The Fort Hays State men's basketball team hosts Northwest Missouri State in its first home MIAA contest of the season on Saturday (Dec. 21). Tipoff is set for 4 pm at Gross Memorial Coliseum. This is a key game for the Tigers, looking to dig out of an 0-2 start in MIAA play.
The Tigers are getting several difficult tests in conference action right out of the gate. After dropping a pair of overtime games two weeks ago at Central Missouri and Missouri Western, the Tigers are needing to bear down with a very difficult front end of the conference schedule looming. NWMSU is one of three teams in the MIAA to begin 2-0 in conference play, and the Tigers meet another one of those three (Missouri Southern) on the road in their first game of January.
Seven of the first 10 games in conference play are on the road for FHSU with five against teams picked in the top seven of the preseason conference polls. Home games early on will be crucial for the Tigers as they look to climb back to the pack and work their way up the conference ladder with a home-heavy second half of the conference slate.
Dwayne Brunson,
Craig Nicholson, and
Carson Konrade are all averaging double figures in scoring. Brunson leads the way at 18.3 points per game, while Nicholson adds 15.5 and Konrade 15.2. Brunson also leads the team in rebounds with 9.2 per game. Nicholson leads the MIAA in assists per game (8.6) and ranks second in NCAA Division II. Konrade leads the MIAA in 3-point field goals shooting at 56.7 percent and ranks fifth in NCAA Division II. Also chipping in a healthy scoring average are
James Fleming at 9.9 per game and
Tomislav Gabric at 9.5 per game.
The Tigers currently rank seventh in the nation in 3-point field goal percentage (44.4) and fourth in the nation in free-throw percentage (80.4). Their 50 percent field goal percentage as a team ranks 35th nationally.
