FHSU Athletics
#7/7 Northwest Missouri State (18-2, 11-2 MIAA) at
Fort Hays State (14-6, 9-5 MIAA)
Saturday, January 28 - 4 p.m.
Hays, Kan. - Gross Memorial Coliseum
Radio: KJLS (103.3)
CLICK HERE TO LISTEN
Game Sponsor: American Family Insurance - Brian Ruder Agency
National Anthem: Fort Hays Singers
Halftime: Jackie Creamer's The Dance Studio performance (both halftimes)
After a 27-point win over Missouri Western on Thursday night, the Fort Hays State men's basketball team turns its focus to No. 7 ranked Northwest Missouri State. The Tigers host the three-time defending national champion Bearcats at 4 p.m. inside of Gross Memorial Coliseum. FHSU enters at 14-6 overall, 9-5 in the MIAA, while NWMSU is 18-2 overall, 11-2 in the MIAA.
This will be the second meeting of the season between the Tigers and Bearcats. Northwest Missouri State won the first meeting back on December 11 by a score of 64-49 when it was unbeaten at the time and held the No. 1 national ranking. NWMSU won its first 10 games of the season before taking its first loss at Emporia State, then its second at Central Oklahoma in a battle of top-10 ranked teams.
Fort Hays State is looking to end a 15-game losing skid to the Bearcats that goes back to the 2012-13 season. FHSU swept the regular season series in 2012-13, but NWMSU won the meeting between the teams in the MIAA Tournament that season and has not lost a meeting with FHSU since. The 2012-13 season was the last when the Bearcats did not win at least a share of the MIAA regular season title, shared by Fort Hays State and Central Missouri.
The Bearcats have been ranked in the NABC poll in the last 11 meetings with the Tigers, which goes back to the 2015-16 season, and have held a top-3 ranking in the poll in eight of those 11. The last four times the Bearcats played the Tigers in Hays, they owned a ranking of No. 2 three times and No. 3 once. The Bearcats have won five straight games at Gross Memorial Coliseum in their 15-game win streak against the Tigers.
Kaleb Hammeke led the Tigers with 25 points on Thursday night in the win over Missouri Western. It was his first game scoring 20 or more since a win over Rogers State back on December 3 when he had 23. He scored 20 or more five times this season and his season high was 36 against Northeastern State in an overtime win. Hammeke leads the Tigers at 16.4 points per game, while Elijah Nnanabu is now averaging double figures for the season as well at 10.2 per game.
Hammeke and Bjarni Jonsson were the only two Tigers to score in double figures against the Bearcats earlier this season in Maryville. Hammeke had 19 and Jonsson had 10.
Hammeke is also nearing the 1,000-point mark of his career at FHSU, now just 27 points shy of the mark. He has 973 in 71 games played at FHSU. He is looking to become the 24th player in men's program history to score 1,000 in a Tiger uniform.
Diego Bernard is the leading scorer and rebounder for the Bearcats at 16.7 points and 5.2 rebounds per game. He had 23 points in the first meeting with the Tigers this season.
Fort Hays State and Northwest Missouri State own two of the top-three scoring defenses in NCAA Division II. The Tigers rank second, allowing 57.6 points per game, and the Bearcats rank third, allowing 58.1 per game. The Tigers and Bearcats are also the top two free-throw shooting teams in the MIAA, the Tigers at 78 percent and the Bearcats at 77.1 percent. They are also the top two teams at taking care of the ball, the Bearcats leading the MIAA at 10.9 turnovers per game and the Tigers second at 11.1.