach Bill Thomas is the only other program to have won five straight MIAA regular titles (1966, 1967, 1968, 1969, 1970).
    McCollum has also guided the Bearcats to three straight MIAA tournament championships. Southeast Missouri State also won three consecutive MIAA tournament titles in 1985, 1986 and 1987. No MIAA school has ever won four straight tourney crowns.

20 3-POINTERS FOR NORTHWEST STARTERS
Each of the five starters in the Bearcat lineup has drained at least 20 three-pointers this season.
    Joey Witthus (48), Ryan Hawkins (46), Ryan Welty (33), Trevor Hudgins (24) and Diego Bernard (24) have all drained at least 20 three-pointers in 2018-19.


HUDGINS IS SCORING, DISHING
Redshirt freshman Trevor Hudgins ranks No. 2 in the nation among freshman scorers at 18.1 points per game. Only Walsh's JT Shumate is averaging more as a freshman at 18.7 points per game.
    Hudgins leads the MIAA in assists per game (6.2). He ranks No. 2 in the MIAA and No. 5 in the nation in turnover-to-assist ratio (3.88).

HAWKINS DOUBLES UP
Sophomore forward Ryan Hawkins has collected a team-best six double-doubles. Hawkins has reached double figures in rebounds in seven games.

HAWK TOPS MIAA IN STEALS
Hawkins leads the MIAA in steals (37) and ranks No. 2 in rebounding (9.7 rpg). His 37 steals ranks No. 9 in the nation.
    Hawkins ranks No. 4 in the nation in defensive rebounds per game (7.87). He ranks No. 9 in the nation in total rebounds (145).
    Hawk ranks No. 2 in the MIAA in FG percentage (61.3).

SINGLE-GAME LEADER IN MIAA
Ryan Hawkins holds the MIAA single-game lead in rebounds (18) and steals (6) this season.

HAWK IN MIAA PLAY
Ryan Hawkins is averaging 18.8 points per game and shooting 64.0 percent from the field through four MIAA games. Hawkins has made 32-of-50 field goal attempts (including 14-fo-29 three-pointers), while being a perfect 16-of-16 at the free throw line. Hawkins has registered a team-best 13 steals.

DIEGO OFF THE BENCH
Freshman guard Diego Bernard has provided a spark off the bench. Bernard is averaging 11.3 points per game and has reached double-figure scoring in 11 straight contests.
    Bernard tied his career-high with four three-pointers in Northwest's 79-59 win over Emporia State on Wednesday.

REALLY GOOD FROM DEEP
Northwest ranks No. 1 in the nation three-point field goal percentage (45.6 percent).
    Northwest ranks No. 3 in the nation with 187 made 3-pointers.
    Northwest possesses two of the top three-point percentage shooters in the MIAA. Joey Witthus ranks No. 2 in the league at 48.5 percent (48-of-99), while Ryan Hawkins ranks No. 3 in the MIAA at 47.9 percent (46-of-96).

ALWAYS DEFENSIVE
Northwest ranks No. 1 in the MIAA in scoring defense by giving up only 62.7 points per game. The Bearcats rank No. 8 in the nation in scoring defense.

SHOOTING IT WELL
The Bearcats are shooting 53.1 percent from the floor, which ranks No. 4 in the nation. The Bearcats shot a season-best 64.3 percent in a 105-70 win at Northeastern State (Jan. 3).

WITTHUS FOR THREE
Senior Joey Witthus has drained 243 career three-pointers to ranks No. 7 among the Division II active career leaders.
    Witthus made 137 three-pointers in his first two collegiate seasons at Minnesota State, Mankato. Witthus has made 106 triples in time at Northwest.

NCAA Active Career Leaders - 3-Pointers
1. Jarrett Brodbeck (Regis)        326
2. Jack Laffey (Adelphi)        295
3. Sawyer Glick (Emporia State)    268
4. Jason Jolly (Fairmont State)    262
5. Jonathan Lawton (Fla. Southern)    252
6. Kenny Hairston (Limestone)    250
7. Joey Witthus (Northwest Missouri)    243
8. Elyjah Clark (Missouri Southern)    240
9. Drew Geubert (Sioux Falls)        236
    Levi Holmes III (St. Michael's)    236

WELTY'S THREE-POINT PRECISION
Junior Ryan Welty is the nation's active career leader in three-point field goal percentage. Welty has made 53.6 percent of his three-point shots (140-of-261).

