Kearney, Neb. – The Nebraska-Kearney men's basketball team's first road game since December 3rd couldn't come at a tougher place.
The second-place Lopers (12-4, 5-2) battle No. 1 ranked Northwest Missouri State (16-0, 8-0) for the only time this winter Thursday night at 7:30 p.m. On Saturday, UNK faces Missouri Western State (5-11, 2-6) in the afternoon. Check the
Loper schedule page for media links.
A weird scheduling quick has the Lopers facing the Bearcats in Maryville for a third straight season. UNK did get a crack at the 'Cats on a different floor last March as the two placed for the MIAA Tournament title.
Kearney has yet to taste victory (0-6) over Northwest since joining the MIAA back in 201-13. The Lopers were leading last year's regular season contest 74-70 in the final minutes but the 'Cats closed on a 13-4 run.
Winning by an average of 23 points a night, Northwest is led by National Player of the Year candidate Justin Pitts. The 5-9, 143 pound junior guard is at 18.8 points, 5.4 assists, 3.1 rebounds and 1.8 steals per game. He is shooting 53% from the field and 88% at the line.
As a team, Northwest has been red hot from behind the arc to the tune of 45% and 10.0 makes per game. Four 'Cats have made 22 or more, led by 6-7 senior Zach Schneider (50) and Pitts (36). UNK allows just 5.5 made triples a night, second fewest in the MIAA behind NW.
Besides Pitts and Schneider, the other 'Cat in double figures is 6-6 Norwegian Chris Ebou-Ndow (13.1 points & 6.7 rebounds).
Missouri Western, which owns a 49-44 win over Division I Southern Illinois-Edwardsville, is 3-3 over its last six games. They host Fort Hays State Thursday night.
A young roster is led by 6-0 junior guard Cole Clearman and 6-1 senior guard Aaron Emmanuel. Clearman leads the team in points (16.2), assists (3.4), steals (1.4) and threes made (50). He also makes 92% of his freebies.
Missing the first four games of the year, Emmanuel is shooting 41% from the field and also pulling down a team-best 4.6 rebounds per game. MWSU has a minus 5.5 rebounding margin but ranks fourth in the MIAA in assist/turnover ratio (2.8).
Last year in St. Joe, UNK used a big second half to win 85-66.
The Lopers are 2-1 away from home this season and also are a solid 5-3 in games decided by 10 points or less. As usual, good free throw shooting helps in tight affairs. UNK continues to be among the national leaders in free throw percentage (77.9), free throw makes (320/20.0 per game) and free throw attempts (411/26 per game).
Junior
Lane Rohrich (90.5), freshman
Sam Morris (90.0) and sophomore
Isaiah McKay (87.5) are the Loper leaders with freshman
Sam Lorenzen having yet to miss (4 of 4).
Kearney would like to be as consistent from the three point line where they went 13 of 23 last Thursday to blow out Hays, 86-69. The Lopers had a combined 17 triples in the three games prior to that outburst.
On the year, UNK has had five games with a double digit three point total. Sophomore forward
Carter Burns (27) and McKay (20) are two of the five Lopers with 10 or more makes from behind the arc.
Next week, the Blue & Gold returns home to face Lindenwood and Lincoln. Those are the only games against the Lions and Blue Tigers this winter.
