Men's Basketball | 1/10/2025 6:48:00 PM
GAME 15
Emporia State (4-10, 1-4 MIAA) vs. Neb.-Keanrey (4-8, 2-2 MIAA)
Saturday, Dec. 11 • 7:30 p.m. • Emporia, Kan. • WL White Auditorium
Series Record: ESU leads 25-24 •
Last Meeting: ESU 77, at UNK 58 (1/25/2024)
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: at #2 Washburn • Wednesday, Jan. 15 • 7:30 p.m. • Topeka, Kan. • Lee Arena
LAST HOME SATURDAY GAME
Emporia State plays host to Neb.-Kearney in the final Saturday home game of the season for the Hornets.
LAST TIME OUT
The Hornet offense struggled in the first half on the way to a 69-44 loss at Fort Hays State. Emporia State was held to just 17 points in the opening 20 minutes. The Hornets were held without a field goal for over six minutes as the Tigers built a 38-15 lead before Devin Conly got a steal and layup with 15 seconds left in the half. Malik Edwards was the lone Hornet in double-figures, scoring 10 points.
Karyiek Dixon had nine points and eight rebounds. Emporia State starting guard
Brayson Laube sat out the game with a hip pointer. It is the eighth game missed by a starter this year for the Hornets.
ABOUT THE COACHES
Tom Billeter is 494-284 in his 27th season as a head coach and is 4-10 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. This is his first meeting with the Lopers at ESU while he is 4-3 against UNK overall.
Marty Levinson is 4-8 in his first year at Neb.-Kearney. This is his first meeting with ESU
UP NEXT
The Hornets travel to Topeka on Wednesday to take on #2 Washburn for the second time in 11 days. Tip-off from Lee Arena is set for 7:30 p.m.
ABOUT THE HORNETS
Emporia State is 4-10, 1-4 in the MIAA. They have wins over a Top 20 NAIA team and a team receiving votes in the latest NABC D2 Poll. Five active players are averaging over 6.0 points per game led by Malik Edwards at 13.1 and
Brayson Laube at 11.9 points per game.
Arhman Lewis is averaging 3.8 assists per game. As a team the Hornets are fifth in the MIAA in offensive rebounding. Don Coats is averaging a team best 7.4 rebounds per game, but is out with a knee injury. He is one of three Hornets that have started this year and missed a game due to injury.
ABOUT THE LOPERS
Neb.-Kearney is 4-8, 2-2 in the MIAA and have won two straight. They are third in the Association in turnover margin and fourth in steals. Ja'Bryant Hill is third in the MIAA in scoring, seventh in assists and ninth in assist to turnover ratio.
SERIES HISTORY
This will be the 50th meeting between the two teams with the Hornets leading 25-24 all-time. Emporia State leads 11-7 in MIAA play and has won the last four games in the series.
LAST TIME VS NEB.-KEARNEY
The Hornets jumped out to a 18-6 lead and never looked back in a 77-58 win at Neb. Kearney.
Alijah Comithier scored with 13:29 left to give Emporia State their biggest lead of the night at 63-32.
Atavian 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.
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.
The MIAA joins the G-MAC as one of just two Division II conferences in which every team's opponents winning percentage is at .500 or above and the MIAA is the only confernce with a winning conference record against D2 opponents.
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.
FRIENDLY CONFINES
The Hornets have won 21 of their last 28 (.750) games in White Auditorium. They are 437-205 (.68) since 1979 in White Auditorium. Emporia State has won 222 of their last 322 games (.689) 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.
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 54-39 in MIAA play with a 76-50 overall record.
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 two 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.
