Fort Hays State (10-4, 3-2 MIAA) at Southwest Baptist (8-5, 2-2 MIAA) Saturday, January 5 - 3:30 pm Bolivar, Mo. - Meyer Sports Center

Fort Hays State returns to conference action at Southwest Baptist on Saturday afternoon (Jan. 6) Bolivar, Mo. Game time is set for 3:30 pm at the Meyer Sports Center. After falling at Central Missouri on Thursday evening, the Tigers are looking to finish their brief two-game road swing with a split. FHSU enters at 10-4 overall, 3-2 in the MIAA, while SBU enters at 8-5 overall, 2-2 in the MIAA.
 
The Tigers suffered their largest loss of the season on Thursday night, 81-66, to Central Missouri. The Tigers fell down by as many as 29 points in the first half before bringing the final margin back to 15. Though they average 82.8 points per game as a team for the season, the Tigers have averaged only 64.3 points per game in their three conference road contests so far. Southwest Baptist enters with a nearly identical overall scoring average as the Tigers at 82.9 points per game.
 
Despite turning the ball over a season-high 20 times on Thursday night, the Tigers still rank inside the top 20 nationally in assist turnover ratio (14^th, +1.56) and turnover margin (13^th, +5.0). FHSU averages just 11 turnovers per game. A solid night at the free-throw line at Central Missouri (22-of-25) pushed the Tigers up to 15^th nationally in free-throw percentage (.770).
 
Hadley Gillum (17.3) and Brady Werth (11.0) both average double figures in scoring, though Jared Vitztum was the only Tiger to reach double figures in scoring on Thursday night at Central Missouri with 10 points. It was just the second time in 14 games this season that Gillum did not reach double figures, finishing with seven points after fouling out with just under 10 minutes remaining in the game.
 
Logan Hovey leads the way for Southwest Baptist at 20.1 points per game, one of only three players in the MIAA averaging better than 20 per game. He had 23 to lead the Bearcats in a 92-87 win over Nebraska-Kearney on Thursday night. Marlon Alcindor (12.8) and Cartier Dean (10.5) also average double figures in scoring for SBU.
 
The Tigers are looking for their second straight conference road split. The Tigers fell to Washburn before defeating Emporia State on their first MIAA road swing of the season. Following Saturday, FHSU will have three consecutive home games in MIAA play.