Men's Basketball | 1/26/2013 5:21:00 PM
NEW MIAA, OLD BIG EIGHT
Emporia State takes on Central Oklahoma as conference opponents for the first time. The two coaches however met on the floor as players when Shaun Vandiver was playing for the Colorado Buffaloes and Terry Evans for Oklahoma Sooners.
THE COACHES
Shaun Vandiver is 17-25 in his second season at Emporia State. A first round draft pick by the Golden State Warriors in 1991 spent ten years as an assistant coach at the NCAA Division I level. As a player he led Hutchinson CC to the 1988 NJCAA National Championship before earning first-team All-Big 8 honors at Colorado. He is 1-0 against Central Oklahoma.
Terry Evans is 214-100 in his 13th year at Central Oklahoma. He is 2-3 in his career against the Hornets.
LAST TIME OUT
Emporia State shot .526 from behind the three point line in a 76-62 win over Missouri Southern on Wednesday night in White Auditorium. Emporia State took their biggest lead of the night at 75-55 with 1:58 left in the game. Caleb Wright led Emporia State with 19 points while Paul Bunch added 18 points and nine rebounds and Chris Sights joined them in double figures with 12 points. Taylor Euler had nine points and a career high seven assists..
ABOUT EMPORIA STATE
The Hornets are 8-7 on the season, 3-4 in the MIAA. They are third in the MIAA in field goal percentage defense. Taylor Euler is leading the MIAA in assist to turnover ratio and is the only player with a ratio above 3.0 on the year.
ABOUT CENTRAL OKLAHOMA
The Bronchos are 6-10 overall and 4-4 in the MIAA. They are 3-1 in MIAA road games but just 1-3 in Hamilton Fieldhouse during league play. Josh Gibbs is the leading scorer for Central Oklahoma at 16.1 points per game and that improves to 18.4 in conference action. He has been UCO’s leading scorer in the last seven games.
SERIES HISTORY
This will be the 22nd meeting between the two teams with Central Oklahoma holding an 11-10 lead. It is the first time the two have met as conference opponents. The last three meetings dating back to 2009 have been decided by three points or less.
LAST TIME VS. THE BRONCHOS
Troy Pierce hit two free throws with 5.2 seconds left to give Emporia State a 71-70 win over #11 Central Oklahoma at the SBU Thanksgiving Classic in Bolivar, Mo. The Hornets shot .511 from the field, including a ten of 20 performance from the three point line, while holding the Bronchos to just .439 shooting from the field. Chris Sights led ESU with 16 points while Antonio DiMaria added 15 points. Troy Pierce had 11 points and a team high six rebounds. Taylor Euler had eight points with team highs of four assists and three steals.
UP NEXT
Emporia State goes back on the road next week beginning at new MIAA foe Nebraska-Kearney. It will be the first meeting between the Hornets and Lopers since 1990 when the two schools were members of the Central States Intercollegiate Conference (CSIC).
