Men's Basketball | 1/1/2025 9:59:00 PM

GAME 12
Emporia State (4-7, 1-1 MIAA) vs Central Missouri (6-6, 1-2 MIAA)
Friday, Dec. 20 • 5:00 p.m. • Emporia, Kan. • Slaymaker Court/White Auditorium
Series Record: UCM leads 74-46 • Last Meeting: at ESU 75, UCM 51 (2/21/2024)
Radio: Hornet Sports Network KFFX-FM (104.9)/1490AM Topeka/103.7FM Kansas City 
Internet Audio: kvoe.com | Television: None | Internet Video: The MIAA Network
Live Stats | Ticket Info | Complete Notes in pdf
Up Next: #2 Washburn • Sat., Jan 4 • 1:40 p.m. • Emporia, Kan. • Slaymaker Court/White Auditorium

NEW YEAR, NEW START
The Emporia State men play host to Central Missouri in the first game of 2025. 

LAST TIME OUT
Playing their final game of 2024 calendar year, Emporia State came up just short in an 87-84 loss to Rockhurst at White Auditorium. There were nine ties and 12 lead changes in a game that neither team took more than a six point lead at any point. Malik Edwards led Emporia State with 19 points. He was joined in double figures by Arhman Lewis with 15 while Parker Day and Chris Harris each scored 12 points.  Day added 11 rebounds for his second double-double of the season.

ABOUT THE COACHES
Tom Billeter is 494-282 in his 27th season as a head coach and is 4-7 in his first season at Emporia State after going 393-224 in 21 years at Augustana. With the Vikings he won the 2016 National Championship, went to nine NCAA Tournaments, won three regular season NSIC Championships, two NSIC Tourney Championships, and 18 consecutive winning seasons. He went 1-1 against Central Missouri while at Augie.
Adam Bohac is 19-21 in his second year at Central Missouri and 331-167 in his 17th season overall. He is 1-1 against the Hornets.

UP NEXT
The Hornets play host Washburn in White Auditorium in the first game of the MIAA TV Game of the Week on Saturday, January 4. Tip-off for the Turnpike Tussle is now set for 1:40 p.m.

ABOUT THE HORNETS
Emporia State is 4-7, 1-1 in the MIAA.  They have wins over a Top 20 NAIA team and a team receiving votes in the latest NABC D2 Poll. Six players are averaging over 6.0 points per game led by Malik Edwards at 13.9 and Brayson Laube at 12.0 points per game. Arhman Lewis is averaging 10.0 points and 3.9 assists per game. Don Coats is averaging a team best 7.4 rebounds per game. As a team the Hornets are second in the MIAA in offensive rebounding and fifth in turnover margin.

ABOUT THE MULES
Central Missouri is 6-6, 1-2 in the MIAA. They have a win over then #9 North Georgia and a loss at #2 Wash burn in their last two games. DeAirius Barker is the only Mule in dboule figures at 12.1 points per game. They are third in the MIAA in scoring defense but rank 13th in scoring offense. 

SERIES HISTORY
This will be the 121st meeting between the two with Central Missouri leading 74-46. Emporia State has won five of the last six meetings.

LAST TIME VS CENTRAL MISSOURI
Emporia State started off sluggishly before rolling to a 75-51 victory over Central Missouri. The Hornets led 29-21 with 2:22 remaining in the half, but the Mules scored the final five points to make it 29-26 at the break. Emporia State went on a 14-3 run early in the second half, capped by back to back threes from Kaden Evans to take a 43-31 lead with 14:55 left. Cael McGee scored six straight to give ESU a 64-42 lead with 6:56 left.  UCM would not get closer than 20 points the rest of the game as the Hornets cruised to the 75-51 win. Alijah Comithier had 21 points, while Owen Long and McGee each had 13 and Evans added 12 points. 

1500 AND COUNTING
The Hornets have won 1,514 games in their 120th year of playing basketball. They are ranked 16th in total wins among active NCAA Division II schools.

CENTURY MARK
Emporia State's 100-73 win over Newman last year marked the 104th time the Hornets have cracked the century mark in their history.    
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), eight times under Craig Doty (173 games in six 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).

REGIONALLY SPEAKING
The NCAA Central Region is made up of teams in the MIAA, Northern Sun and Great American Conferences. Overall in non-conference action the NSIC is 62-40, the MIAA is 78-52 and the GAC is 39-31. This year the MIAA is 16-24 against the region with a 10-12 record against the NSIC and a 6-12 mark against the GAC. 
Seven of the last ten national champions have come from the Central Region, including coach Billeter's 2016 win at Augustana, and the region has been represented in eight of the last ten national championship games.

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 54-36 in MIAA play with a 76-47 overall record. 

FRIENDLY CONFINES
The Hornets have won 21 of their last 26 (.808) games in White Auditorium. They are 437-203 (.683) since 1979 in White Auditorium. Emporia State has won 222 of their last 320 games (.694) 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.  

HORNETS RANK IN NATION IN ATTENDANCE
In 17 home games last year the Hornets averaged 1,224 fans per game to rank 16th in the nation among the over 300 NCAA Division II basketball playing schools. It continued a string of 20 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. 

HORNETS IN THE POST SEASON
The 2022-23 season marked Emporia State's third trip to the NCAA Tournament in 33 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
There is one MIAA team in the Top 25 and one more receiving votes in the latest National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) National Poll. Emporia State received votes in seven NABC National Polls last season and were in the Top 25 the first five weeks of the season. During the 2022-23 season Emporia State had a string of five straight weeks being ranked, their longest streak since a ten week span during the 2006-07 season. 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 42 of their last 45 games when leading at the 5:00 minute mark of the second half. They are 4-1 under Coach Billeter.

GIVE ME 20
The 2023 season was the fourth time Emporia State won 20 games as a member of the NCAA and the 12th time in school history. The Hornets 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 12 times over the last 34 seasons.

LISTEN & WATCH LIVE
Audio of all Emporia State games are available on the Hornet Sports Network across Northeast Kansas and into Missouri. Flagship station KFFX 104.9FM is joined by SportsRadio 1490AM in Topeka and 103.7FM in Kansas City as the Voice of the Hornets Blake Cripps calls the action. Audio is also available on kvoe.com and the Audacy app. KFFX is in their 37th straight year as the radio home of Hornet Athletics, the longest active streak between a commercial station and an MIAA school.
Video webcasts for all of Emporia State's regular season games are available on a pay per view basis from the MIAA Digital Network. The MIAA Network content is available live and is immediately archived for on-demand viewing after each event.  Fans can find the action on www.themiaanetwork.com and on The MIAA Network apps for Amazon Fire TV, Android TV, Apple TV, and Roku.
The MIAA has entered into an agreement with Scripps Media and their independent television station KMCI, serving the Kansas City metropolitan area on 38 The Spot, to continue its MIAA TV Game of the Week broadcasts throughout the 2025 NCAA Division II basketball season. Beginning with Turnpike Tussle January 4 in White Auditorium, 38 The Spot will broadcast NCAA Division II men's and women's basketball games from nine different MIAA campuses in January and February. The broadcast schedule will wrap up with the live broadcast of the MIAA men's and women's championship games from the 2025 basketball tournament at Municipal Auditorium in downtown Kansas City on March 9.