SPRINGFIELD, IL --- The Prairie Stars (7-13, 2-9) enter this week on a four-game slide but look to turn that around against Missouri – St. Louis (9-12, 3-8) and Maryville (7-16, 1-10). Illinois Springfield returns home for two crucial GLVC games before hitting the road for four straight games, two of which against ranked opponents --- (8) Bellarmine and (17) Southern Indiana.

SETTING THE SCENE
The Prairie Stars look to end a four-game slide this week as they welcome in UMSL (6^th in west) and Maryville (8^th in west). UIS is 4-8 on the season at TRAC but hasn't won at home since December 14^th against Harris-Stowe. UIS currently sits in 14^th place overall and needs to jump two spots in the final three weeks to make the GLVC Tournament for the fifth consecutive year.

The Tritons are the losers of three-straight games, all by less than ten points. After picking up a 70-69 win over Quincy, the Tritons dropped an overtime game to Truman, a nine-point game at Rockhurst, and a 69-68 heartbreaker to William Jewell. This is the final road trip of the season for UMSL, as they will end the regular season with five consecutive home games.

Maryville enters the weekend having dropped seven consecutive games by an average of 10.1 points per game. They are 1-7 away from their home court this season, with their lone road win coming against Trevecca Nazarene on November 22^nd. The Saints are last in the conference with a 1-10 mark in the GLVC.

BALANCED ATTACK
UIS has four players averaging over 12 points per game, led by Eddie Longmeyer at 14.5 points. Zach Steinberg continues to be the closest player in the conference to average a double-double, putting in 13.5 points and 9.0 rebounds per game.

Paxton Harmon and Vince Walker continue to light it up from three, and both average 12.8 points per game.

CONFERENCE NUMBERS
Walker averages 14.3 points per game in GLVC contests, shooting 46 percent from the field and 50.7 percent from three. The 50.7 percent mark is 9^th best in GLVC contests but his 38 total three's made is second only to Jake Velky of Truman State.

A LOOK AHEAD
The top-12 teams will receive an invite to the GLVC tournament, with the top-4 seeds getting a bye. Seeds 5-8 will host the first round against seeds 9-12.

UIS has finished in the 12-seed the last two seasons and have suffered losses at Lewis in each year. Last season, five conference wins was enough to make the tournament. UIS will need to go 3-4 in their last seven to get to that same mark.

A LOOK AT THE RECORD BOOKS
Zach Steinberg has entered the top-25 all-time in scoring at UIS, recording his 500^th career point last Saturday. Not yet halfway through his career, he is halfway to 1,000 points and could break into the top-15 by the end of the season.

Walker and Harmon each continue to move their way up the all-time three-point list. With 87 career three's, Walker sits 8^th all-time just nine away from breaking into the top-5. Harmon has hit 70 career three's and is 11 from joining the ranks in the top-10.

Bahari Amaya, Steinberg, Harmon, and Walker are four of the top five three point marksmen in UIS history. Amaya (43.0), Steinberg (41.7), Harmon (41.4) are the top-three while Walker (39.9) is fifth.

SCOUTING MISSOURI-ST. LOUIS
The Tritons are 9-11 overall, including 3-8 in the GLVC, where they sit in a tie for fifth place in the West Division standings. UMSL is in 11th place overall in the standings and is looking to stay in the top 12 to earn a spot in the GLVC Tournament. The Tritons are 4-7 on the road, including 2-5 in the GLVC. 12 different players have started at least one game, while nine different players have been the top scorer.

Senior Hunter Reine and junior Steven Davis have been the top two scorers all season, averaging 11.2 and 10.8 points per game, respectively.  

Reine also averages a team-best 8.3 rebounds and is shooting 59.8 percent from the field, which currently ranks seventh on the program's single-season charts. He has five double-doubles and has pulled down double-digit rebounds seven times, including in two of the last three games.

SCOUTING MARYVILLE
Grant Sims leads the Maryville offensive attack with 13.5 points per game. Four Saints average double figures and 11 different players average at least 10 minutes per game. 13 different Saints have played at least 11 games on the season and 11 players have started at least twice.

Maryville has the 14^th ranked scoring margin in the GLVC, losing on average by 10.5 points in conference play.

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