FHSU Athletics
Fort Hays State (11-1, 5-1 MIAA)
vs. Central Missouri (9-2, 3-2 MIAA)
Thursday, January 4 • 7:30 p.m.
Hays, Kan. • Gross Memorial Coliseum
Radio: KJLS (103.3) CLICK HERE TO LISTEN
Video: The MIAA Network CLICK HERE TO WATCH ($)
Game Sponsor: Buff Car Wash
Promotion: Halftime Dogs Flying Disc Show
Fort Hays State Men's Basketball plays its first game of 2024 on Thursday night when it plays host to Central Missouri. Tipoff is set for 7:30 p.m. inside Gross Memorial Coliseum. The Tigers enter the game at 9-3 overall, 4-2 in the MIAA, while the Mules enter at 5-5 overall and 0-4 in the MIAA.
Fort Hays State owns a 17-15 advantage in the all-time series with Central Missouri. The Tigers have jumped in front with their current five-game win streak against the Mules, which dates back to the 2020-21 season. FHSU swept the regular season series between the teams each of the last two years. The Tigers have won the last five meetings between the teams in Hays going back to the 2015-16 season. Last year the Tigers won by 11 in Warrensburg and by nine in Hays.
The Tigers are coming off a big win over then No. 5/8 ranked Central Oklahoma this past Sunday in Edmond. It was just the third win ever for FHSU over an NABC Top 10 ranked opponent in a true road game during the program's NCAA Division II history. The previous occurrences were in 2009-10 when FHSU knocked off a No. 1 ranked Central Missouri team in Warrensburg and the undefeated national championship season of 1995-96 when FHSU defeated a No. 10 ranked Nebraska-Kearney team in Kearney. It was the first time the Tigers won a road game over a NABC Top 10 team when FHSU was not ranked. The Tigers were No. 13 in the win over UCM in 2009-10 and No. 1 in the win over UNK in 1995-96.
This will be the first game out of the holiday break for Central Missouri. The Mules played their final two games of December at the Las Vegas High Desert Classic, where they defeated Missouri-St. Louis by 25 and then lost to Truman by 14. The Mules started the season 4-0 before losing four straight to open MIAA play. The Mules have played only one conference game at home so far. UCM is in its first season under head coach Adam Bohac, who has a career record 317-151 in his 16th season overall. He led a strong Southern Nazarene program to four GAC regular season titles and four NCAA Tournament appearances over 15 years.
Six games into the conference slate, the Tigers are one game back of conference-leading Northwest Missouri State. The Bearcats are 5-1, with their only loss against FHSU back on December 7 in Hays. FHSU and Central Oklahoma are both sitting at 4-2 in MIAA action. Fort Hays State is entering the month of January with nine wins overall for the third straight season.
Kaleb Hammeke continues to lead the Tigers in scoring at 13.8 points per game. He had a team-high 19 points in the win over Central Oklahoma back on Sunday, scoring the team's final nine points of the game in the final 1:30. He has scored 19 points in each of the last two games. Elijah Nnanabu is the only other Tiger averaging double figures in scoring at 10.4 points per game. Traejon Davis leads the Tigers in rebounding at 5.5 per game, while Hammeke is the team leader in assists at 3.7 per game. The Tigers have seven players averaging at least 6.0 points per game in scoring.
Caleb Nero leads the Mules at 14.6 points per game. The Mules have three players that average double figures that have played in all 10 games this season.