Missouri Southern (2-3, 0-0 MIAA) at Fort Hays State (4-2, 0-0 MIAA) Thursday, November 30 - 7:30 pm Hays, Kan. - Gross Memorial Coliseum

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Fort Hays State hosts Missouri Southern in the MIAA opener for both teams on Thursday night (Nov. 30) at Gross Memorial Coliseum in Hays. The Tigers enter at 4-2 overall, while the Lions are 2-3.
 
This will be the fourth game against NCAA Division II competition this season for the Tigers. FHSU is 3-0 in non-conference games against non-Division II opponents so far this year, while just 1-2 against Division II competition. Two of the three games against Division II competition were against ranked teams with the Tigers going 1-1 in those contests.
 
Missouri Southern won both meetings between the teams last year. The Lions won 84-81 last year in Joplin, then defeated the Tigers 76-67 in the MIAA Tournament Quarterfinals in Kansas City. In 2015-16, the Tigers won both meetings between the teams. Three of the last four games between FHSU and MSSU were decided by three points or less.
 
Hadley Gillum leads FHSU at 15.2 points and 6.7 rebounds per game. The Tigers' lone senior reached double figures in scoring in five of six games this year. Also averaging double figures in scoring are Brady Werth (12.5) and Trey O'Neil (11.7). O'Neil is coming off a career-high 20 points against Sterling College.
 
Fort Hays State currently leads the MIAA in scoring average (92.2), turnover margin (6.67), assist/turnover ratio (1.8), assists per game (19.5), and steals per game (9.5).
 
Senior C.J. Carr paces the Missouri Southern scoring effort at 17 points per game. Sophomore Elyjah Clark, the 2016-17 MIAA Freshman of the Year, adds 14.2 per game.