MBB Preview: Luther visits for midweek clash

INDIANOLA, Iowa -- Simpson and Luther are set to meet for the second time in 10 days on Wednesday in an American Rivers Conference matchup inside Cowles Fieldhouse at 7:30 p.m.

The Storm suffered a 93-83 defeat at Dubuque on Saturday to finish the week 1-1. Luther lost 87-46 against Loras over the weekend to remain eighth in the league standings.

The game will be video streamed live on SimpsonAthletics.com as Bryan Geelan has the call. Fans can also access the video stream via the American Rivers application on Roku, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV and Android TV.

GAME 19
Luther (6-12, 2-7 A-R-C) at Simpson (9-9, 3-6 A-R-C)
Wednesday, Jan. 29 | 7:30 p.m.
Cowles Fieldhouse | Indianola, Iowa
Live Video | Live Stats | Live Audio

LISTEN TO THE STORM
The team of Andrew Swadner and Rick Wilson will have the call on 94.3 FM and 1320 AM or online at kniakrls.com. Fans can also download the KNIA app, available on iTunes and Google Play.

LUTHER SERIES NOTES
This will be the 160th meeting between the two programs as Simpson looks to get back in the win column against Luther ... Luther won 83-73 at home in the previous season meeting after the Storm owned a six-point advantage at the half to snap an eight-game losing streak against Simpson ... the Norse used two 9-0 spurts in the second half to take the lead and seal the victory ... Conor Riordan ended with 24 points and Adam Reiter notched a double-double with 16 points and 13 boards.

RECENT RESULTS
Jan. 19, 2020 — L, 83-73 (Decorah)
Feb. 4, 2019 — W, 90-81 (Indianola)
Dec. 3, 2018 — W, 94-69 (Decorah)
Jan. 31, 2018 — W, 92-75 (Decorah)
Jan. 3, 2018 — W, 83-60 (Indianola)

ABOUT THE NORSE
Luther sits in eighth place in the A-R-C standings with two victories and has lost its last nine of 11 contests this season ... the offense is last in the league in scoring at 69.4, but the defense has made up for the lack of scoring by allowing 77.5 points per game for fifth ... from the floor, the Norse have struggled to find its stroke by shooting 39.5% for last in the conference ... Aaron Blumberg is leading the offense with 10.3 points per game for the lone player to be in double figures.

LAST TIME OUT
The Storm fell 93-83 to lose the season series to Dubuque ... the Spartans held the lead the majority of the game, but Simpson had a chance to pull off the road win after owning a 52-51 tilt with six minutes off the clock in the second ... Dubuque went back ahead after a 9-2 spurt and never looked back ... four players for the Storm ended in double digits as Conor Riordan had a team-high 25 points ... Ahmed Musa added 16 for a career high.

STORM NOTES
• Simpson in the national rankings:

10th — free throw percentage (78.0%)
22nd — field goal percentage (48.9%)

• Storm in the national rankings:

Conor Riordan — 12th in assist to turnover ratio (3.0) and in free throw percentage (89.5%)
Adam Reiter — 18th in field goal percentage (62.6%), 20th in double-doubles (9)

• In the A-R-C, the Storm are second in shooting percentage (48.9%), third in scoring (86.4), but are second to last in points allowed per contest at 83.3.
• Three starters are scoring in double figures as Conor Riordan is leading the way at 19.8 ppg. Reiter is second at 16.0 and Kyle Wagner follows with an average of 14.1.
• Conor Riordan became the 21st player in program history to reach the 1,000-point mark. He needed just 11 points to reach it when the season started and used his 22 points in the season opener against Bethany Lutheran to join the club. Riordan is currently 11th in program history with 1,345 career points and needs just 22 points to move into 10th place.

UP NEXT
Simpson travels to Loras on Saturday for a 4 p.m. contest in Dubuque, Iowa. The Duhawks won 82-78 on Dec. 7 to give the Storm their second loss in league play.