RETURN TO WHITE AUDITORIUM FOR EMPORIA STATE MEN FOR BATTLE WITH #9 CENTRAL OKLAHOMA

Men's Basketball | 1/25/2022 8:07:00 PM

Game #19
Emporia State Hornets (14-4, 9-3 MIAA)
vs. #9 Central Oklahoma Bronchos (16-2, 11-1 MIAA)
Wednesday, Jan. 26, 2022 • 7:30  p.m. • Emporia, Kan. • WL White Auditorium
Series Record: UCO leads 24-16 Last Meeting: at UCO 91, ESU 76 (Dec. 11, 2021)
Radio: KFFX 104.9FM  Internet Audio: kvoe.com
Television: None Internet Video: www.themiaanetwork.com/esuhornets
Live Stats • Ticket Info • Complete Notes in pdf
Up Next: Newman • Sunday, Jan. 30, 2022 • 1:00 p.m.
Emporia, Kan. • WL White Auditorium

BACK AT IT     
Emporia State plays host to #9 Central Oklahoma in just their second home game in 36 days.

LAST TIME OUT
Jalen Lewis hit a buzzer beating three-pointer to give Washburn a 68-65 victory over Emporia State.  The Ichabods took their biggest lead at 33-21 with 1:38 left in the half. A 7-2 run bulled Emporia State within 35-28 at the break.  Tray Buchanan scored the first nine points in an 11-4 run to open the second half for the Hornets. After a Mason Thiessen follow dunk with 2:00 left gave the Hornets a 63-62 lead, Tyler Geiman answered with a jumper at the 1:47 mark to put WU up 64-63. Geiman hit one free throw with 26.6 seconds left and Buchanan scored to tie the game at 65 with 12.3 seconds left. Washburn did not call timeout, Geiman hit Lewis for the step back three-pointer at the buzzer to give Washburn the win. Jumah'Ri Turner scored 29 points to lead all scorers and was joined in double figures by Tray Buchanan with 18 points.  
 
THE COACHES
Craig Doty is 49-50 in his fourth season at Emporia State. In his ninth season as a head coach at the D2, NAIA, and NJCAA level he is 211-100 with three national championships. He was 49-22 in two seasons at Graceland, and won the 2018 NAIA National Championship. Doty spent four years as the head coach at Rock Valley College winning two NJCAA Division III national championships to finish with a 113-28 record. He is 4-3 against Central Oklahoma.
Bob Hoffman is 40-31 in his second year at UCO and 647-367 in his 31st year as a head coach. He is 3-2 against Emporia State.

ABOUT THE HORNETS
Emporia State is 14-4, 9-3 in the MIAA and receiving votes in the NABC Poll. They lead the MIAA in blocks and are second in three-pointers. Tray Buchanan is the nation's leading scorer while Jumah'Ri Turner is fifth in the MIAA in scoring.  

ABOUT THE BRONCHOS
Central Oklahoma 16-2, 11-1 in the MIAA, ranked #9 in the nation and have won 12 straight games. They lead the MIAA in scoring, rebounding, and assist to turnover ratio. Isaiah Wade is averaging 19.1 points and 8.4 rebounds per game to rank fourth in the MIAA in both categories.

SERIES HISTORY
This will be the 41st meeting between the two with Central Oklahoma holding a 24-16 lead.

LAST TIME VS CENTRAL OKLAHOMA
Emporia State allowed Central Oklahoma to shoot 63% in the second half in a 91-67 loss in Edmond. The Hornets jumped in front 10-4 and led 15-9 with 13:56 left in the first half. The Bronchos used a 9-0 run to take an 18-15 lead with 12:02 remaining. Callen Hayden scored four points in the final 41 seconds to give UCO a 40-31 lead at the break. The Bronchos extended the run to 10-0 as Emporia State called timeout just 45 seconds into the second half.  UCO went on another 10-0 run to take a 58-35 lead with 14:43 left.  Tray Buchanan was the only Hornet in double figures with 29 points.  

UP NEXT
Due to the 101st Lyon County League Tournament, the Hornets play host to Newman on Sunday, January 30 at 1:00 p.m.

