FHSU Athletics
Fort Hays State (12-4, 4-3 MIAA)
at Northwest Missouri State (9-9, 2-5 MIAA)
Saturday, January 17 • 3:30 p.m.
Maryville, Mo. • Bearcat Arena
Radio: KJLS (103.3) CLICK HERE TO LISTEN
Video: MIAA Network: CLICK HERE TO WATCH ($)
Fort Hays State will wrap up its four-game road swing on Saturday when it takes on Northwest Missouri State in Maryville. Tipoff is set for 3:30 p.m. at Bearcat Arena. The Tigers enter on a two-game win streak with a 12-4 overall record and 4-3 mark in MIAA play. The Bearcats are 9-9 overall and 2-5 in the MIAA.
Fort Hays State is coming off a 74-61 win at Missouri Western on Thursday night. The result gave the Tigers a regular season sweep of the Griffons in MIAA play. The 61 points by Missouri Western was its season low, after their 65 scored against FHSU in Hays back on January 3 was the previous low. The Tigers moved up to a tie for fifth in the MIAA standings, just one game back of second-place Central Missouri and Pittsburg State at 5-2.
Northwest Missouri State is coming off a 95-89 double-overtime loss at home against Nebraska-Kearney on Thursday night. The Bearcats have now dropped three-straight MIAA games at home. The Bearcats and Lopers are now tied for 11th in the MIAA standings at 2-5.
Fort Hays State won the first meeting of the season with Northwest Missouri State in Hays by a score of 67-50 on New Year's Day. The Tigers own a 3-game win streak in the overall series with the Bearcats going back to last year. The Tigers won by a score of 58-39 last season in Maryville, which matched their largest win margin in the all-time series. The result snapped a string of 8-straight losses for FHSU at Bearcat Arena.
The Tigers continue to own one of the elite defenses in the nation. They moved into the national lead for 3-point field goal percentage defense, allowing just a 25.2 percent success rate to opponents for the season. The Tigers rank second nationally in scoring defense at 60.1 points per game and third in field goal percentage defense overall, allowing just a 37.6 percent success rate.
Dan Mukuna continues to lead FHSU at 19.3 points and 7.1 rebounds per game. He had 23 points in the win at Missouri Western on Thursday night and 22 in the first meeting of the season with Northwest Missouri State back on January 1. Mukuna was recently named to the Bevo Francis Award Top 100 Watch List. He has scored at least 20 points in a game 10 times this season.
Jahvari Martino scored 19 points on Thursday night at Missouri Western, his third-best point total this season after having a pair of 20-point games. He averages 11.6 points per game. Kyle Grill led the Tigers in rebounds at Missouri Western with eight and averages 13.3 points and 5.9 rebounds per game. Lucas Hammeke upped his assist average to 3.4 per game with six at Missouri Western, and adds 9.6 points per game for the season.
Royce Williams leads Northwest Missouri State in scoring at 14.0 points per game, followed by Aiden Gair of 13.6 and Matthew Mayes at 12.6. Trey Moala, who averages 7.3 per game, led NWMSU with 12 points in the first meeting of the season with FHSU.