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The Fort Hays State men's basketball team, ranked No. 9 in the latest NABC Division II Coaches Poll, plays its third consecutive road game on Saturday at Northwest Missouri State. The Tigers are coming off their first loss of the season by just one point this past Saturday at Missouri Western. They bring a record of 9-1, 3-1 MIAA into the game.
Northwest Missouri State will be hungry for a win after playing four consecutive road contests in conference play to start the year. All of those games resulted in losses, which puts the Bearcats at 2-6 overall and 0-4 in the MIAA entering Saturday. The Bearcats have always been tough in their home building as they defeated the Tigers last year in Maryville 62-59 when the Tigers were the No. 3 ranked team in the nation.
The Tigers are looking to avoid an 0-2 swing in the Northwest corner of Missouri for the second straight year after falling at Northwest Missouri State and Missouri Western last year as a top-10 team. The difference this year is that the games are separated by a whole week, instead of playing two games within three days. Both FHSU and NWMSU had a whole week of rest in preparation for this game.
The Tigers will be looking to keep pace with either Missouri Southern or Southwest Baptist, which square off in a battle of unbeatens in conference play Saturday. Following that game, just one unbeaten team will remain in conference play. Missouri Southern is still undefeated overall at 8-0, moving into the national rankings this week at No. 25.
Dominique Jones leads the Tigers in scoring at 17.0 points per game. He scored in double figures in all games this year.
Dijon Smith has the hot hand right now for FHSU, leading the MIAA in shooting percentage (73.7 percent). Smith has scored in double figures in each of the last seven games, shooting a blistering 82.7 percent (48-of-58) from the field in that stretch. He ranks second on the team in scoring at 13.8 points per game.
Ken Bowman leads the team in rebounding at 7.1 per game. He is the third-leading scorer on the team at 12.7 points per game. He has also been very efficient shooting the ball at 68.1 percent for the season.
Corbin Kuntzsch gives the Tigers a fourth scorer in double figures, averaging 11.2 points per game. He continues his steady play in other facets, ranking second on the team in rebounds with 6.6 per game and third in assists at 2.4 per game.
Moses Dayee has been the hot hand for FHSU from 3-point range lately. All 11 of his field goals over the last three games were from beyond the arc. He is shooting 40 percent from 3-point range this year with a team-high 24 3-point field goals.
Following the game at Northwest Missouri State Saturday, the Tigers have a couple of weeks off over the holidays before returning to action on Monday, January 3. They host Truman that night at Gross Memorial Coliseum in Hays. The Tigers then have a showdown with defending conference champion Central Missouri at home on Wednesday, January 5.