DOTY MAGIC
Three-time National Champion head coach Craig Doty is in his fourth season as head coach at Emporia State. He is 210-100 in his ninth year at the NCAA D2, NAIA and NJCAA levels, including an 103-71 mark in conference play. Doty is 98-72 as a head coach at four year schools with a 49-50 record since taking over for the Hornets.
He is 69-29 (.704) in games played in February and March with a 29-6 (.829) record in the post-season. Three of those six post season losses were to the eventual national champion.
Doty led Rock Valley College and Graceland University to national prominence earlier in his career. In just two seasons at Graceland, Doty's program had a 49-22 record and won the 2018 NAIA Division I National Championship in the school's first trip to the national tournament at Kansas City's historic Municipal Auditorium. The Yellowjackets started the 2017-18 season 10-8 and ended the year winning 19 of their final 21 games. Along the way Doty earned NAIA National Coach of the Year, HoopDirt.com NAIA National Coach of the Year, and the 2018 Don Meyer Award.
Doty's programs at Rock Valley College won NJCAA Division III National titles in 2014 and 2016 while his 2015 squad came up just short finishing National Runner-up.

HOT START
The Hornets 14-4 start is their best beginning of a season since opening the 2006-07 season 17-1.
The 9-2 start to MIAA play also matches the 2006-07 team that started conference play 9-2. Since joining the MIAA for the 1991-92 season, Emporia State has won at least seven of their first ten games 11 times.  
Emporia State has won at least ten games in conference play nine times over the last 32 seasons.

CENTURY MARK
Emporia State's 112-54 win over Tabor marked the 102nd time the Hornets have cracked the century mark in their history.  They have reached 100 points six times in 99 games under Coach Doty, matching their total for the previous eight seasons combined.  
The Hornets scored at least 100 points 60 times under coach Ron Slaymaker (827 total games in 28 seasons), 26 times under coach David Moe (288 games in 10 seasons), five times under Shaun Vandiver (199 games in seven seasons), three times under coach Gus Fish (602 games in 25 seasons) and once under coach Marc Comstock (82 games in three seasons).

TOUGH ENOUGH
The NCAA Central Region is made up of teams in the MIAA, Northern Sun and Great American Conferences. So far this season the MIAA is 16-17 against the rest of the region with a 9-6 record against the GAC and a 7-11 record against the NSIC. The NSIC has an 10-3 record against the GAC and is 17-14 in region while the GAC is 9-19 in region.

IN THE RANKINGS
For the fifth straight week Emporia State has received votes in the NABC National Poll.  It is the second straight year the Hornets have received votes in the NABC poll.  Although not used for NCAA purposes, Emporia State is ranked sixth in the latest D2SIDA Central Regional Poll.

TOP SCORERS
The duo of Tray Buchanan and Jumah'Ri Turner are the top scoring back court in the nation. Turner leads the nation in scoring at 27.2 points per game while Turner is averaging 19.0 to rank fifth in the MIAA. Their combined 46.2 points per game is the top average in NCAA Division II for a pair of guards.  The next best scoring combo in the nation is Nova Southeastern's guard/forward Sekou Sylla (22.4) and forward RJ Sunahara (19.7 ppg) who combine to score 42.1 points per game

FRIENDLY CONFINES
The Hornets are 408-193 (.679) since 1979 in White Auditorium. Emporia State has won 192 of their last 280 games (.686) in White Auditorium dating back to the 2002-03 season. In the last 35 years, they have twice had home court winning streaks of at least 20 games. The first was 23 games from 1985-87 followed by a school record 25 game streak from February 12, 2003-January 1, 2005.  They have posted home winning seasons in 17 of the last 19 seasons.

STATE OF KANSAS CHAMPS
Emporia State went 6-1 against the other MIAA schools from the state of Kansas last season for the best winning percentage amongst the five Division II Sunflower State schools.  The Hornets have not gone undefeated against Fort Hays State, Pittsburg State and Washburn in a season since 1957-58.

