Kearney, Neb. – The Nebraska-Kearney men's basketball team looks to win a fourth straight game when longtime rival Fort Hays State visits the Health & Sports Center Tuesday night.

The game tips around 7:30 p.m. Check the Loper schedule page for media links.

Both UNK (13-13, 9-8) and Hays (16-10, 9-8) beat Central Oklahoma and Northeastern State at home this past weekend to be tied with Lincoln (15-11, 9-8) for sixth place in the MIAA standings. UCO is a game ahead of this trio with Pittsburg State (8-9) and Lindenwood (7-10) close behind.

At the end of the regular season this Saturday, teams five through eight will host an MIAA Tournament first round game on Tuesday, February 27. Seeds one through four get a bye and automatically advance to Kansas City. 

Back in January, the Tigers handed the Lopers a 78-69 setback at Gross Memorial Coliseum. UNK was 4 of 22 (18 percent) from behind the arc, its lowest effort of the year, but trailed by just nine points with 4:27 to play. Hays now leads the all-time series, 79-49.

As always, FHSU will have their sights set on stopping senior forward Trey Lansman (Harlan, Ia). He has always played well against the Tigers in his career, going for 27 points, 10 rebounds and two blocks in that January loss. Over the last four games, Lansman has been on fire to the tune of 26.5 points, 12.0 rebounds, 5.0 assists and 1.5 blocks a night. He sat just one minute (159 overall) in those contests.

Career wise, Lansman is at 1,976 points. He'll join Eric Strand (2,173/'99), Dusty Jura (2,158/'07), Loren Killion (2,100/'77) and Brian Nielsen (2,066/'93) as the only Lopers to reach 2k in points. Finally, Lansman (22.1 points & 10.0 rebounds) could join Dusty Jura (2006-07) as the only UNK players in the D2 era (1991-present) to average a double double for an entire year.

Later in the week, Southwest Baptist (12-14, 6-11) visits Hays on Thursday and UNK on Friday. The MIAA tourney bracket will be released Saturday night. 

 
Fort Hays State U. Tigers
 2017-18 Record: 16-10 (9-8); 2-7 on the road

2017-18 Notable Results: Beat Central Oklahoma, 57-55; Lost at UCO, 81-57; Lost to Washburn, 76-60 and 69-58; Beat Missouri Southern, 76-69

Players to Watch: 6-5 senior wing #4 Hadley Gillum (17.0 points, 6.6 rebounds and 1.7 assists per game) and 6-7 junior forward #25 Brady Werth (12.1 points and 4.6 rebounds pg)

Team Numbers: 75.5 points per game, + 6.8 scoring margin, + 0.7 rebounding margin, + 3.2 turnover margin, 76% at the line, 44% field goal percentage defense