Emporia State Men's Basketball Travels to Fort Hays State

Men's Basketball | 1/26/2024 6:33:00 PM

Game #21
Emporia State Hornets (13-7, 6-6 MIAA)
at Fort Hays State Tigers (14-4, 9-3 MIAA)
Saturday, January 27, 2024 • 4:00 p.m. • Hays, Kan. • Gross Coliseum 
Series Record: FHSU leads 103-88 Last Meeting: FHSU 74, at #24 ESU 53 (1/22/23)   
Radio: KFFX 104.9FM  Internet Audio: kvoe.com
Television: None Internet Video: themiaanetwork.com/esuhornets
Live Stats | Ticket Info | Complete Notes in pdf
Up Next: at Northeastern State • Thursday, February 1, 2024 • 7:30 p.m. 
Tahlequah, Okla. • NSU Event Center 

HAYS AMERICA 
The Hornets continue their road trip with a contest at Fort Hays State. It is the second game of a four game road swing for Emporia State.

LAST TIME OUT
The Hornets jumped out to a 18-6 lead and never looked back in a 77-58 win at Neb. Kearney on Thursday night. Atavian Butler scored 11 of the 18 points in the first 5:42, including three three-pointers for Emporia State. The lead would stretch to 48-20 with 1:49 left in the half before the Hornets went to the locker room up 48-22. Alijah Comithier scored with 13:29 left to give ESU thier biggest lead of the night at 63-32. 
Butler had 22 points to lead four Hornets in double figures.  Comithier scored 17, Cael McGee had a career high 13 points and Owen Long scored 12 with six rebounds and six assists. Darius Yohe grabbed a team high eight rebounds. Emporia State had 20 assists on 24 field goals and grabbed 43 rebounds.

THE COACHES
Craig Doty is 91-71 in his sixth season at Emporia State. In his 12th season as a head coach at the D2, NAIA, and NJCAA level he is 253-121 with three national championships. He was 49-22 in two years at Graceland and won the 2018 NAIA National Championship. Doty spent four years at Rock Valley College winning two NJCAA D-III national championships to finish with a 113-28 record. He is 2-5 against Fort Hays State.
Mark Johnson is 442-216 in his 23rd year at Fort Hays State. He is 24-11 against Emporia State.

ABOUT THE HORNETS
Emporia State is 13-7, 6-6 in the MIAA and have four of the top 15 scorers in the MIAA. Alijah Comithier is fourth at 17.1 points, Solomon Oraegbu is fifth with 17.0 points, Owen Long is ranked eighth at 15.7 while leading the  MIAA in three-point percentage, and Atavian Butler is 15th at 14.1 points per game. Darius Yohe leads the MIAA in blocks and Kaden Evans leads in the league in steals.

ABOUT THE TIGERS
Fort Hays State is 14-4, 9-3 in the MIAA. They lead the MIAA in scoring defense and defensive field goal percentage.

SERIES HISTORY
This will be the 192nd meeting between the two with Fort Hays State holding a 103-88 lead. The visiting team has won three of the last five.

LAST TIME VS FORT HAYS STATE
Fort Hays State controlled the paint in a 74-53 win over #24 Emporia State in White Auditorium.  The Hornets were outrebounded 34-19 while getting outscored 34-12 in the paint and 10-2 on second chance points. Fort Hays State closed the half on a 6-0 run in the final 1:50 to take a 34-26 lead to the half. The Tigers used a 9-0 run to take a 43-29 lead with 17:06 left. Sam Baker was the only Hornet to reach double figures, finishing with 12 points on four of six shooting from beyond the three-point line.

UP NEXT
The Hornets travel to Tahlequah, Okla. on Thursday, February 1 to take on Northeastern State. Tip-off in the NSU Event Center is set for 7:30 p.m.

