First Round with the Rival Tigers

Men's Basketball 1/18/2024 10:02:00 AM

First Round with the Rival Tigers

Kearney, Neb. – The Nebraska Kearney basketball teams renew their rivalry with Fort Hays State this Saturday afternoon at the Health & Sports Center.

The first meeting of the year between the Lopers and Tigers will tip-off at 2 and approximately 4 p.m. Both games will be on The MIAA Network and on The River 93.1/106.9 KRVN FM. On March 1 (Fri.), UNK will finish the 2023-24 regular season at Gross Memorial Coliseum. That contest was recently moved up a day due to an arena issue.

The Loper women (12-4, 6-4) and the 20th-ranked Tigers (13-3, 7-3) are part of a logjam atop the MIAA standings. Missouri Southern (8-2) is in first, Hays, Missouri Western and Central Missouri are all a game back with UNK one of five squads with a 6-4 or 5-5 record.

This is the 103rd meeting between the two with UNK having won six of the last 10 meetings. The last 10 contests have featured five two-game win streaks with the Lopers taking last year's games, 53-52 and 64-48.

A veteran Tiger crew, now led by longtime assistant Talia Kahrs, is paced by forward Katie Wagner (16.8 points, 84 rebounds, 2.4 assists, 2.3 steals), 6-3 post Olivia Hollenbeck (10.8 points, 6.1 rebounds) and guard Sydney Golladay (6.8 points, 3.0 assists). Hays is among the league leaders in defense (54.4 ppg, 26% 3-point pct.) and also maintains a nearly plus five margin on the glass. Finally, Hays is a solid 6-1 on the road win its lone setback coming last Thursday at MoSo, 67-58.

Led by the dean of MIAA men's basketball coaches, Mark Johnson, Hays is currently receiving votes for the NABC Top 25. The Tigers have held six teams under 50 points and two others under 60. Once again, a balanced offensive attack is paced by All-American candidate Kaleb Hammeke (15.2 points, 5.1 rebounds, 4.0 assists). Six others are between 5.8-11.1 points per game.

Last year, UNK was poised to upset the Tigers twice but fell in the end, 57-55 in Kansas and 45-42 on "Senior Day." FHSU has taken the past five meetings to push its all-time series lead to an 86-53 margin.

The Blue & Gold currently is the third best shooting team in the MIAA (.477 pct.) which ironically ranks 48th out of 289 Division II programs. In the conference, UNK also is fourth in assists (15.5), fifth in 3-point pct. (.360), and sixth in scoring (76.2).

The Loper women rank second in the MIAA and 36th nationally in scoring defense (58.1) as they've held eight teams under 60. Opponents are making just 28% of their threes with UNK having a league-best 11.1 rebounding margin. That margin is sixth best in D2. Finally, five average between 8.8-12.7 points per game.

UNK hosts Emporia State (Thurs.) and Washburn (Sat.) next weekend at Buckle Court.

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