(RV) Fort Hays State (5-2, 0-1 MIAA) at
#2 Washburn (9-0, 1-0 MIAA)
Saturday, December 6 – 3 p.m.
Topeka, Kan. – Lee Arena
Fort Hays State heads to Lee Arena in Topeka on Saturday for a matchup with No. 2 ranked Washburn. Game time is set for 3 p.m. The Tigers enter at 5-2 overall and 0-1 in the MIAA, while the Ichabods are 9-0 overall and 1-0 in the MIAA.
This is the second-straight year the Tigers are facing the Ichabods in Topeka, while the Ichabods hold a top-5 national ranking. Last season on January 30, the Ichabods were the No. 1 team in the nation when they defeated the Tigers 74-65. Washburn won both meetings between the schools last season and eventually went on to the national semifinals, where they were knocked out by 2024-25 national champion Nova Southeastern.
Fort Hays State is coming off a 64-50 loss at Central Missouri on Thursday night. It was a close battle for the first 30 minutes of the game, but a UCM 14-0 run created too much of a hill for FHSU to climb late. Both FHSU and UCM are receiving votes in the latest NABC Top 25 Poll.
Washburn is coming off a 92-64 win over Nebraska-Kearney on Thursday night in its MIAA opener. The Ichabods have scored at least 85 points in all nine of their games so far this season, while owning the third-best scoring defense in the nation at 58.9 points per game.
Fort Hays State will look to slow the high-octane Ichabod offense as it is back to leading the nation once again in scoring defense, allowing 58.4 points per game. The Tigers finished as the national leader in the category in each of the last two seasons. The Tigers held Washburn to an average of 72.5 points in the two conference meetings last year.
Dan Mukuna continues to lead the Tigers at 19.6 points and 7.7 rebounds per game. He had 20 points in the MIAA opener at Central Missouri.
Kyle Grill is adding 13.0 points and 6.3 rebounds per game.
Lucas Hammeke leads the Tigers in assists at 3.7 per game.
Jack Bachelor and Dillon Claussen lead the Ichabods in scoring, both at 16.4 points per game. Bryson Smith adds 12.1 per game, while Jeremiah Jones averages 10.1 per game. Claussen is the top rebounder at 6.8 per game.
