Kearney, Neb. – The Nebraska Kearney and Fort Hays State men's basketball teams will meet for the 138th time Saturday afternoon in Gross Memorial Coliseum.

This is the first of two meetings between the Tigers (11-5, 6-4) and Lopers (3-12, 1-8) this year. Hays visits Buckle Court in late February to close out the regular season. 

Saturday's game tips at 4 p.m. with fans not in attendance being able to watch via The MIAA Network and listen to The River 93.1/106.9 KRVN FM. 

As expected, this rivalry has been back and fourth of late, each squad winning six games in the series over the last six years. UNK hasn't won in Gross since a 101-88 decision late in the 2016-17 season but is 5-1 at home vs. the Tigers.

Last year FHSU won by scores of 64-46 (home) and 71-56 (away). They graduated All-American forward Jared Vitztum from a 23-6 NCAA Tournament team but redshirt sophomore guard Kaleb Hammeke returns. He's at an even 16 points per night while also leading the team in assists (60), steals (23) and threes made (28). Seven others are between 5.8-9.5 points per game including 6-3 newcomer Elijah Nnanabu. As a team, Hays leads Division II in scoring defense (56.7) while ranking second in the MIAA in turnover margin (+4.6).

On Monday afternoon in St. Joe, the Tigers dropped a makeup game to Missouri Western, 62-55. UNK's makeup game at Mo West comes on Monday, Feb. 27.

UNK leads the MIAA in made 3's per game (9.8) and ranks 29th nationally in the category. Eleven different Lopers have sunk at least three triples with the leaders being Colorado natives Sean Evans (35) and Tom Connelly (31). This pair also ranks 1-2 in percentage, Evans at .438 and Connelly coming in at .413.

The Lopers are also third in the league in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.27) and assists per game (14.4). Individually, Utah super senior Darrian Nebeker is fifth in scoring (16.5), 13th in rebounds (5.9), first in assists (4.8), second in assist-to-turnover ratio (2.3) and eighth in FG pct. (.493).

UNK is at 26th-ranked Emporia State (13-3, 7-3) next Wednesday night. The game is moved up a day due to arena scheduling issues. The Hornets are at Missouri Southern on Saturday.