DOTY MAGIC
Three-time National Champion head coach Craig Doty is in his sixth season as head coach at Emporia State. He is 253-121 in his 12th year at the NCAA D2, NAIA and NJCAA levels, including a 130-88 mark in conference play. Doty is 140-93 as a head coach at four year schools with a 91-71 record since taking over for the Hornets. 
He is 80-38 (.678) in games played in February and March with a 31-9 (.775) record in the post-season. Four of those nine 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.

LAST THREE YEARS
For the first time in school history Emporia State has recorded three straight years with at least a .500 record in MIAA play. Starting in 2020-21 the Hornets have gone 47-31 (.603) in MIAA play with a 66-37 (.641) overall record. 

HORNETS IN THE POST SEASON
Last year was Emporia State's third trip to the NCAA Tournament in 32 years as a member of the NCAA Division II. The Hornets first NCAA Tournament game was an 85-81 loss to Drury in Stephenville, Texas on March 13, 2004.  Their next appearance was a 72-66 loss to Southeastern Oklahoma on March 10, 2007.  Prior to joining the NCAA, Emporia State made ten trips to Kansas City for the NAIA National Tournament and compiled a record of 13-12 with a pair of national semifinal appearances. The finished fourth in 1947 and again in 1964.

IN THE RANKINGS
Emporia State has received votes in seven National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) National Polls this season and were in the Top 25 the first five weeks of the season. There are a two MIAA teams in the Top 25 and two more receiving votes this week. The Hornets received votes in the final NABC National Poll last season, the 11th time the received votes in the season. Earlier ESU had a string of five straight weeks being ranked, their longest streak since a ten week span during the 2006-07 season. Last year was the first since the 2007-08 season Emporia State cracked the Top 25. The Hornets spent 22 weeks in the NABC Top 25 from 2003-08, getting as high as seventh in the nation on three different occasions.  

CLOSERS
The Hornets have won 33 of their last 34 games when leading at the 5:00 minute mark of the second half. Emporia State went 21-1 last season when leading at the 5:00 mark of the second half. Part of that is due to the Hornets shooting 78.7% as a team from the free throw line in the final five minutes and overtime of games last year.

GIVE ME 20
The Hornets won 20 games in back to back seasons for the first time since 1987-90. Emporia State won 20 games for the first time since the 2007 season when they finished the year 21-8 and advanced to the NCAA Tournament. This was the fourth time the Hornets have won 20 games as a member of the NCAA and the 12th time in school history. Emporia State had not won 20 games in back to back years since reaching the 20 win mark in three straight seasons from 1987-90. ESU won at least 20 games in five out of six seasons from 1985-90. Emporia State has won at least ten games in conference play 11 times over the last 33 seasons.

THREE (OR FOUR) TIMES 1,000 
Three Hornets have scored at least 1,000 points in their NCAA Division II careers. Alijah Comithier has scored 1,919 points in 123 total games to lead all active MIAA players. Owen Long has scored 1,598 points in 128 total games while Solomon Oraegbu has scored 1,363 points in 99 games. Darius Yohe has 1,033 points in 120 games at four year institutions after scoring 956 points in 100 games at NAIA William Woods. 

REVOLVING DOOR
The Hornets have lost 44 player games to injury or illness this season. Peyton Rogers Schmitt has not played since injuring his knee against Kansas State in the exhibition opener, Drew Tennial has missed 13 games, Atavian Butler missed five games, Cael McGee missed six games and Owen Long has missed one game. Not counting Rogers Schmitt, since he was lost for the year in preseason, Emporia State has had their full lineup available for just three of the 20 games this season.

1500 AND COUNTING
The Hornets have won 1,504 games in their 119 years of playing basketball. They are ranked 16th in total wins among active NCAA Division II schools.

