[Men's Basketball] MBB Gameday Preview: Falcons back at the Garvey tonight vs. McPherson
The Lowdown: McPherson College at Friends University
Location: Garvey Center
When: Wednesday, Jan. 11 @ 8 pm
Broadcast: https://kcacnetwork.com/friends/
Live Stats: https://bit.ly/3IEbm9O
Flying with the Falcons: The Friends University Falcons are coming off a pair of tough road losses at York University and Southwestern College to drop to 3-13 overall and 2-8 in the KCAC.
Ian Konek leads the Falcons with 15.3 points per game, while Tim Barbieri is tops on the team and third in the league with 8.6 rebounds. Barbieri (61.3 percent) is also second in the league in field-goal percentage, while Trey Reid has distributed a team-leading 2.1 assists on the season for the Falcons.
Scouting the Bulldogs: The McPherson College Bulldogs fell 92-78 last Saturday (Jan. 7) to Bethel College and have now dropped three of their last four games to come in at 9-7 overall and 4-5 in the KCAC.
The trio of Antonio Watson, Owen Braxmeyer and Yaniel Vidal anchors the Bulldogs. Watson is scoring a team-high 13.0 points per game, with Braxmeyer averaging 12.8 ppg along with a team-leading 7.1 rebounds. Vidal also scores in double-figures with 11.6 ppg and leads the team with 2.6 assists.
The Series: The Falcons have won 15 of the past 19 matchups against McPherson, but the teams have split the season series the past three years, with each squad winning at home during that span.
Last year vs. the Bulldogs: Inside the Garvey Center, the Falcons routed the Bulldogs 97-61 in historic fashion, marking their biggest victory margin since 2013. Friends shot a red-hot 59.7 percent (37-of-62 from the field in that home victory, their highest field-goal percentage since hitting 72.9 percent (35-of-48) percent of their attempts in an 89-82 victory at Northeastern State University back on Nov. 26, 2016 that currently ranks as the all-time single-game record in the KCAC.
A catalyst of the Falcons' historic offensive performance was their blazing connection from three-point distance, hitting 72.7 percent (16-of-22) of their attempts from beyond the arc. To find the last time the Falcons hit that many threes in a game, one has to go all the way back to 2016, when they connected on 18 of their 42 attempts from three-point distance.
And a 72.9 percent clip from the perimeter? That had never happened for the Falcons in the modern era since accurate records started being kept in the 2003-04 season.
The Falcons then fell 71-62 at McPherson later in the season to settle for a split in the season series with the Bulldogs for the third consecutive season.
Quoting Head Coach Austin McBeth:
"It's been a long time since we've played a home. McPherson has a solid group of guards who can really score it, and our last few games have prepared us to focus our efforts on shutting them down. We'll need a great effort from all of the guys in our rotation, and I think they're excited to play in the Garvey again."
Defender of the Falcons: Friends University sophomore forward Steve Staco 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 this past 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 1,048 career points and currently leads the Falcons with 15.3 ppg this season.
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: 3-13
KCAC: 2-8
Home: 3-4
Road: 0-8
Neutral: 0-1
When scoring:
Under 50 points: 0-0
50-59 points: 0-2
60-69 points: 0-2
70-79 points: 1-6
80-89 points: 1-3
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: 0-5
90+ points: 0-1
When leading at halftime: 3-6
When trailing at halftime: 0-7
When tied at halftime: 0-0
When committing fewer turnovers: 1-1
When committing more turnovers: 2-12
When turnovers are tied: 0-0
When leading in field-goal percentage: 3-7
When trailing in field-goal percentage: 0-5
When field-goal percentage is tied: 0-1
When leading in three-point percentage: 2-6
When trailing in three-point percentage: 1-7
When three-point percentage is tied: 0-0
When leading in rebounding: 3-5
When trailing in rebounding: 0-7
When rebounding is tied: 0-1
When leading in assists: 3-5
When trailing in assists: 0-7
When assists are tied: 0-1
In OT: 0-1
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.
T.J. Eskildsen is in his fourth season at the helm of the McPherson College Bulldogs after a nine-year tenure as an assistant coach with the program. In his first two seasons, Eskildsen guided the Bulldogs to consecutive fourth-place finishes in the KCAC.
Up Next: The Falcons will travel to Lindsborg, Kan. to face the Bethany College Swedes Saturday night (Jan. 14) at 7 pm.