NCAA Active Career Leaders - 3-Point FG Pct.
1. Ryan Welty (Northwest Missouri)    .536
2. Adam Bonk (Wisconsin-Parkside)    .482
3. Dan Largey (Stonehill)        .476
4. Anthony Lee (Kutztown)        .473
5. Jake Kakar (Barton)            .457

MCCOLLUM WINS AT A HIGH RATE
Northwest head coach Ben McCollum ranks No. 9 among active NCAA Division II coaches in winning percentage with a minimum of 10 years as a head coach.
    McCollum has guided the Bearcats to a mark of 218-75 (.744 winning percentage) in his 10th season at the helm of the program.

NCAA Div. II Head Coach Win Percentage (Min. 10 yrs.)
1. Jim Crutchfield (Nova Southeastern)    .843 (388-72, 15 yrs.)
2. Josh Schertz (Lincoln Memorial)    .826 (276-58, 11 yrs.)
3. Scott Davenport (Bellarmine)    .774 (328-96, 14 yrs.)
4. Jeff Young (Walsh)    .763 (342-106, 18 yrs.)
5. Burt Paddock (Davenport)    .763 (270-84, 11 yrs.)
6. Ken Ammann (Concordia, Calif.)    .760 (453-143, 18 yrs.)
7. Rodney Watson (Southern Indiana)    .754 (212-69, 10 yrs.)
8. Joe Lombardi (Indiana, Pa.)    .749 (289-97, 13 yrs.)
9. Ben McCollum (Northwest Mo. St.)    .744 (218-75, 10 yrs.)
10. Greg Zimmerman (Alderson Broaddus)    .723 (383-174, 18 yrs.)    

100-POINT MARK
Northwest has reached 100 points four times this season - the first time since 1999-2000 that Northwest has scored 100 or more points four times in the same season.
    Northwest has scored 100 or more points nine times under head coach Ben McCollum.

100-Point Games under McCollum
105-55 vs. Manhattan Christian (11/16/09)
104-67 vs. Graceland (11/28/09)
105-59 vs. Waldord (12/16/13)
104-69 at Southwest Baptist (1/16/14)
103-58 vs. Missouri Valley (12/13/16)
100-86 vs. Ferris State (11/3/18)
100-66 vs. Midland (12/1/18)
108-58 vs. Simpson (12/30/18)
105-70 at Northeastern State (1/3/19)

16 STRAIGHT DECEMBER WINS
Northwest has won its last 16 games in the month of December. Northwest was 5-0 in December in both the 2016-17 and 2017-18 seasons.
    The Bearcats won their last game in December in the 2015-16 season. Northwest's last loss in the month of December came Dec. 20, 2015, at Lindenwood (L, 68-52).

NORTHWEST WITH 25 ASSISTS VS DUSTDEVILS
Northwest was credited with 25 assists in its 85-46 win over Texas A&M-International. It was the most assists by a Bearcat team since it put up 25 assists vs. Baker on Nov. 24, 2009.

25+ Assists since 2000
27 vs. Manhattan Christian (Dec. 8, 2001)
27 vs. Central Missouri (Feb. 6, 2002)
27 vs. University of Saint Mary (Nov. 15, 2005)
26 vs. Calvary Bible College (Dec. 5, 2002)
25 vs. William Woods (Dec. 17, 2008)
25 vs. Baker (Nov. 24, 2009)
25 vs. Texas A&M-International (Dec. 18, 2018)

HUDGINS TAKES MVP HONORS
Redshirt freshman guard Trevor Hudgins (Manhattan, Kansas) earned MVP honors after leading the Bearcats to a pair of wins over Northern State and No. 13 Ferris State in the Small College Basketball Hall of Fame Classic. Hudgins averaged 25.5 points, 5.5 assists, 2.5 rebounds and 2.5 steals in the two games.

