WICHITA, Kan. — With a bid to the Heartland Conference postseason already locked up, the Newman men's basketball team will look to finish the regular season on a winning streak, facing St. Mary's and Texas A&M International during homecoming weekend at Fugate Gymnasium.

In addition to the final home basketball games of the season, the weekend is also packed with events. Thursday is Homecoming, with Newman academic honor roll student-athletes being recognized at halftime of the women's game, and the homecoming king and queen announced at halftime of the men's game.

Saturday is Senior Day, when seniors from men's and women's basketball and cheer and dance being recognized, as well as Newman coach Mark Potter's final home game on the Jet bench before retiring at the end of the season.

SCOUTING NEWMAN

The Jets (8-17, 6-10 Heartland) will look to get back on the winning side of things after suffering a pair of tough losses on the road last week to Lubbock Christian (80-76) and Dallas Baptist (104-74).

                Leaders
                Daniel Nwosu Jr.-18.2 ppg, 3.4 rpg, 1.9 apg, 38 stl, 40.7 FG%, 89.7 FT%
                Taylor Schieber-16.0 ppg, 2.6 rpg, 1.8 apg, 22 stl, 41.9 FG%, 39.3 3FG%, 84.5 FT%
                Kevin Bryant-9.8 ppg, 7.9 rpg, 2.1 apg, 26 stl, 43.6 FG%
                Daniel Green-8.2 ppg, 5.9 rpg, 13 blk, 57.6 FG%
                Allen Wilson-6.8 ppg, 2.1 rpg, 1.7 apg, 44.2 FG%, 45.6 3FG%, 91.7 FT%

SCOUTING THE RATTLERS (Thursday, 7:30 p.m.)

St. Mary's (10-16, 7-9 Heartland) grabbed a pair of tough overtime victories over Oklahoma Christian and St. Edward's two weeks ago, but its win streak was snapped in its lone game last week, a 66-53 loss at Texas A&M International.

                Leaders
                Yanni Wetzell-14.3 ppg, 7.0 rpg, 1.7 apg, 15 blk, 48.9 FG%
                Will Ferguson-13.4 ppg, 3.2 rpg, 4.4 apg, 27 stl
                Freddie Williams-8.9 ppg, 4.5 rpg, 42.9 FG%
                Ed Seay-7.6 ppg, 3.9 rpg, 48.9 FG%
                Robbie Benavides-6.0 ppg, 2.0 rpg, 3.3 apg, 34 stl, 49.0 FG%, 42.9 3FG%

SCOUTING THE DUSTDEVILS (Saturday, 3 p.m.)

TAMIU (18-9, 11-5 Heartland) are looking to move as high as the second seed with a successful final weekend. The Dustdevils are on a four-game winning streak, knocking off OC and St. Edward's before last week's win over St. Mary's.

                Leaders
                Denzel Bellot-12.7 ppg, 3.6 rpg, 2.8 apg, 40 stl, 46.7 FG%, 41.7 3FG%
                Bunja Yaboe-12.2 ppg, 5.6 rpg, 37 blk, 59.6 FG%
                Jordan VanDeKop-10.3 ppg, 5.1 rpg, 1.9 apg, 44.2 FG%
                Kenny Hatch-8.3 ppg, 2.6 rpg, 3.1 apg, 46 stl
                Arthur Santanna-6.3 ppg, 2.7 rpg, 1.4 apg, 35 stl

HISTORY LESSON

The losses the Jets suffered to St. Mary's and TAMIU last month put them on short two-game losing streaks against those opponents, but it's an entirely different story when those two foes come to Fugate Gymnasium. Including an impressive win last season, Newman has never lost to the Dustdevils in Wichita, going 8-0 since the two became Heartland opponents. St. Mary's has not grabbed a win on the Jets' home floor since the 2008-09 season.

St. Mary's leads the series 14-7 since Newman moved to Division II, while TAMIU holds a narrow 10-9 advantage.

NOTES

-Newman is locked into either the seventh or eighth seed at next week's Heartland Conference tournament. The Jets must beat St. Mary's in order to climb into the seventh, and the simplest path to the No. 7 is winning both games this weekend and seeing Rogers State top Arkansas-Fort Smith for the league title.

-At 80.8 points per game, Newman is still third in the Heartland in scoring, helped out by a 77.7 free throw percentage, which is top in the league and 14th in the country. 31.8 1 20

-The Rattlers average 11.9 offensive rebounds a game, which leads the Heartland. That number helps them to a 4.5 per game edge on the glass, which is third in the conference and 58th in the country.

-TAMIU brings the league's top defense into the weekend, allowing opponents just 71.4 points per game this season, the 29th-best mark in Division II. That's bolstered by the Dustdevils' 8.3 steals per game, 29th in the country.

COVERAGE

Both games will feature live video, audio and statistics, available at www.newmanjets.com. The games will also be broadcast live on KGSO (93.9 FM, 1410 AM) in Wichita.