FHSU Athletics
#6 seed Rogers State (16-12) vs.
#3 seed Fort Hays State (20-8)
Friday, Mar. 3 - 2:15 p.m.
Kansas City, Mo. - Municipal Auditorium
Radio - KJLS (103.3)
CLICK TO LISTEN LIVE
The Fort Hays State men's basketball is the No. 3 seed in this week's MIAA Championship Tournament, held at Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City. The Tigers face No. 6 seed Rogers State in the quarterfinals on Friday at 2:15 p.m. FHSU enters at 20-8 overall, while RSU is 16-12 overall.
The Tigers are the No. 3 seed in the MIAA Tournament for the second-straight year after finishing third in the regular season standings for a second-straight season. FHSU tied Emporia State for third in the regular season standings this season and finished alone in third last season. The Tigers also reached 20 wins in a season for the 11th time under head coach Mark Johnson. They have won at least 20 the last two seasons.
The Tigers are sitting on the bubble of the NCAA Central Region rankings going into the MIAA Tournament. The Tigers were not in the top 10 of the first set of region rankings released back on February 15, jumped to No. 8 in the region in the February 22 release, and now sit at No. 10 in the latest release on March 1. Playing a well-under .500 Nebraska-Kearney team in the final week of the regular season may have brought FHSU's mathematical formula in the region rankings down a bit, but it can definitely go back up this week with several above .500 teams as potential opponents in the MIAA Tournament.
Fort Hays State holds a record of 8-5 all-time in MIAA Tournament quarterfinal games. FHSU defeated Missouri Southern in the quarterfinals last season, but then fell to MIAA Tournament and eventual national champion Northwest Missouri State in the semifinal. This will be the first time FHSU and Rogers State meet in the MIAA Tournament. Rogers State joined the MIAA in 2019-20, which was their best in the conference so far when they finished second in the regular season, made the conference tournament semifinals, and were selected to play in the NCAA Tournament that was unfortunately canceled due to COVID-19. The Hillcats tied for sixth place this season at 12-10 with Missouri Southern and had the tiebreak for the No. 6 seed in the tournament.
The Tigers had three players named to the All-MIAA Team for the 2022-23 season. Kaleb Hammeke was a first-team selection this year and is now a three-time selection overall after a second-team nod in 2021-22 and an honorable mention/Freshman of the Year pick in 2020-21. He leads the Tigers in scoring and assists, averaging 16.6 points and 3.6 assists per game respectively, and he is the conference leader in minutes played. Elijah Nnanabu and Bjarni Jonsson were both named honorable mention. Nnanabu averages 10.2 points per game, while Jonsson adds 8.3 per game and leads the team in 3-point field goal percentage (.468). Jonsson was named to the MIAA All-Defensive Team for a second-straight year.
The Tigers are one of the top defensive teams in NCAA Division II, ranking third in scoring defense at just 57.4 points allowed per game and ninth in field goal percentage defense, holding the opposition to just 39.7 percent from the field this season.
If the Tigers win their quarterfinal matchup with Rogers State, they will play either No. 2 seed Central Oklahoma or No. 7 seed Missouri Southern in the semifinals on Saturday (Mar. 5) at 2:15 p.m.