Lee: KWC still searching for identity - Kentucky Wesleyan College Athletics

Kentucky Wesleyan College enters tonight's home game against Missouri S&T at 8-2 and ranked No. 7 nationally in the latest NCAA Division II men's basketball poll.

A closer examination of the Panthers reveals something far different, however, and KWC head coach Todd Lee is the first to acknowledge it.

"We just don't do any one thing well right now," said Lee, whose team is coming off a 74-64 upset loss at Saint Joseph's on Tuesday night. "We're still searching -- with our team, you can't say we do this well, or that well. We're still searching for an identity.

"Eight of our 12 guys are new players to the program, we have some of them out of position and unsure of where they need to be -- it's frustrating at times, but we've got to play through it and we've got to begin establishing our identity."

The kicker is that KWC is a precarious 1-2 in Great Lakes Valley Conference play and needed overtime to post its lone league victory -- Sunday's 81-73 win at Wisconsin-Parkside.

"These next two games are very important," said Lee, whose team wraps up an overloaded four-games-in-seven-days marathon on Saturday against visiting Drury. "It's so tough to win on the road in this league, you've got to take care of business when you're at home."

Wesleyan, however, figures to be challenged this week -- beginning with tonight's clash with the Miners (6-5, 2-2).

"Missouri S&T is a very skilled perimeter team -- they've got several quality outside shooters who can hurt you when they're hot," Lee said. "Bryce Foster is only a sophomore, but he's one of the best perimeter players in our league.

"Down low they've got a senior center (Maurice Grinter) who transferred in, and he's the second-leading rebounder in the conference -- we have our work cut out for us."

Foster, a 6-foot-4 do-it-all forward, averages 14.2 points, 5.6 rebounds and 2.5 assists per outing, while Grinter, at 6-4 and 270 pounds, averages 9.6 points and 7.8 rebounds per game.

Another key player for S&T is 6-5 junior forward Tommy Pelczynski (12.2 ppg, 4.5 rpg, 2.5 apg).

The Panthers continue to be led by the 1-2 punch of 6-7 junior center Anthony Young (20 ppg, 8.4 rpg) and 6-foot junior guard Cardell McFarland (17.8 ppg, 4.2 apg).

Other double-digit scorers for Wesleyan are 5-11 senior guard Kwan Waller (13.9 ppg, 4 rpg) and 6-3 junior forward Marseilles Stewart (10.3 ppg, 3.6 rpg).

KWC shot just 34 percent from the floor in the loss at Saint Joseph's, but rebounding continues to be at the top of Lee's list of concerns.

"I'm very disappointed with our rebounding," Lee said. "In recent years, we've been among the league leaders and even national leaders in rebounding margin, but recently we haven't been rebounding well at all."

The Panthers did not secure a single offensive rebound in the first half at St. Joe's, and the Pumas emerged with a 39-31 overall advantage on the glass.

"That's an area that must improve," Lee said. "We've got to block out, we've got to be better at anticipating, we've got to get some second-chance points."

Tonight, Lee hopes the Panthers simply get back to the basics of playing fundamentally sound.

"We just need to play hard and focus on being more efficient in every area," he said. "We've got to begin establishing what and who we are as a basketball team."

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