NOW A 1-2-3-4 PUNCH
Four Hornets are averaging at least 14.0 points per game this year with Alijah Comithier at 17.1, Solomon Oraegbu at 17.0 points, Owen Long at 15.7 and Atavian Butler at 14.1 points per game as all four are in the top 15 of the MIAA in scoring.
Last year Owen Long led Emporia State at 17.2 points per game and Alijah Comithier averaged 14.6 points per game.  A total of ten different Hornets scored in double figures at least once last season with nine having multiple games of at least ten points.
The duo of Tray Buchanan and Jumah'Ri Turner was the top scoring back court in the nation in 2021-22. Buchanan led the nation in scoring at 25.6 points per game while Turner averaged 19.8 to rank third in the MIAA. Their combined 45.4 points per game was the top average in NCAA Division II for a pair of guards.  

HOT START 
The Hornets 9-1 record after ten games matched last year's start while the nine game winning streak was the best since winning 16 straight in 2006-07.  Last year the Hornets opened the season 7-0 for the first time since going 16-0 to open the 2006-07 season.  It was the tenth time in 119 seasons of Emporia State basketball that the Hornets have opened the year 7-0 and the first time at least six of the wins have come against D2 teams.

CENTURY MARK
Emporia State's 100-73 win over Saint Mary marked the 104th time the Hornets have cracked the century mark in their history.  They have reached 100 points eight times in 162 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 David Moe (288 games in 10 seasons), five times under Shaun Vandiver (199 games in seven seasons), three times under Gus Fish (602 games in 25 seasons) and once under Marc Comstock (82 games in three seasons).

FRIENDLY CONFINES
The Hornets have won 15 of their last 17 games in White Auditorium. They are 432-200 (.684) since 1979 in White Auditorium. Emporia State has won 33 of their last 41 (.805) games since the start of the 2021-22 season and 216 of their last 311 games (.695) 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 20 of the last 22 seasons.

HORNETS RANK IN NATION IN ATTENDANCE
In 14 home games last year the Hornets averaged 1,382 fans per game to rank eighth in the nation. Emporia State men's basketball fans helped the Hornets rank in the top ten in attendance among the over 300 NCAA Division II basketball playing schools last season. The #7 national ranking continued a string of 19 straight years, not counting COVID, ranking in the top 25 in attendance for Emporia State. The Hornets drew 19,627 total fans for an average of 1,402 fans to their 14 home games at Slaymaker Court in White Auditorium during the 2021-22 season to rank seventh nationally.   Emporia State had a season high 2,865 for their game against Washburn on February 26 on Senior Day.   Emporia State outdrew 123 NCAA Division I schools in total attendance during the 2021-22 school year including eight teams that made the NCAA Tournament. Within the Division II ranks, the Hornets outdrew 60 of the 64 teams that were selected for the NCAA Tournament, including six of the eight #1 seeds and six of the teams that made the Elite Eight.

REGIONALLY SPEAKING
The NCAA Central Region is made up of teams in the MIAA, Northern Sun and Great American Conferences. The MIAA is 19-10 against the region with a 7-9 record against the NSIC and 12-1 against the GAC.
Emporia State was one of three MIAA teams in the regional field last year, tying the NSIC for the most representatives. The MIAA went 71-36 (.664) mark in non-conference competition and every team in the Association had an opponents winning percentage of over .500 on the season. The NSIC was 77-40 (.658) and the GAC went 50-37 (.575) against outside competition.

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 Blake Cripps in his first year on the call. KFFX is in their 36th 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/listen.

TURNING PRO
Emporia State's Tray Buchanan and Brenden Van Dyke both signed professional contracts following the 2021-22 season, giving the Hornets six professional players in the last four seasons. Buchanan signed with AEL-Limassol in Limassol, Cyprus while Van Dyke signed with CD Agulia San Miguel in El Salvador
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.

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. 

HOW DO YOU SAY THAT: 
2 Alijah Comithier: Ah-lie-zha Com-a-thear (rhymes with fear)
7 Solomon Oraegbu: Oh-ray-boo
10 Atavian Butler: Ah-tave-ian
13 Drew Tennial: Ta-kneel
22 Darius Yohe: Yo-he