Kearney, Neb. – The 2020-21 NCAA Division II basketball season tips off Thursday night when the MIAA begins play.

The league is one of the few in D2 (23 conferences overall) playing during the 2020 calendar year; the majority of D2 schools start after January 1. The hope for the MIAA is to get all 22 games in between now and the end of February. The MIAA Tournament will once again be in Kansas City the first week of March; the NCAA Tourney field will be altered in some capacity. Information on that event will be announced in the coming months.

Due to recent COVID protocols, the general public will not be able to attend Loper home games first semester. Fans can watch all the action via The MIAA Network as well as listen to the basketball games on The River 93.1 FM and 106.9 FM. A basketball season pass for The MIAA Network costs $100 with a daily pass (all available games for 24 hours) being $10. 

The Lopers posted a 16-13 (10-9) mark last year, knocking off two NCAA Tournament qualifiers along the way as well as having two four-game winning streaks. Head coach Kevin Lofton and his staff must replace four senior starters but 10 returners are back with five newcomers coming aboard.
 

Senior sharpshooter Jake Walker (Centerville, Utah) leads the veterans as he started all 29 games last year, averaging 12.7 points per game. His 74 made threes ranked sixth in the MIAA and are seventh most in school history for a single season. Walker had five 20-point efforts including a season-high 25 in a win at Central Missouri. Next, senior RJ Pair (The Colony, Texas) was a part-time starter as a junior, appearing in 22 games overall. He came in at 5.2 points a night, had more assists than turnovers and played well at the end of the season.

Also returning the backcourt is fifth-year senior Sam Morris (Lincoln S.E.), redshirt junior Noah Valasek (Spalding), redshirt sophomore Cedric Johnson (Bellevue West) and sophomore Jaden Engen (Kearney). Morris has appeared in more games (74) than any other current Loper and hopes to have a healthy season. Valasek and Engen combined for 17 appearances last year with Johnson being one of the team's top reserves. Like Pair he played well down the stretch to finish up at 4.1 points per game overall.

Coming off a redshirt year is sophomore Parker Badding (Carroll, Ia.) and Matt Brien (Omaru, New Zealand). Badding made 18 appearances with three starts in 2018-19 while Brien was impressive in practice last winter. He played high school ball in his native land and then spent one year at a prep school in Oklahoma.

Alliance senior Austin Luger is the lone returner in the post. The inside-outside threat was one of four Lopers to play in all 29 games last year. The tallest member on the team, Luger had 39 made threes and pulled down 95 rebounds as a junior.

The newcomers are Utah junior forward Darrian Nebeker, Australian freshman forward Patrick Fraser, California redshirt sophomore guard Myles Arnold and freshmen guards T.J. Fritz (Wamego, Kan.) and Colin Murray (Kearney). Nebeker attended Snow J.C. in Utah, the alma mater of Walker, and will be one of UNK's top posts. Fraser, Fritz and Murray are three more long range threats with Arnold having starred at Lake Region (N.D.) State last year.

UNK hosts Emporia State Thursday and Washburn Saturday evening after Loper football vs. Missouri Western State. The Lopers and E-State split the series last winter, each winning at home, while UNK cruised past the Ichabods in the Health & Sports Center, 79-51.
 

Emporia State (10-18, 4-15)
Top Returners: Jumah'Ri Turner (Sr., G, 6-2; 13.6 points, 3.3 rebounds, 1.7 assists per game); Brenden Van Dyke (Sr., F, 6-8, 10.0 points, 6.5 rebounds, 1.6 blocks, 1.3 assists pg)

Notable Newcomers: Mayuom Buom (Fr-R, F, 6-10); Kong Kong (Jr., F, 6-7)
 

Washburn (16-13, 11-8)
Top Returners: Tyler Geiman (Sr., G, 6-1; 15.2 points, 5.8 rebounds, 5.5 assists pg); Jalen Lewis (Jr., 5, 5-11; 13.1 points, 2.1 rebounds, 1.3 assists pg); Drew Maschoff (So., G, 6-4; 10.5 points, 4.9 rebounds, 1.2 steals pg)

Notable Newcomers: Azeem Ross (Fr., G, 6-5); Isaiah Thorne (Jr., G, 6-1; transfer from Air Force Prep)