Fort Hays State (9-1, 4-1 MIAA) at
Northeastern State (7-4, 2-3 MIAA)
Saturday, January 1 – 3:30 pm
Tahlequah, Okla. – NSU Event Center

FHSU Men's Basketball will play at Northeastern State in Tahlequah, Oklahoma to ring in the new year on Saturday (Jan. 1). The teams are set to tipoff at 3:30 pm inside the NSU Event Center. FHSU enters at 9-1 overall and 4-1 in the MIAA. It will be the only contest of the day inside the arena as the women's game was postponed due to COVID-19 complications within the NSU women's program.
 
The Tigers will have a strong test on their hands facing a 7-4 RiverHawk squad that is coming off a road win at Washburn back on December 20. NSU is still unbeaten at home this season (4-0), but has played only one MIAA contest on its home floor so far. NSU is trying to climb back to the .500 mark in conference play, owning a 2-3 mark so far.
 
The Tigers are coming off a 25-point win over Newman University back on December 19 before heading into the holiday break. All but one of FHSU's wins this season have been by double figures, the only exception being the 78-76 overtime win at Emporia State on December 4.
 
Fort Hays State owns the second-best scoring defense in the nation at 56.0 points per game. West Alabama is the national leader at 55.5 allowed per game. Only three teams nationally allow less than 60 per game with Lubbock Christian, the nation's No. 1 ranked team, being the other. The Tigers are among the Top 15 in NCAA Division II in field goal percentage defense (5^th, 37.9), turnovers per game (7^th, 9.5), rebound margin (12^th +8.3), and scoring margin (13^th, +17.3).
 
Kaleb Hammeke leads the FHSU scoring effort so far this season at 16.0 points per game. He has scored at least 17 points in the last five contests. Jared Vitztum averages a double-double of 14.8 points and 10.6 rebounds per game. He leads the MIAA in rebounding and double-doubles (5) this season. Nyjee Wright also averages double figures in scoring for FHSU at 11.1 points per game.
 
Northeastern State also has three players averaging double figures in scoring, led by Emeka Obukwelu at 17.6 per game. He is also the team leader in rebounding at 8.5 per game. Christian Cook is not far behind in scoring at 16.9 points per game, while Rashad Perkins averages 13.3 points per game. As a team, NSU averages 77.7 points per game, but allows 71.5 per game.