The Lincoln men's basketball team will seek its longest win streak of the season tonight, but to get their fourth straight win, the Blue Tigers will have to knock off the defending national champions.
Lincoln is set to take on Northwest Missouri - ranked No. 6 in NCAA Division II - at 7:30 p.m. in Maryville.
The Bearcats (17-2 overall, 9-2 MIAA) are led by 5-foot-10 senior guard Justin Pitts, the reigning NCAA Division II Player of the Year. He has been named the MIAA Player of the Year the past two seasons.
Pitts is among the league leaders in several categories, ranking second in scoring with 21.7 points per game and second in assists with 5.3 per contest. He already holds the career records in both categories (2,320 points and 531 assists) at Northwest Missouri and is second in career 3-pointers made with 260.
The Bearcats have four starters with scoring averages in double figures. Chris-Ebou Ndow, a 6-7 senior forward, scores 14.7 points and grabs a team-high 7.7 rebounds per game. Joey Witthus and Brett Dougherty, both standing 6-7, average 10.8 and 10.1 points per game.
Lincoln boasts the MIAA Player of the Week in junior Amariontez Ivory, who scored a career-high 33 points Saturday in Lincoln's 82-79 win against Nebraska-Kearney. He leads the Blue Tigers with 16.0 points per game.
Lincoln 11-10, 5-7 MIAA) has five players averaging double figures through 21 games: Terrance Smith (14.7), John Burton (13.5), Maurice Mason (11.0) and Marquise Williams (10.3). Both Lincoln and Northwest Missouri are averaging 78.4 points per game.
The Blue Tigers played the Bearcats three times during their championship run last season. Two of those three contests were decided by single digits.
The Lincoln women's basketball team tips off tonight's MIAA doubleheader at 5:30 p.m. against Northwest Missouri (2-17, 1-10 MIAA), which won its first conference game Saturday by defeating Missouri Western 56-53. The win snapped the Bearcats' 15-game losing streak.
Tanya Meyer, a 5-10 senior forward who was an All-MIAA second-team selection last season, leads the Bearcats with 14.5 points and 8.9 rebounds per game.
Freshman guard Jaelyn Haggard averages 12.6 points per game. The Bearcats rank 13th in the MIAA with 60.7 points per game, while the Blue Tigers are last at 56.1.
Lincoln (3-17, 0-12 MIAA) is looking to snap a 13-game losing streak, as well as 15 consecutive MIAA losses dating back to last season. The Blue Tigers dropped both games of last year's home-and-home series against the Bearcats.
The Blue Tigers have four players averaging seven or more points per game, led by 5-7 senior guard Citlali Lopez with 10.9 points per game.
Bre Coleman averages 9.5 points and a team-high 7.4 rebounds per game, while Faith Brintle and Lajanea Kimbrough average 9.3 and 7.1 points, respectively.
Tonight's games begin a three-game road trip for the Lincoln men and women, who will then wrap up the regular season with four straight home games at Jason Gym. They will host Northwest Missouri in the regular-season finale Feb. 24.