Kearney, Neb. – The Nebraska Kearney basketball teams continue their four-game home stand Thursday night when the Pittsburg State Gorillas come to town.

The women's game tips at 5:35 p.m. with the men starting around 7:45 p.m. Check the schedule pages (women, men) for media and ticket links.

The Pitt women (16-2, 6-1) are ranked 4th nationally with the Gorilla men (10-6, 6-2) tied with Lindenwood for first place. Last year, UNK won both men's games, 92-83 and 82-80, with Pitt taking both women's contests, 83-73 in OT and 66-50.

Former Oregon Duck Devon Branch leads the Pitt men at 14.5 points, 4.1 rebounds, 2.6 assists and 1.7 steals per game. The 6-6 senior guard shoots 53% from the field and 75% at the line.

Millard North grad Josiah Gustafson, a 6-6 sophomore guard and the son of a former Loper (Gus), is at a team-best 16.7 points per game thanks to 23 of 56 3-point shooting (41%). Pitt makes five threes per game with the other threat being 6-6 senior Connor Kjer (20).

The Gorillas hold teams to 66 points per game while having a plus three rebounding margin.

Junior Ethan Brozek (Norfolk Catholic H.S.) had a combined 45 points and 28 rebounds in the wins over Pitt last winter. That included a 23-point, 18-rebound (career-high) effort in Kearney. He currently leads the league in both scoring (18.3) and offensive rebounds per game (2.5) while being second in rebounds (8.6) and third in field goal percentage (57.1%).

One of the nation's top ranked women's teams all season, Pitt suffered a 65-61 home loss to No.2 Emporia State last week but bounced back to pound Washburn, 60-40.

All-American senior forward Lizzy Jeronimus averages 19.9 points, 6.7 rebounds and 2.5 assists per game while shooting 53% from the field and 86% at the line. The 5-11 lefty tallied 31 points and seven rebounds in the Gorillas OT win over UNK last year in Kansas. Jeronimus then went for 20 points in the victory in Kearney.

The only other Gorilla in double digits is 6-2 junior post Kylie Gafford (11.9). Shooting 58% from the field, she also has blocked 31 shots and is sec­ond to Jeronimus in rebounds (5.7).

Pitt holds teams to 56.9 points per game on 37% shooting (29% 3-point shooting).

Loper senior post Amarah Williams (St. Louis, Mo.) hopes to crack that tough defense for at least 19 points. She needs that many to reach 1,000 in her collegiate career, which has covered Division I Morgan State in Baltimore (331 points) and UNK (650).

Also close to a milestone is junior guard Laramey Lewis (Trenton), who continues to rank in the MIAA Top 10 in nine statistical categories. With 10 more made threes, she'll become just the seventh Loper to reach 100. The last Loper to reach this mark was Debi Johnson (195) in 2012.

UNK has an "RMAC schedule" this week as they play again Friday vs. Division II independent South Dakota Mines. The Hardrockers, future RMAC members, are at Fort Hays State Thursday night.