FHSU Athletics
LAWRENCE, Kan. – Fort Hays State fought hard defensively, but ultimately fell 71-35 to Kansas in exhibition play on Tuesday evening. The Tigers held the Jayhawks to their lowest amount of points ever in the all-time series between the teams, regular season and exhibition combined.
Fort Hays State set the tone that it was ready to battle with a tough defensive stop on the first possession of the game as Kansas had a few chances to score. However, the Tigers had a tough time hitting shots throughout the evening and ultimately led to Kansas pulling away slowly throughout the game.
The Jayhawks opened the game on a 7-0 run, but the Tigers eventually reeled them back in with a 6-0 burst midway through the first half. At the third media break of the first half, the Tigers trailed by just five at 17-12, but with the cold shooting performance of the evening, the Jayhawks eventually went on to lead 33-16 at the half.
The Tigers put a dent in the Jayhawk advantage with a 6-0 run to open the second half, getting the lead down to 33-22. However, KU countered with a 10-0 run of its own to pull ahead 43-22 and methodically worked its way away from FHSU the remainder of the half.
The Tigers struggled to just 16-of-61 shooting for the game and hit only 1-of-19 3-point field goal attempts. The free-throw line was also a struggle, just 2-of-10. But aside from the rough shooting night, the Tigers still held the Jayhawks to just 71 points. KU shot 47.4 percent for the game and turned the ball over 13 times, while the Tigers did a good job taking care of the ball and turned it over only seven times. FHSU had seven steals compared to just three for KU.
Lucas Hammeke and Dan Mukuna led the Tigers in scoring with eight points each, while Juju Ramirez and Kyle Grill each had seven.
Melvin Council, Jr. led the Jayhawks in scoring with 16 points, while Tre White had 12 and Bryson Tiller had 10.
Up next
Fort Hays State opens regular season play on Saturday, November 15 at home against Southwest Minnesota State.