15 UIndy Greyhounds
vs. Lewis Flyers
Thursday, Jan. 2, 7:30 p.m. ET, Nicoson Hall

15 UIndy Greyhounds
vs. Illinois Springfield Prairie Stars
Saturday, Jan. 4, 3 p.m. ET, Nicoson Hall

ON TAP
The No. 14/15 UIndy men's basketball team opens up the 2020 calendar year with a pair of GLVC contests, hosting Lewis and Illinois Springfield this weekend at Nicoson Hall. 

The Greyhounds have 19 league games remaining on the regular-season slate, including nine home contests and 10 road dates.

ABOUT LEWIS
After dropping each of its first three games of the 2019-20 season, Lewis has now won six straight heading into the new year. Five of the six wins have come against NCAA DII opponents, adding a pair of roads wins (Ferris State, Findlay) to home victories over Hillsdale, Illinois Springfield and Lake Superior State. The Flyers also claimed an 86-72 win over NAIA program Saint Francis on Dec. 12.

The Flyers have three players averaging double figures, including leading scorer Anthony D'Avanzo with 17.6 points per game. The redshirt junior also leads the club in rebounding with 6.4 boards per contest. Adam Pischke (12.9) and Dre Bell (11.7) join D'Avanzo in double figures, with the former also handing out 4.6 assists per game. 

Brandon McCombs has also been a solid contributor in the Lewis starting lineup, adding 6.0 rebounds to his 9.3 points per game. Artese Stapleton has stepped right in as a true freshman, scoring 7.6 points per game in 15 minutes off the bench.

Head coach Scott Trost is in his 14th season in Romeoville. Trost has 406 victories to his name as a head coach, 253 of which have come at Lewis.

HOUNDS V. FLYERS
Lewis holds a 47-34 advantage in the long-time series with UIndy, dating back to December of 1980. The Flyers have won six of the last eight contests, which includes both matchups from last season. 

Both games during the 2017-18 season went to overtime, as each home team claimed victory. Former Greyhound Tate Hall led UIndy with 25 points in the January 2018 victory over Lewis, as the team shot 13 for 24 from 3-point range. 

ABOUT ILLINOIS SPRINGFIELD
The Prairies Stars are off to the best start in the program's NCAA era, racking up a 7-1 non-conference record. Illinois Springfield dropped the GLVC opener to Lewis in early December, with its only other loss coming at the hands of then-No. 1 and defending national champion Northwest Missouri State. Its' 7-2 overall mark is the best start since the 2008-09 season.

Despite being in the middle of the pack in field-goal percentage among GLVC programs, the Prairie Stars rank second in 3FG% with a remarkable 41.4 percent effort from deep. Keymonta Johnson, named GLVC Player of the Week on Nov. 11, is 14 of 31 (45.2 percent) from 3-point range this seaso, but it's Jesus Castillo that leads the attack from deep. The junior out of Spain has knocked down 46.1 percent of his 76 attempts, nearly averaging four 3FG per game. 

Head coach Matt Brock in his first season in Springfield after being named the program's fourth leader in school history. Prior to Illinois Springfield, Brock was the head coach at Missouri Baptist.

The Prairie Starts kick off the weekend first down in Louisville against top-ranked Bellarmine on Thursday. 

HOUNDS V. PRAIRIE STARS
UIndy has dominated the short history between Illinois Springfield, winning nine times in the teams' 10 matchups. The Prairie Stars' lone win in the series came in January 2018. 

The Greyhounds avenged the road loss last season, downing the Prairie Stars by a score of 86-76. Jimmy King and Marcus Latham combined for 49 points in the victory, which also served as head coach Stan Gouard's 200 career victory on the UIndy bench.

LAST TIME OUT
As the offense was left frozen in the first half, senior Marcus Latham and the No. 15 UIndy men's basketball outscored Lake Superior State by 17 after the break to surge to a 73-70 in-region victory on Tuesday evening.
 
Latham notched 19 of his 28 points in the second half to lead the Greyhounds in the victory, while Jordache Mavunga (15) and Trevor Lakes (14) also finished in double figures.

