FHSU Athletics
#16 Fort Hays State (0-0) at
RV Southwest Minnesota State (0-0)
Friday, November 8 • 7 p.m.
Marshall, Minn. • R/A Facility
#16 Fort Hays State vs.
Concordia-St. Paul (0-0)
Saturday, November 9 • 4 p.m.
Marshall, Minn. • R/A Facility
Radio: KJLS (103.3) CLICK HERE TO LISTEN
Video: NSIC Network: CLICK HERE TO WATCH ($)
Fort Hays State Men's Basketball will start the 2024-25 regular season this weekend in Marshall, Minnesota. The Tigers are set to face weekend host Southwest Minnesota State on Friday night, then take on Concordia-St. Paul on Saturday. Fort Hays State enters as the No. 16 ranked team in the NABC Preseason Top 25 Poll, coming off an NCAA Tournament appearance and 23-8 season overall in 2023-24.
Fort Hays State's first opponent, Southwest Minnesota State, was a participant alongside the Tigers in last year's eight-team Central Regional of the NCAA Tournament. The Mustangs were the No. 7 seed in the eight-team Central Regional last year and finished 19-13 overall after playing the toughest schedule in the nation according to the formula used by the NCAA. They fell to No. 2 seed Northwest Missouri State in the opening round by a score of 73-43. The Mustangs return four players who made starts in 2023-24. Aeron Stevens is their top returning scorer, who averaged 11.8 points per game.
Concordia-St. Paul finished the 2023-24 season at 10-18 overall. The Golden Bears were a very heavy 3-point shooting team last year, finishing 12th in NCAA Division II for attempts per game (28.5) and 19th in 3-point field goals made per game (10.0). CSP returns six players who made at least 20 3-point field goals last year, including two with at least 30. Marcus Skeete is the top returning scorer for CSP at 15.0 points per game for players who played an entire season. Antwan Kimmons played and started in just eight games last year and averaged 15.5 per game. The Golden Bears started the 2023-24 season 7-3 overall before losing 15 of their last 18 games.
Fort Hays State finished second in the MIAA standings last year and was one of three MIAA teams selected to the Central Regional of the NCAA Tournament. At the regional in Mankato, Minn., No. 6 seeded Fort Hays State took a heartbreaking 59-58 loss in the opening round of the national tournament to No. 3 seeded Minnesota Duluth in a game that pitted two Top 20 ranked teams against each other. FHSU was No. 19 in the nation at the time, while UMD was No. 10. It was Fort Hays State's first appearance in the NCAA Tournament since 2016 and eighth overall under head coach Mark Johnson. Regional host and No. 1 seed Minnesota State went on to win the national title last year, showcasing the power of the Central Region in men's basketball. The Central Region had five Top 25 teams among its eight-team field, which tied the South Central Region for most among any of the eight regional fields last year.
Fort Hays State owns a 3-3 record against Southwest Minnesota State all-time. SMSU won the last meeting between the schools in 2018-19 on its home floor. The Tigers are 3-2 against SMSU under Mark Johnson. FHSU will be meeting Concordia-St. Paul for the first time in program history. The Tigers have faced three other Concordia universities in their history, which includes Concordia (Neb.), Concordia (Texas), and Concordia-Irvine (Calif.).
The Tigers return seven players from their 2023-24 squad, led by graduate student Kaleb Hammeke who enters his fifth year on the court. Traejon Davis also enters his fifth year on the floor for the Tigers. They are the longest-tenured Tigers on the roster. Hammeke led the Tigers in scoring (13.6 ppg) and assists (4.1 apg) in 2023-24, while also making a team-best 46 3-point field goals and 90 free throws for the season. He shot 87.4 percent at the free-throw line last year and reached double figures in scoring in 25 of 31 games. Hammeke is also the top returning rebounder for the Tigers, averaging 5.1 per game a year ago. He enters the 2024-25 season ranked fifth on the all-time scoring list at FHSU with 1,559 points and fourth on the all-time assists list at FHSU with 441.
Davis, along with Shaun Riley and R.J. Crawford, started a significant amount of games for the Tigers in 2023-24. Kyle Grill also returns after playing in all but one contest last year. Lucas Hammeke saw action in only eight games, hampered with a mid-season injury, while Petar Asceric redshirted the 2023-24 season. The five players aside from Hammeke that played last year combined for 24.1 points per game.
The Tigers have nine newcomers on the team this year, looking for their opportunity to contribute. FHSU has five transfers and four true freshmen looking to help replace the loss of a pair of six players who contributed on the floor last year, including a pair of All-MIAA performers.
Fort Hays State's defense has been its identity in recent years. The Tigers were the national leader in scoring defense last year, allowing 57.9 points per game. They were one point per game better than conference foe Northwest Missouri State (58.9). In 2022-23, Northwest Missouri State had the best scoring defense in the nation (56.3), while Fort Hays State ranked second (57.2). The Tigers were second nationally also in 2021-22 at 56.6 per game, only behind Miles College which had an average of 56.2. The Tigers held the opposition to 60 points or less in 17 of 31 games in 2023-24, which included 11 games inside of 50.
With the grind-out possession-style of play for the Tigers last year, they also were among the nation's best in field goal percentage defense, allowing opponents to shoot just 39.8 percent from the field for the season. They ranked sixth nationally in that category, just 0.8 percent off the national lead. FHSU has held the opposition to less than 40 percent shooting from the field for the season in each of the last three years.
Fort Hays State enters its 24th season under head coach Mark Johnson, who brings an overall record of 451-220 into the 2024-25 campaign. The Tigers have three conference championships under his guidance (two regular season and one tournament). The Tigers reached at least 20 wins for the third-straight year in 2023-24 and it marked the 12th time reaching at least 20 on Johnson's watch.