Game Notes
Wesleyan's road jerseys may have an inch or two of dust on them by now.
The No. 6 Panthers (10-0, 2-0 Great Lakes Valley Conference) have played every regular season game at home and haven't been on the road since their final exhibition game against Western Kentucky.
That will all change on Thursday when KWC travels to Quincy (6-5, 1-2 GLVC) for its first road game of the season. Though his team has dominated at home, coach Todd Lee said he's ready for the change of pace that this week's road trip will bring.
"What I like about it is, this is a new challenge," Lee said. "We're going on the road. The last time we were on the road was at Western Kentucky. We're going to present this to our guys that this is a big challenge for us.
"Obviously, this is our first road trip. It's a Thursday-Saturday, long road trip. It's a tough place to play, Quincy. They get a good crowd out there. Our guys will be challenged."
Even though it's been a while since KWC last played in another venue, this year's Panthers have shown they can be successful on the road.
Lee said other than the final four or five minutes of the first half against WKU, the game was played pretty evenly. WKU won that game, 83-71. Against South Carolina, KWC led the entire second half until the final seconds before losing, 68-67.
Those were against Division-I teams, too, albeit they were played more than two months ago.
Because those games were played so long ago, Lee said he's not sure how much he'll really use those games as examples. Instead, he'll try to get his team to subscribe to his outlook.
"I think what we'll do is talk more about the challenge we have and how tough it's going to be," he said. "We need guys to step up. You have to play a little different on the road. You have to be tighter, take care of the ball. We cannot have as many turnovers as we did the other night against (Missouri-St. Louis) (21).
"There's a few things you have to do on the road: 1. You've you got to take care of the ball. 2. You've got to rebound. 3. You've got to have a great shot selection. Those three things, we'll talk about as well as our normal preparation defensively."
KWC will be coming off its toughest test of the year — a 72-71 win over UMSL where it trailed by 13 at halftime.
They'll face a team that's dropped two straight GLVC games on the road.
Junior guard Chris Babbitt leads the team in scoring with 13 points per game mark, but overall the team is a lot like KWC -- balanced in its scoring. Defensively, Lee said he'll expect to see a mix of man-to-man and zone. Offensively, he expects to have to stop multiple players.
"They've got a group that's kind of similar to what they had in the past," he said. "Big inside, they've got some shooters. They'v got a pretty quick guard. They're good team at home. It's a tough place to play. They run a lot of sets, run a lot of good stuff."
The road aspect may actually benefit his team, Lee said. Being away from home limits distractions and can actually help with the preperation during the short turn-around of a game on Thursday and Saturday.
The Panthers head to Illinois-Springfield on Saturday.
"You get your group of guys together on the road and they're in a hotel, they have team meals together. You go through different challenges together," he said. "A lot of times, your team grows up on the road."
Additionally, Lee said there's a little added pleasure to winning on the road.
"To be honest, there's really nothing better than winning on the road," he said. "I love winning at home, but to go into another team's gym or arena on the road, that's really the best thing to do. It just gives you a better feeling."
