With just eight games to go in the regular season, Fort Hays State men's basketball sits two games back of the lead in the MIAA standings. Saturday's contest at Washburn (Jan. 31) will be pivotal as the Tigers look to make a push for higher seeding in the MIAA Tournament over the final month of the season. The Tigers (13-7, 6-5 MIAA) and Ichabods (10-12, 5-6 MIAA) tipoff at 7 pm at Lee Arena in Topeka.

Fort Hays State pushed its conference record back over .500 on Wednesday night with a dominating 66-44 win at Emporia State. It extended Fort Hays State's win streak over Emporia State to seven games. It was the third time the Tigers held an opponent under 50 points in a game this year, with 42 allowed to Central Christian College being the season low. It was the second time in MIAA play as FHSU allowed just 49 to Northeastern State in Hays earlier this year.

The Tigers now look to snap a three-game losing streak against Washburn in Topeka. The Tigers last won at Lee Arena in 2010-11, 70-58. Washburn has had the upper hand in the series overall lately, winnning six of the last seven meetings. FHSU defeated Washburn in overtime last year in Hays on a last-second shot to break a tie, but fell by nine in Topeka.

Fort Hays State is currently in seventh place in the MIAA standings, tied with Central Oklahoma. Four teams are tied for the lead in the standings at 8-3 in conference play, while two teams are right behind at 7-4. This is a big game not only to keep pace with teams higher in the standings, but to grab a two-game lead on Washburn in the standings.

The Tigers are using a balanced scoring attack for success with six active players averaging better than 7.0 points per game. Royce Williams leads the way at 10.5 per game, followed by Achoki Moikobu at 9.7 and Dom Samac at 9.6. James Fleming led the Tigers in scoring at Emporia State with 15 points, upping his season average to 8.1 per game. Jake Stoppel, the team's leading rebounder, averages 7.5 per game and Jeremy Wilson adds 7.4 per game. Tomislav Gabric and Jared Tadlock contribute over five points per game on average.