Game Notes\
There are plenty of things going on that could be distracting No. 6 Kentucky Wesleyan College before its second men's basketball game on its first road trip of the season.
With No. 4 Bellarmine and No. 10 Southern Indiana losing on Thursday night, players could start looking ahead and see a chance to jump atop the Great Lakes Valley Conference.
The Panthers could envision a jump in the national rankings as well with the conference's preseason East Division champion, Bellarmine, losing and potentially opening up a spot in the top five.
But coach Todd Lee has been around long enough to know anything can happen on the road in the GLVC, as Bellarmine and USI learned this week, and said his team can't afford to look past Illinois-Springfield (4-8, 2-2 GLVC), which it will tip-off against at 3 p.m. CT Saturday at The Recreation and Athletic Center at Springfield.
"I think for our guys, it opens their eyes, which is good," Lee said of Illinois-Springfield's upset of USI. "The fact that Illinois-Springfield beat USI will get our guys' attention. The know they're capable of beating anyone in our league. Our guys know they'll have to play extremely well."
KWC (11-0, 3-0 GLVC) responded from a four-point halftime deficit to earn a 77-69 win over Quincy on Thursday to remain undefeated.
It was the second time in as many games that the Panthers had to come from behind in the second half to pull out a win, and Lee said he was pleased with the way his team adjusted in the second half.
He felt like the team made better decisions overall and simply made shots that weren't falling in the first half.
Getting a win like that in the first road test of the season was a big confidence boost as well, he said.
"It's good for the guys that haven't played in our league to get on road and get a win," he said. "We were playing a team in Quincy that lost two games on the road. They were getting back home and we knew they were going to play hard, which they did."
KWC had a little trouble with a quick in-conference turnaround last week and nearly lost to Missouri-St. Louis.
Lee attributed his team's slow start to a lack of focus and hunger, which he doesn't expect to be an issue on Saturday against the Prairie Stars.
"I really think the issue on Saturday was the fact that we won by 30 on Thursday (against Maryville)," he said. "UMSL came in with their backs against the wall. Our guys were not as hungry or focused as UMSL was. We played a tough game (Thursday night) and saw Springfield beat USI. We're on the road we cannot be digging ourselves holes and we need to play hard for 40 minutes."
