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Northwest Missouri State's sudden resurgence this season turned its preseason goal of simply making the MIAA Tournament into a foregone conclusion.
When the Bearcats did officially break their three-year MIAA Tournament drought Saturday with a 78-74 win over Pittsburg State, it barely even registered with them as a significant accomplishment.
It showed in their muted post-game celebration which consisted of splashing water on each other in the locker room.
"I don't think it was as big of a relief as it would've been just because at that point we'd kind of already made it even though we didn't officially make it," said Northwest Missouri State head coach Ben McCollum. "Our objective is to keep focusing on improving and trying to peak when that conference tournament comes around. It's not enough to just make it now. You gotta do something in it."
One of four teams that has clinched a tournament spot, No. 18 Northwest (17-3, 11-3) is much more concerned at this point with grabbing the No. 1 seed and a regular season conference title.
With six games left, Northwest trails Central Missouri (16-4, 12-3) by a half-game for first and have what amounts to a two-game lead over third place because they swept the season series. Fourth place Missouri Southern trails Northwest by 1.5 games.
Of the four teams in contention for the conference title, the Bearcats have the smoothest path remaining with four home games and four games against the bottom half of the league.
Central Missouri plays four of its last six on the road and has a tough game tonight at Washburn.
"You win your games and it doesn't matter," said McCollum. "You can't control whether those other teams win or lose. If you can focus solely on yourself and keep yourself really locked in on that, I think those are the good teams at the end of the season, the teams that peak towards the end. I think the teams that really look at other teams, 'hey, we got to win this game and then that game, we're okay to lose this one' I think you get yourself in trouble when you stop improving. Our objective is to get as good as possible, win every one of our games and let the rest play out."
Winners of four straight, the Bearcats have made it through the most challenging part of their schedule in good shape and are now in position to feast on some of the lower-rung teams.
Northwest Missouri State's sudden resurgence this season turned its preseason goal of simply making the MIAA Tournament into a foregone conclusion.
When the Bearcats did officially break their three-year MIAA Tournament drought Saturday with a 78-74 win over Pittsburg State, it barely even registered with them as a significant accomplishment.
It showed in their muted post-game celebration which consisted of splashing water on each other in the locker room.
"I don't think it was as big of a relief as it would've been just because at that point we'd kind of already made it even though we didn't officially make it," said Northwest Missouri State head coach Ben McCollum. "Our objective is to keep focusing on improving and trying to peak when that conference tournament comes around. It's not enough to just make it now. You gotta do something in it."
One of four teams that has clinched a tournament spot, No. 18 Northwest (17-3, 11-3) is much more concerned at this point with grabbing the No. 1 seed and a regular season conference title.
With six games left, Northwest trails Central Missouri (16-4, 12-3) by a half-game for first and have what amounts to a two-game lead over third place because they swept the season series. Fourth place Missouri Southern trails Northwest by 1.5 games.
Of the four teams in contention for the conference title, the Bearcats have the smoothest path remaining with four home games and four games against the bottom half of the league.
Central Missouri plays four of its last six on the road and has a tough game tonight at Washburn.
"You win your games and it doesn't matter," said McCollum. "You can't control whether those other teams win or lose. If you can focus solely on yourself and keep yourself really locked in on that, I think those are the good teams at the end of the season, the teams that peak towards the end. I think the teams that really look at other teams, 'hey, we got to win this game and then that game, we're okay to lose this one' I think you get yourself in trouble when you stop improving. Our objective is to get as good as possible, win every one of our games and let the rest play out."
Winners of four straight, the Bearcats have made it through the most challenging part of their schedule in good shape and are now in position to feast on some of the lower-rung teams.
The Bearcats next three opponents—Lincoln, Missouri Western and Truman— occupy the bottom three spots in the MIAA.
Northwest rolled through all three teams during the first go-around in conference with two 18-point wins and one by 11.
It's important that the Bearcats sweep through this stretch again with three tougher games to close the year against Central, Baptist and Southern.
"The Central game isn't worth anything if you don't beat Lincoln," said McCollum. "If you prepare the right way, you should be able to play the right way. If we continue to do that, we could make that game special."
McCollum isn't concerned about a letdown taking place over the next three games because his team hasn't given him any reason to be.
Against teams ranked sixth or below in the MIAA, Northwest is a perfect 9-0.
Even in their three losses, the Bearcats have only been blown out once at Fort Hays State, so it’s not often they’re ill-prepared to play.
"We try to bring that effort in practice everyday," said McCollum. "I think depth helps because if somebody isn't ready you just put the next guy in. I think our leadership has really stepped up and making sure that guys are held accountable and making sure they bring effort in games every day."
One of Northwest's most convincing wins this season came against Lincoln 80-62 back on Dec. 30 in Jefferson City.
It was a game the Bearcats took control of at the outset, leading the entire way and by as many 22 in the second half.
The Blue Tigers (3-17, 3-11) enter tonight's matchup at Bearcat Arena having lost six straight, all by at least 15 points.
Lincoln ranks last in the MIAA in scoring offense (61.8 ppg) and scoring defense (78.5 ppg). They rank last in nine other statistical categories as well, including field goal percentage and field goal percentage defense.
Lincoln's only double-figure scorer is 6-2 junior guard Cedric Ridle who averages 17.2 points and seven rebounds per game.
"They always play hard," said senior guard Kyle Haake. "They have athletes. On any particular night they're going to go off, so you gotta be ready for that and kind of get them early and make sure they can't get going."