HORNETS RANK IN NATION IN ATTENDANCE
Prior to the COVID pandemic restricting attendance, the Emporia State men's basketball team had a string of 18 straight years ranking in the top 25 in attendance among the over 300 NCAA Division II basketball playing schools.
The Hornets drew 21,675 total fans for an average of 1,355 fans to their 16 home games at Slaymaker Court in White Auditorium during the 2019-20 season to rank 18th nationally.  
Emporia State outdrew 109 NCAA Division I schools in total attendance during the 2019-20 school year. Within the Division II ranks, the Hornets outdrew 55 of the 64 teams that were selected for the NCAA Tournament, including five of the eight #1 seeds.
The Hornets were among seven MIAA teams in the top 25 nationally. As a conference the MIAA drew 251,994 fans to 196 games to lead all Division II conference in average attendance at 1,286 fans per game. It is the 12th straight year the MIAA has led the nation in average attendance. The MIAA's total attendance was better than seven NCAA Division I conferences. The Central Region had a total of nine teams ranked in the top 25 as two teams from the NSIC were on the list as well.

ON THE COURT
The court at William L. White Auditorium was formally named Ron Slaymaker Court at half-time of the Hornets win over Washburn on Feb. 28, 2014 after the City of Emporia approved a proclamation at their Feb. 20, 2014  city commission meeting.

AND IN THE RAFTERS
Dale Cushinberry (1966-69) - Cushinberry was an All-American for Emporia State and became the first Hornet with 1,000 points and 700 rebounds.
•Wilbur Reeser (1944-48) - Reeser was named an NAIB All-American and was the Hornets leading scorer as the won a conference championship in 1948.
•Ron Slaymaker (Player 1954-60, Coach 1970-98) - As a player Slaymaker was named All-Conference and All-American during the 1957-58 season. As a coach he won an ESU leading 462 games from 1970-98.
•Jim Fraley (1956-60) - Fraley was the school's all-time leading scorer (1,509) until Brian Robinson broke his record in 1985. He was named Second-team NAIA All-American.
•Doug Glaysher (1960-64) - Glaysher was named an All-American after leading the Hornets to the NAIA National Semi-finals in 1964. He graduated as the second leading scorer in ESU history.
•Brian Robinson (1984-86) - Robinson was named a first team All-American in both his junior and senior season. He is the ESU all-time leading scorer with 2,533 career points.

LISTEN & WATCH LIVE
Video webcasts for all of Emporia State's regular season home games are available on a pay per view basis from the MIAA Network. Content is available live and is immediately archived for on-demand viewing after each event at www.themiaanetwork.com. Audio of all Emporia State games are available on KFFX 104.9FM and at www.kvoe.com with Greg Rahe on the call. KFFX is in their 32nd straight year as the radio home of Hornet Athletics, the longest active streak between a commercial station and an MIAA school. All games will also be available on the internet at www.kvoe.com.

TURNING PRO
Emporia State's Julius Jackson became the fourth Hornet men's basketball player to sign professionally following the 2018-19 season when he signed a professional contract with Raiders Basket Jarvenpaa in Finland. Hassan Thomas signed with Sampaense Basket of Portugal Proliga while Malik Hluchoweckyj signed with KK Bratunac of the Bosnia BiH Liga also signed pro contracts overseas while Kooper Glick played with the Washington Generals - the regular opponent of the Harlem Globetrotters. It is the first time in school history the Hornets  had four players from the same class sign to play professionally in the same year.

BRIEF BURSTS, LONG DELAYS AND RESCHEDULES
The Hornets had their first game postponed this year when their home game against Northwest Missouri scheduled for January 8 was postponed due to COVID protocols within the Bearcat program. The game against Pittsburg State was delayed one day to January 13 due to COVID protocols for the Gorilla program.  The second game against Northwest Missouri in Maryville has been delayed one day to accommodate a rescheduled Lady Hornet game with Missouri Western
Between various COVID protocols at both Emporia State and their opponents, and the weather the Hornets had six games postponed and rescheduled last year. Due to Northeastern State being in COVID protocols at the time, the Rogers State game on February 13 was the only game in a 13 day window for the Hornets. Emporia State has had periods where they played four games in eight days, three games in three days and stretches of 14 days and 19 days without a game. Despite all of the delays, including weather delays, the entire MIAA schedule was completed.