[Men's Basketball] MBB Gameday Preview: Falcons entertain No. 17 Kansas Wesleyan Tonight
The Lowdown: No. 17 Kansas Wesleyan University at Friends University
Location: Garvey Center
When: Monday, Jan. 23 @ 8 pm
Broadcast: https://kcacnetwork.com/friends/
Live Stats: https://bit.ly/3XDBdTS
Flying with the Falcons: The Friends University Falcons split a pair of games this week, winning an overtime thriller at Bethany College before stumbling 82-66 at Bethel College to come in at 4-15 overall and 3-10 in the KCAC.
Ian Konek (SR/Long Beach, Calif.) leads the Falcons with 14.5 points per game, while Tim Barbieri (JR/Abilene,Kan. ) averages 11.1 ppg and is tops on the team and third in the league with 8.3 rebounds. Barbieri is also second in the league in field-goal percentage (60.7 percent), while Drew Patterson (SO/Charlotte, NC) has dished out two assists per game for the Falcons. Al Emerllahu (FR/San Antonio, Texas) is also scoring in double-figures with 11.0 ppg and ranks fifth in the KCAC in field-goal percentage (56.9 percent).
Scouting the Coyotes: The No. 17-ranked Kansas Wesleyan University Coyotes enter tonight's matchup on quite a roll, winners of 11 of their last 12 games. The Coyotes are 18-2 overall and second in the KCAC at 12-2 in the league.
Alex LittleJohn is leading the Coyotes in both scoring (14.7 ppg) and rebounding (11.6 rpg), with his rebounding total tops in the KCAC. Jun Murdock is second on the team in scoring (11.4 ppg) and has tallied a team-leading 2.5 assists on the season. Easton Hunter is also fifth in the league in three-point percentage (41.8 percent).
The Series: KWU slipped past the Falcons 82-78 in the first meeting this season in Salina, Kan. after each team won on the road last season. The Falcons are now 5-9 vs. the Coyotes in the past 14 matchups overall and 3-4 in the last seven meetings in Wichita.
Defender of the Falcons: Friends University sophomore forward Steve Staco (SO/Orlando, Fla.) earned his first career KCAC Defensive Player of the Week honor back on Dec. 12 after averaging six defensive rebounds, 1.5 blocks and 1.5 steals in the Falcons' two games that week.
Welcome to the Club: Senior guard Ian Konek became the 10th member of the modern-era 1,000-point club in Friends University Men's Basketball history back on Dec. 3 vs. Ottawa University. Konek now has 1,080 career points and currently leads the Falcons with 14.5 ppg this season.
Halftime Recognition: At halftime of the men's game vs. Kansas Wesleyan, all Fall NAIA Scholar-Athletes will be recognized.
Sponsor Alerts: Friends University Athletics is excited to have Home2 Suites by Hilton back as an official athletic sponsor this season! For more on what they can offer, click HERE to visit their official webpage.
Tickets: Fans are able to purchase tickets for all home basketball games by clicking HERE.
Falcons by the Numbers:
Overall record: 4-15
KCAC: 3-10
Home: 3-5
Road: 1-9
Neutral: 0-1
When scoring:
Under 50 points: 0-0
50-59 points: 0-2
60-69 points: 0-4
70-79 points: 1-6
80-89 points: 2-3
90+ points: 1-0
When allowing:
Under 50 points:
50-59 points: 0-0
60-69 points: 2-0
70-79 points: 1-7
80-89 points: 1-7
90+ points: 0-1
When leading at halftime: 3-6
When trailing at halftime: 1-8
When tied at halftime: 0-1
When committing fewer turnovers: 1-1
When committing more turnovers: 3-14
When turnovers are tied: 0-0
When leading in field-goal percentage: 4-7
When trailing in field-goal percentage: 0-7
When field-goal percentage is tied: 0-1
When leading in three-point percentage: 3-6
When trailing in three-point percentage: 1-9
When three-point percentage is tied: 0-0
When leading in rebounding: 4-5
When trailing in rebounding: 0-9
When rebounding is tied: 0-1
When leading in assists: 4-6
When trailing in assists: 0-8
When assists are tied: 0-1
In OT: 1-1
The Coaches:
Austin McBeth is in his second season as head coach of the Friends University men's basketball program.
In his debut season, McBeth coached two All-KCAC performers and a pair of all-freshman members.
McBeth arrived at Friends following a highly successful stint as the head assistant coach at NCAA D-II Truman State University of the Great Lakes Valley Conference (GLVC).
Serving as the recruiting coordinator for Truman State, McBeth was at the heart of a team that won the GLVC regular season championship and earned a No. 1 seed in the NCAA D-II National Tournament.
At Truman, McBeth also served in roles as the director of strength and conditioning, academic advisor for "at risk" players, summer camp director and director of community service while being heavily involved in fundraising and skill development for guards and post players.
McBeth's coaching experience includes head assistant coaching stops at the University of Illinois-Springfield, also of the GLVC and NAIA program Montreat College in Black Mountain, NC.
He was also a part of his alma mater team, the Iowa State University men's basketball program under head coach Fred Hoiberg, where he earned a Bachelor of Science in Psychology.
McBeth was a Volunteer GA Assistant Coach at ISU in 2013 and served as a camp instructor for the Cyclones in the summer of 2012.
Off the court, McBeth is a perfect fit for the Friends University Christian mission, having served as the Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA) President at Iowa State while also filling the role of an FCA Co-Sponsor at Iowa State, Montreat and Illinois-Springfield. In addition, he has authored two books on coaching philosophies and the important role that coaches play in the lives of athletes.
Anthony Monson is in his seventh season at the helm of the Kansas Wesleyan University men's basketball program and ranks fourth on the program's all-time wins list.
Last season, Monson guided the Coyotes to 15 conference wins for the third time in four seasons along with the team's first NAIA National Tournament appearance since 2007.
In the 2017-18 campaign, Monson guided the Coyotes to their first winning season since 2008-09.
Before coming to KWU, Monson served nine seasons as the lead assistant coach at Tabor College.
Up Next: The Falcons will be at Avila University Thursday night (Jan. 26) in Kansas City, Mo. before hosting No. 2-ranked Oklahoma Wesleyan University Saturday evening (Jan. 28) at 7 pm inside the Garvey Center.