Kearney, Neb. – An unexpected break allows the Nebraska-Kearney men's basketball team to prepare for conference foes Emporia State and Washburn this weekend at home.

UNK (3-2) hosts the Hornets Thursday and the Ichabods Saturday. Both games tip around 7:30 p.m.; check the Loper schedule page for media and ticket links.

The Lopers were scheduled to play at in-state rival Wayne State on Monday (Nov. 30th) night but Mother Nature had other ideas. UNK and Wayne hope to makeup the game sometime in January.

Coming off a last second loss at No. 21 Colorado Mines, 67-66, UNK enters the week as the second highest scoring team (83.0) in the MIAA. To reach that figure, the Lopers are shooting 48% from the field and 75% at the line.

Not surprisingly, Ravenna senior Connor Beranek (25.4) is the league's top scorer as he is shooting 55% from the field. The reigning MIAA Player of the Year also is pulling down 10.0 rebounds per game and has blocked a team-high 10 shots.

UNK could be scoring even more if not for a 31% effort from behind the arc. That figure ranks 13th in the MIAA; the Lopers were at 39% last season.

Emporia State, currently at 2-3, is allowing teams to shoot 41% from triple land. The Hornets are coming off an 84-68 loss at West Texas A & M with its other two setbacks being by a combined nine points.

Senior lefty Terrence Moore (6-2) has been one of the MIAA's top guards in recent seasons. He is at 14.0 points, 2.8 assists, 2.6 rebounds and 2.2 steals per game while shooting an even 50% from the field. Moore went for 27 points in a 74-72 win over UNK on Super Bowl Sunday last year. A few weeks later, he was limited to nine points in a 69-63 setback in Kearney.

Freshman guard Brandon Hall (5-11) has gotten his collegiate career off to a strong start, averaging a team-best 16.4 points per game thanks to 57% field goal shooting. Also, DePaul transfer Charles McKinney (6-4) is at 12.5 points and 4.5 rebounds per game.

Going 16-16 last season, Washburn stated 2015-16 with a bang, upsetting top-ranked Augustana, 88-86, in Las Vegas. The 'Bods, with just one senior on its roster, have three non-Division II wins since then, along with a 75-51 loss at Rockhurst.

Scoring 78 points a night, Washburn has two newcomers averaging double figures in freshman guard Javion Blake (10.6) and junior guard Randall Smith (10.2). Smith is a transfer from Division I Jacksonville State, Ala.

Six-three sophomore wing Cameron Wiggins leads in scoring (11.0) as he has sunk 10 of WU's 23 three pointers. Inside, the 'Bods have an impressive 10.6 plus rebounding margin, led by 6-7 sophomore Brady Skeens (7.6) and 6-5 junior Robert Christopher (5.8).

UNK heads to Southwest Baptist next Thursday night and then is at Fort Hays State on Saturday afternoon.