RINSE, LATHAM, REPEAT
Marcus Latham has embraced the bench role during his senior campaign for the Greyhounds, scoring double digits in each of the past seven games as a reserve. The Alton, Ill., native recorded a season-high 28 points at Lake Superior State on Dec. 17 in the comeback victory, notching 34 minutes of game time. The senior shot 10 of 18 from the field, while going a perfect 7 for 7 from the charity stripe.

SOPHOMORE SURGE
Sophomore Jacob Polakovich tops the GLVC with a 73.8 field-goal percentage, drilling 31 of his 42 attempts from the floor. The Grand Rapids, Mich., native is scoring 8.0 points per game while tallying 4.3 rebounds each contest.

MILLER TIME
Junior transfer Cory Miller Jr. has been as welcome addition to the UIndy program this season, giving a balanced effort in nine starts for the Greyhounds. The Ursa, Ill., native is scoring 9.6 points per game on 50.8 percent shooting, while also averaging 3.0 rebounds, 2.4 assists and 1.7 steals per contest.

LIVING LEGACY
UIndy freshman guard Ben Nicoson is a fourth-generation Greyhound, following in the footsteps of Angus (great grandfather), Dan (grandfather) and Brent (father). Nicoson Hall, home of UIndy basketball, is named after Angus, who is the program's all-time wins leader as a coach with 483 victories.

Ben is currently averaging 9.7 minutes per game in his freshman season, and drew his first-ever start against Lake Superior State.

2020 VISION
UIndy head coach Stan Gouard announced the addition of two members to its 2020 recruiting class on Wednesday as part of the early signing period. Matthew Ambrose (Kildeer, IL) and Keegan O'Neill (Montgomery, IN) will both begin their senior seasons at their respective high schools this winter. 

Ambrose was named All-Area by three separate publications as a junior before choosing UIndy as his collegiate destination. Ambrose led Adlai E. Stevenson High School with 16 points/game, while grabbing seven boards and handing our four assists each contest.

O'Neill rounds out the small early-signing class for the Greyhounds, who comes from Montgomery, Ind. The 6-8, 245 lb. big man has averaged double figures the last two seasons with Barr-Reeve, including 15.4 points/game as a sophomore. As a junior, O'Neill averaged 11 points and six rebounds per game.

NEWCOMER LANE
UIndy boasts a high number of newcomers in 2019-20, with eight of the team's 16 players tabbed as newcomers this season. Of the eight, five are freshmen and three are transfers, with Dee Montgomery (Purdue Fort Wayne) and Trevor Banks (Arkansas Pine Bluff) coming in from NCAA DI programs. Cory Miller Jr. was named an All-America First-Team selection his final season at John Wood CC. 

Jesse Bingham was named an Indiana All-Star after his senior season at Warren Central, the lone NCAA DII commit to earn the distinction. Joining Bingham as rookies for UIndy are fellow all-state players Josh Bryan, Frankie Davidson and Kendrick Tchoua, along with Ben Nicoson. 

HOMEGROWN HOUNDS
UIndy has five players from the Indianapolis area, including Jesse Bingham (Warren Central) and Jimmy King (Roncalli). Overall, head coach Stan Gouard has 10 players from the state of Indiana.

GLVC POINT RATING SYSTEM
For the third straight season, the GLVC will determine its conference standings by using a designated point rating system. Points shall be awarded for each conference contest.

The eight teams with the highest ratings at the end of the regular season will qualify for the postseason tournament. There are no automatic qualifying bids to divisional champions, nor is there a number of tournament bids allocated for each of the three five-team divisions. Team ratings, which will be determined by total points divided by league games played, may not be comparable with other teams in the league given each team's bye this season. A given team's win or loss early in the conference season will have an assigned point value based on their opponent's winning percentage, although that point value is likely to fluctuate should that opponent improve or weaken throughout the remainder of the conference season.

7 points – win over a .750 or better team on the road
6.5 points – win over a .750 or better team at home
6 points – win over a .500 or better team on the road
5 points – win over a .500 or better team at home
4.5 points – win over a .250 or better team on the road
4 points – win over a .250 team or better at home
3.5 points – win over an under .250 team on the road
3 points – win over an under .250 team at home
2.5 points – loss at home or on the road to a .750 or better team
2 points – loss to a .500 or better team at home or on the road
1 point – loss to a .250 or better team at home or on the road
.5 points – loss to an under .250 team on the road
0 points – loss to an under .250 team at home