Fort Hays State Men's Basketball returns to its home floor on Monday night (Dec. 6) when it takes on Avila University at 7 pm. The Tigers are seeking a seventh-straight win to open the season and look for their best start since the 2013-14 season. Avila enters at 4-7 overall and all four of its wins have been in conference play.
 
Fort Hays State met Avila for the first time in history back in the 2019-20 season. The Tigers took that contest by a score of 96-55 in Hays. The Eagles are coming off a five-point win at Sterling on Saturday in KCAC play.
 
Fort Hays State is fresh off a pair of big road wins to open MIAA play this past week. The Tigers defeated Washburn on Wednesday by 10 points and then survived an overtime thriller at Emporia State on Saturday by two points, 78-76. The Tigers are one of four teams to start 2-0 in the MIAA this season and they are the only unbeaten team overall remaining in the MIAA.
 
The Tigers went into Saturday's game at Emporia State leading NCAA Division II in scoring defense at 49 points per game. Emporia State was the first team this season to score 60 or more points against FHSU. However, the Hornets went into the game with the top scoring offense in the MIAA and the Tigers still kept them from reaching their season average even in an overtime contest. FHSU allowed just 69 points during regulation in that contest, well under Emporia State's average of 84.6 going into the game. FHSU is now allowing 53.5 points per game for the season, but that number would have still led NCAA Division II going into the contest at Emporia State. New national stat rankings had not been released by the NCAA as of Sunday evening.
 
Jared Vitztum continues to lead the Tigers at 13.3 points and 10.3 rebounds per game. He moved back into the MIAA lead for rebounds per game, the only player averaging double figures at this point. Nyjee Wright is leading the Tigers in assists, averaging 3.2 per game and ranks second in scoring at 12 points per game. Kaleb Hammeke is also averaging double figures in scoring at 11.5 points per game. Geoff Hamperian leads the Tigers in 3-point field goal percentage (.464) and leads the scoring effort off the bench for FHSU at 8.8 points per game.