Fort Hays State men's basketball, the No. 4 seed in the MIAA Tournament, takes on No. 5 seed Central Oklahoma on Friday (Mar. 7). Tipoff for the quarterfinal game at Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City is set for 2:15 pm. The Tigers enter at 22-6 overall, while Central Oklahoma is 18-9 overall.

Fort Hays State defeated Central Oklahoma twice this year, both in close fashion. The Tigers erased a nine-point UCO lead with three minutes to go in Edmond to force overtime and won 101-97. Just a week ago in Hays, FHSU trailed by eight to UCO with three minutes to go and came all the way back to win 80-79 on a layup by Craig Nicholson with 1.6 seconds remaining. This will be the first meeting between Fort Hays State and Central Oklahoma in the MIAA Tournament, UCO just joining the conference two years ago.

Fort Hays State is looking to solidify a spot in the NCAA Tournament, ranked No. 6 for the third straight week in the Central Region Rankings. Minnesota State, currently ranked No. 2 in the region, took the automatic bid from the NSIC by winning its conference tournament, which is good for FHSU keeping any of the NSIC teams below in the rankings from grabbing an automatic bid.

Craig Nicholson, a unanimous All-MIAA First Team selection, leads the Tigers at 17.7 points and 7.5 assists per game. He ranks fifth in the nation in assists per game. Dwayne Brunson, and All-MIAA Second Team selection, adds 16.7 points and 7.9 rebounds per game. Carson Konrade, averaging 13.1 points per game, grabbed All-MIAA Honorable Mention status and ranks second in the nation in 3-point field goal percentage (50 percent, 78-of-156).

Central Oklahoma defeated No. 12 seed Missouri Western on Tuesday night (Mar. 4) to move into the quarterfinals against FHSU. The winner of FHSU vs. UCO will face the winner of No. 1 seed Central Missouri vs. No. 9 seed Northeastern State on Saturday at 6 pm. Other teams still alive in the tournament are No. 2 seed Northwest Missouri State, No. 3 seed Missouri Southern, No. 6 seed Nebraska-Kearney, and No. 7 seed Emporia State.

For Tiger fans coming to the game in Kansas City, the FHSU Alumni Association will be hosting a postgame party at Johnny's Tavern, located at 1310 Grand (corner of 13th and Grand) in Downtown Kansas City. There will be after parties held at this location following both the women's and men's games on Thursday and Friday at 5-7 pm.