FHSU Athletics
RV/- Fort Hays State women (7-3, 3-0 MIAA) at
Northwest Missouri State (4-4, 0-3 MIAA)
Sunday, December 11 – 1:30 p.m.
Maryville, Mo. – Bearcat Arena
Radio - KJLS (103.3)
RV/RV Fort Hays State men(7-1, 2-0 MIAA) at
#1/1 Northwest Missouri State (8-0, 2-0 MIAA)
Sunday, December 11 – 3:30 p.m.
Maryville, Mo. – Bearcat Arena
Radio - KJLS (103.3)
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After sweeping a six-game home stand, Fort Hays State heads on the road to No. 1 ranked Northwest Missouri State on Sunday (Dec. 11). The Tigers will put their seven-game win streak overall to the test against the three-time defending national champions at 3:30 p.m. FHSU enters the game at 7-1 overall, 2-0 in the MIAA, while NWMSU enters the weekend at 8-0 overall, 2-0 in the MIAA. The Tigers are receiving votes in both top 25 polls, while the Bearcats have remained the No. 1 ranked team nationally up to this point.
Due to the Missouri Western men's basketball program dealing with COVID-19 issues this week, FHSU's game at Missouri Western scheduled for Saturday (Dec. 10) was postponed. Nebraska-Kearney's men also had their game that was scheduled for Thursday at Missouri Western postponed. With that unfortunate occurrence, the Tigers will play only one game this weekend and will seek a make-up date with the Griffons. Northwest Missouri on the other hand will play back-to-back days since it hosts Nebraska-Kearney on Saturday before taking on FHSU on Sunday.
The Tigers won their first two games in conference play against teams they will not see again during the regular season. Northeastern State and Rogers State are two of four MIAA opponents that the Tigers will only play once this season, the others being Washburn and Emporia State coming up in January. The Tigers won their MIAA opener in an overtime thriller over Northeastern State 96-87, then turned around two days later to grind out a 65-55 win over Rogers State.
Northwest Missouri State won its first two MIAA games on the road, knocking off Missouri Southern by 27 and Pittsburg State by 11. The Bearcats have won all eight of their games so far this season by at least 10 points, the only close contest being a three-point win over Northern State on neutral territory in St. Joseph, Mo. The Bearcats are outscoring opponents by an average of 22 points per game. NWMSU won its third consecutive national title in 2021-22 after tying for the MIAA regular season title with Central Oklahoma. Fort Hays State was only one game back in the standings of both teams, finishing in third alone and had a chance to claim at least a share of the MIAA title when they battled the Bearcats in the final game of the regular season last year.
The Tigers will be looking to end a long frustrating 14-game losing streak to the Bearcats, which began back in 2012-13. The Tigers were MIAA regular season co-champions that year with Central Missouri before falling to NWMSU in the MIAA Tournament semifinals, which was the start of the 14-game streak for the Bearcats. Since then, NWMSU has claimed nine straight MIAA regular season titles, sharing the title just twice (2013-14 and 2021-22), and four NCAA national titles.
Kaleb Hammeke continues to lead FHSU in scoring at 18.9 per game, while Elijah Nnanabu is just one point shy of averaging double figures as well at 9.9 per game. Hammeke has reached double figures in every game this year and scored at least 20 in each of the last three games. Gabe Pieschl leads the Tigers in rebounding at 6.5 per game and has two double-doubles this season in points and rebounds.
FHSU enters the weekend with the second-best scoring defense (55.9 points per game) and third-best field goal percentage defense (35.8 percent) in NCAA Division II. Northwest Missouri State owns the nation's top field goal percentage at 56.5 percent.
Diego Bernard leads the Bearcats in scoring at 14.8 points per game, followed by Bennett Stirtz at 13.9 per game and Luke Waters at 11.6 per game.