Men's Basketball | 2/13/2013 1:49:00 AM
LOOKING FAMILIAR
The Hornets will play five of their final six games against teams in their own scheduling pod, beginning with a trip to Central Oklahoma.
THE COACHES
Shaun Vandiver is 19-28 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 1-1 against Central Oklahoma.
Terry Evans is 218-101 in his 13th year at Central Oklahoma. He is 3-3 in his career against the Hornets.
LAST TIME OUT
The Emporia State men held Lindenwood, the highest scoring team in the MIAA, to their lowest point total in almost three years with a 61-52 victory. Kaleb Wright was the leading scorer for the Hornets with 18 points. He was joined in double figures by Paul Bunch with 12 points and Chris Sights with 11 points. Bunch had ten rebounds and three blocks.
ABOUT EMPORIA STATE
The Hornets are 10-10 on the season, 5-7 in the MIAA. In the last eight games seven different players have scored in double figures at least once and ten have scored at least five points for Emporia State, but you have to go back nine games for a player to reach 20 points. Paul Bunch missed the first six games and is not yet eligible for the MIAA rankings but would lead the MIAA in blocks and be second in rebounding and field goal percentage.
ABOUT CENTRAL OKLAHOMA
The Bronchos are 10-11 overall and 8-5 in the MIAA. They started the season 1-6 but have won seven of their last ten games to sit in tie for fifth in the MIAA. Central Oklahoma leads the MIAA in made three-pointers with 8.5 per game. Four different players have made at least 20 three-pointers in conference play, led by Cal Andrews with 32. Josh Gibbs is averaging 17.3 points per game to rank fifth in the MIAA and is scoring 19.5 points per game in MIAA games.
SERIES HISTORY
This will be the 23rd meeting between the two teams with Central Oklahoma holding a 12-10 lead. The Bronchos won the last meeting in Edmond 116-114 in double overtime. The last five meetings dating back to 2006 have been decided by less than ten points, with three decided by three points or less. Coach Vandiver and Coach Evans played against each in the Big 8 for Colorado and Oklahoma respectively.
LAST TIME VS. THE BRONCHOS
Emporia State had a nine point lead with 11:16 left but was outscored 31-16 the remainder of the game as they fell 77-71 to Central Oklahoma. Chris Sights scored 16 points to lead Emporia State and was joined in double figures by Paul Bunch with 14, Tre Boutilier with 11 and Taylor Euler with ten points. Bunch added a team high eight rebounds and five blocked shots.
UP NEXT
Emporia State travels to Missouri Southern for their next to last MIAA road game of the season. Tip-off is set for 7:30 p.m. at the Leggett & Platt Center in Joplin, Mo.
