Game Notes I Watch Live I Listen Live I Live Stats
The No. 5 ranked FHSU men's basketball team hits the road for a tough two-game road stretch in Missouri, starting this Saturday (Jan. 8) at Southwest Baptist in Bolivar, Mo. The Tigers are 12-1 overall and 6-1 in the MIAA, while Southwest Baptist enters the game at 7-6 overall and 4-3 in the MIAA. Game time is set for 7:30 pm at Meyer Sports Center.
The Bearcats are always a tough team to play in their home venue, where they average 98 points per game so far this season. The up-tempo style of basketball for the Bearcats has produced a 5-1 record at home so far, with the only loss to Missouri Southern which is tied for the conference lead with Fort Hays State. That was the last home contest for the Bearcats, with Missouri Southern winning by a score of 98-81. Fort Hays State defeated SBU in Bolivar last year by a score of 87-71.
Southwest Baptist loves to shoot the 3-point shot with 464 attempts from deep so far this season, averaging 35.7 attempts per game. They lead the MIAA by a landslide in attempts, with Missouri Western the next closest at 340. SBU is shooting 37.9 percent as a team from beyond the arc. However, FHSU leads the MIAA in 3-point field goal percentage (40.8 percent) and is holding opponents to an MIAA low 28.6 percent shooting beyond the arc.
A win for the Tigers could set up a potential match-up for outright first place in the conference standings Monday, as Missouri Southern hosts Washburn on Saturday before hosting the Tigers on Monday. Fort Hays State and Missouri Southern are each 6-1 in the MIAA heading into Saturday's play.
Corbin Kuntzsch was lethal against the Bearcats last year, scoring a total of 57 points over the two meetings. He had career-high 33 points in the win over SBU in Hays last year and then a team-high 24 in Bolivar. He was a perfect 8-of-8 beyond the 3-point line against SBU last year. In the win over Central Missouri on Wednesday night in Hays, Kuntzsch went over the 1,000-point mark in his career at FHSU, the 17th player in school history to do so.
Dominique Jones paces all Tiger scorers at 17.4 points per game. He scored in double figures in all 13 games so far this season. The post combo of
Dijon Smith and
Ken Bowman rank second and third on the team in scoring at 12.8 and 12.0 points per game respectively. Smith and Bowman are each shooting over 65 percent from the field this year. Kuntzsch also averages double figures in scoring at 11.2 points per game.
The Staten Island, N.Y., combo of
Moses Dayee and
Karron McKenzie have been instrumental to the offensive attack off the bench. Dayee is averaging 9.7 points per game while shooting 43.7 percent from beyond the 3-point line. McKenzie has been a tough offensive player around the rim and one of the top free-throw shooters in the conference at 85 percent, while averaging 9.1 points per game.
Matt Simmons has been a beast on the glass for the Tigers lately, tying his season high of 16 rebounds against Central Missouri this past Wednesday. He averaged 13.5 rebounds over the last two games to take over the team lead in rebounds at 6.9 per game. He has also provided an offensive spark over the last two games, tying his season high of eight points in each game. He has elevated his game to provide the Tigers quality minutes off the bench behind Smith and Bowman in the post.
Ryan Dougherty leads the offensive attack for SBU, averaging 14.2 points per game. Tomas Brock follows at 13.5 points per game. The Bearcats have six players that have made at least 20 3-point field goals this season, with four of those players shooting over 40 percent beyond the arc.
