Fort Hays State men's basketball hosts long-time rival Emporia State to Gross Memorial Coliseum on Saturday (Feb. 7) at 4 pm in the second meeting between the teams this season. Fort Hays State won the first meeting 66-44 in Emporia on Jan. 28, and looks for the regular season sweep at home. FHSU enters with a record of 14-8 overall, 7-6 in the MIAA, while ESU enters at 11-11 overall, 4-9 in the MIAA.

The Tigers are coming off a big win over Nebraska-Kearney on Thursday night in Hays by a score of 88-77. FHSU reeled off 21 points in the final five minutes of the game to run away from UNK. Dom Samac had a career-high 25 points, helping spark a 21-9 run to close out the game. James Fleming also reached a career-high in scoring with 23 points, while Achoki Moikobu was one short of his career high with 17.

The win pulled the Tigers within a game of the Lopers in the MIAA standings, but they remained in seventh place at the end of the night. The Tigers are still fighting to stay in the hunt for a first-round bye in the MIAA Tournament with six games to go. The Tigers are currently in position to host a first-round home game, but the standings are tight top to bottom and violent shifts in the standings can happen quickly.

This is the 179th meeting all-time between Fort Hays State and Emporia State, the longest-played rivalry in school history, with FHSU leading the series 97-81. The Tigers have won seven straight against the Hornets dating back to the 2010-11 season, but three of those wins came in overtime, including a 99-92 double overtime win in Hays last year.

Royce Williams leads active Tigers in scoring at 10.4 points per game, followed by Samac and Moikobu each at 10.1. Fleming is heating up, now at 8.6 points per game after reaching 15 points or more in three of the last five games. Jake Stoppel leads the Tigers in rebounding at 5.4 per game, while Moikobu shells out a team high 3.1 assists per game.