CAN'T MISS 'CATS
Northwest began the Ferris State contest by making its first 10 three-point field goals. The Bearcats finished the game having drained 14 triples against the Bulldogs.

GETTING TO THE LINE
Northwest made 20 free throws in each of its first two games this season.
    The Bearcats went 20-of-28 against Northern State. Northwest followed that up with 20-of-23 at the line vs. Ferris State.

BRING ON THE BEST
The Bearcats began this season with wins over both teams that took part in the 2018 NCAA Division II national championship. Ferris State defeated Northern State in the title game in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. Ferris State had won 27 consecutive games before falling to Northwest.

WORKING OVERTIME
Northwest opened the season with a 72-70 overtime win over Northern State. The Bearcats are 7-3 all-time under head coach Ben McCollum in overtime games.

NEUTRAL SITE STREAK IS ALIVE AND WELL
Northwest has won 26 straight games at neutral sites, including this past Monday's 85-66 win over Illinois-Springfield.
    Northwest has opened this season with five neutral site wins.The Bearcats were 7-0 in 2017-18 and 8-0 in 2016-17 on neutral site courts. The Bearcats won their final six neutral site games in 2015-16 following a season-opening 76-72 loss to Upper Iowa in St. Joseph on Nov. 13, 2015.

NOVEMBER BRINGS WINS
Northwest has won its last 22 straight games it has played in the month of November. Northwest was a 7-0 in the month of November in 2017-18. The Bearcats were a perfect 7-0 in November in its run to the national championship in the 2016-17 season.
    Northwest's last loss in November came Nov. 19, 2015 at Augustana. The Vikings scored a 79-77 win over the Bearcats in Sioux Falls, S.D.

20 OR MORE WINS IN 7 STRAIGHT SEASONS
Northwest is one of five teams in the nation to have won 20 or more games in seven consecutive seasons. Northwest, Bellarmine, Indiana (Pa.), Lincoln Memorial and West Liberty have each surpassed the 20-win mark in each of the last seven years.

PRESEASON POLLS
Northwest was tabbed to win the preseason MIAA poll by the members of the media. The coaches MIAA preseason poll had Northwest in the No. 2 spot behind Missouri Southern.

2018-19 MIAA Media Poll
1.     Northwest Missouri (6) - 262
2.     Missouri Southern (10) - 261
3.     Washburn (3) - 237
4.     Central Missouri - 225
5.     Pittsburg State (1) - 212
6.     Fort Hays State (1) - 208
7.     Central Oklahoma - 163
8.     Lindenwood - 150
9.     Nebraska Kearney - 123
10.     Lincoln - 119
11.     Emporia State - 79
12.     Missouri Western - 66
    Southwest Baptist - 66
14.     Northeastern State - 35

2018-19 MIAA Coaches Poll
1.     Missouri Southern (6) - 157
2.     Northwest Missouri (7) - 155
3.     Washburn (1) - 132
4.     Central Missouri - 128
5.     Central Oklahoma - 118
        Pittsburg State - 118
7.     Fort Hays State - 104
8.     Lindenwood - 87
9.     Lincoln - 68
10.     Nebraska Kearney - 66
11.     Emporia State - 47
12.     Northeastern State - 40
13.     Southwest Baptist - 30
14.     Missouri Western - 24

18 NCAA TOURNAMENTS
Northwest has earned 18 NCAA Tournament appearances with a record of 23-20. Northwest has served as the NCAA Central Region host in 2016-17 and 2017-18.
    Northwest has made three Elite Eight appearances (2001-02, 2003-04, 2016-17).
    The Bearcats captured the program's first national championships in the 2016-17 season.

2019 MIAA TOURNAMENT
The MIAA Basketball post-season tournament will be held in Kansas City for the 17th consecutive season. For the first time, the field in Kansas City will include 10 men's and 10 women's teams and will be played over 5 days, March 6-10, 2019.  The winners of both the men's and women's tournament will receive the automatic qualifier to the NCAA tournament.

PRESS CONFERENCE TUESDAY AT PIZZA RANCH
Northwest head coach Ben McCollum will be available each Tuesday from Noon - 1 p.m. for a press conference at the Maryville Pizza Ranch.