• The Lindenwood Lions will be back home on the Hyland Arena floor Saturday afternoon against the Central Missouri Mules. The Mules come to St. Charles as the top team in the MIAA.

• Lindenwood is coming off a 87-75 win over the Southwest Baptist Bearcats. The Lions are coming off a loss in their last home game against Washburn.

• Central Missouri is playing its second of four games away from Warrensburg. The Mules are coming of a 111-72 win over the Lincoln Blue Tigers and are 3-1 on the road.

• The Lions and the Mules have played twice and Central Missouro have won both. The last time the teams met was in 1982.

Lindenwood Notes

• The Lions are second in the MIAA in field goal percentage with a mark of .483. There is three individuals in the top 10. Brett Thompson is second at 60 percent, Richie Thompson is sixth at 57 percent, and Cody Sorenson is 7th at 55 percent.

• Not only are the Lions second in the conference in field goal percentage they are tops in four other categories. The team is first in scoring (79.2), scoring margin (+12.5), rebounding margin (+8.8), and defensive rebounds a game (28.2).

• This season's roster consists of five seniors and those seniors are leading the way. The group is scoring 67 percent of the team's average points per game.

• Richie Thompson has led the team in rebounding 11 times. He has also led the team in blocks eight times.
 
• The Lions have made at least five threes in every game but twice this season. The season high in made threes was 12 against William Woods.

• When the Lions score at least 80 points the team is 7-0 and when the team scores over 70 the team is 9-3.

• Alex Bazzell has been the Lions go to scorer so far this season. He has led the team in scoring in 10-of-18 games.

• Earlier this season, Bazzell scored his 1,000 career point as a Lindenwood Lion. He becomes the ninth Lion in program history to reach the milestone.

• Senior Cody Sorenson has been strong from behind the three-point line. He has made at least two threes in every game but four. His high of the season was against Central Oklahoma when he made five.

• The Lions have outrebounded its opponents this season by a 725-566 margin. When the team grabs more rebounds it is 13-1.

• Alex Bazzell has been a frequent visitor to the free-throw line. He has 173 attempts and has made 148. The next closest on his team in attempts is Richie Thompson who has 61 attempts. The senior has had eight games where he has at least 10 attempts.

• Over the past two seasons, the Lions have seen overtime numerous times. In 2011-12, the team played three overtime games. The team has already played in three over time games. The Lions have a 2-4 record in overtime since last season.

• Lindenwood has outscored its opponents in the second half in all but four games.

• Opponents are shooting just 39 percent from the field and 32 percent from behind the line.

• The Lions have shot 177 more free throws than their opponents. When the team shoots more free throws than its opponents, the team is 12-3.

• Lindenwood has outscored its opponents in both the first half and the second half this season. But the second half has been the Lions best. The team has outscored its opponents 764-633 in the final 20 minutes.

• If the Lions hold their opponents to 69 points or less the team is 10-1. If the opposition scores more than 69 the team is 3-4.

• After playing a season without a conference the Lions will play this year in the MIAA. Lindenwood will play 18 conference games.

• The Hyland Arena floor has been very good to the Lions since Brad Soderberg took over. In his first four seasons, Lindenwood is 48-8 at home.  

• For the first time in school history the Lions have had three consecutive 20 win seasons. All three seasons have been under the watchful eye of Coach Soderberg.

• The Lions return seven of their top eight scorers from last season's squad. The only loss was Kramer Soderberg who averaged 17.9 points. 

Central Missouri Notes

• The Central Missouri Mules come into the game against the Lions with a record of 15-3 overall and 9-1 in conference play. The Mules are coming off a 111-72 win over Lincoln. Central Missouri is 3-1 on the road.

• As a team Central Missouri is averaging 75.3 points a game on offense and is giving up 66.2 points on defense. The Mules are shooting 46 percent from the field and 34 percent from behind the three-point line.

• Central Missouri is led by a trio of double digit scorers. Dominique Long is leading the team in points with 15.4 a game. Widgett Washington is second on the team with 11.6 points a game and Charles Hammork is third on the team at 10.5.

• Kim Anderson is the head coach of Central Missouri and is in his 11th season at the helm.