Game Notes
Kentucky Wesleyan has the chance to make it three wins in a row Tuesday night when it hosts former Great Lakes Valley Conference foe Illinois-Springfield at 7:30 p.m. at the Sportscenter.
Coach Happy Osborne said it's critical his team capitalizes on two solid wins over the weekend in KWC's Holiday Tournament.
"We need to do it again," he said. "Obviously, it doesn't hurt, but we've got to do it again. The thing that's nice is when you win — keep playing. I'm glad we've got the games like we got because when you get to win and keep playing, that helps."
Tuesday's game is the first of three at home this week for the Panthers (3-5), who begin Great Midwest Athletic Conference play on Thursday against Ohio Valley and Saturday against Salem International.
Osborne spoke highly of the Prairie Stars (2-3) on Monday. Four starters are averaging in double figures.
"I like their wings a lot," Osborne said. "I really think Jake Williams (6-foot-6, 180 pounds) is a good player. He's a matchup problem for us. Their other wing is Brandon Snowden (6-foot, 200 pounds). I like him too. They're both good players.
"They're a point guard team. They do a nice job penetrating. They've got a big old boy inside named Dylan Sparkman (6-foot-10, 260 pounds). They've got pretty daggone good depth, too. They're bigger than we are, they're longer than we are. To win, we're going to have to overachieve."
KWC employed a sunken 1-3-1 zone defense over the weekend, something it hadn't done much of up to that point. Expect to see that and a 2-3 zone defense throughout the game.
Whatever the Panthers did over the weekend worked, as they put together arguably their two best games of the season.
Senior guard Rico Ferguson admitted after Saturday's win over Missouri S&T that Friday's win over Wilberforce helped ease some tension and made it easier for the Panthers to play looser on Saturday.
Naturally, the confidence level is increasing for a KWC team that's still dealing with the absence of three suspended players.
"I don't think it's ever been bad," Osborne said of the team's confidence, "But it's one thing for me to tell them they can do it and it's another thing for them to know they can do it."
The big question is how well the Panthers will respond after playing three games in four days last week. Osborne gave the players Sunday off, so he said fatigue shouldn't be an issue.
As for the team's depth, KWC athletic director Jim Askins said on Monday he hopes to have a resolution on suspended players Donovan Johnson, Alex Brown and Devin Langford "in the very near future," but didn't indicate any more specifics.
