Men's Basketball | 1/8/2025 4:01:00 PM
GAME 14
Emporia State (4-9, 1-3 MIAA) at Fort Hays State (9-4, 2-2 MIAA)
Thursday, Dec. 9 • 7:30 p.m. • Hays, Kan. • Gross Coliseum
Series Record: FHSU leads 104-88 •
Last Meeting: at FHSU 67, ESU 62 (1/27/2024)
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: Neb.-Kearney • Saturday, Jan. 11 • 7:30 p.m. • Emporia, Kan. • WL White Auditorium
COACHING CLASH
The Hornets make their second straight trip to western Kansas to take on Fort Hays State. It is one of four matchups in the MIAA this season between head coaches with at least 450 career wins.
LAST TIME OUT
Second ranked Washburn hit 80 percent of their shots inside the three-point line on the way to a 105-77 win over Emporia State in White Auditorium. The win snapped a four game winning streak in the series by the Hornets.
Malike Edwards scored 13 points while
Dallas Bear added 12 off the bench and
Brayson Laube had ten points.
Karyiek Dixon led all rebounders with seven while
Arhman Lewis dished four assists.
ABOUT THE COACHES
Tom Billeter is 494-283 in his 27th season as a head coach and is 4-9 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 0-2 against Fort Hays State while at North Dakota State.
Mark Johnson is 460-224 in his 24th year at Fort Hays State. He is 25-11 against Emporia State.
UP NEXT
The Hornets return to White Auditorium on Saturday to take on Neb.-Kearney. Tip-off is set for 7:30 p.m. in the only Saturday home game remaining on the schedule.
ABOUT THE HORNETS
Emporia State is 4-9, 1-3 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 13.3 and
Brayson Laube at 11.9 points per game.
Arhman Lewis is averaging 11.0 points and is fifth in the MIAA in assist to turnover ratio. As a team the Hornets are fifth in the MIAA in offensive rebounding and sixth in turnover margin.
ABOUT THE TIGERS
Fort Hays State is 9-4, 2-2 in the MIAA and receiving votes in the NABC National Poll. They lead the MIAA in scoring defense, field goal percentage defense, and three point percentage. Kaleb Hammeke is ninth in the MIAA in scoring and fourth in both assists and assist to turnover ratio. Shaun Riley is third in the Association in rebounding.
SERIES HISTORY
This will be the 193rd meeting between the two with Fort Hays State holding a 104-88 lead. The visiting team has won three of the last six meetings.
LAST TIME VS FORT HAYS STATE
Emporia State gave up a season high 18 points off turnovers in a 67-62 loss at Fort Hays State. The Tigers jumped out to an 11-2 lead and led 35-28 with 2:01 left in the half. The Hornets closed the half with an 8-0 run to take a 36-35 lead into the break. The extended the run to 12-0 to go up 40-35 just 72 seconds into the second half. There would be six ties and five lead changes and neither team would take more than a five point lead the rest of the game. FHSU hit a jumper with 1:55 left that was ruled to have beat the shot clock to give the Tigers a 63-58 lead.
Atavian Butler hit a three to close within 63-61 with 1:38 left. Trailing 65-62 ESU could not get a shot off and turned the ball over with seven seconds left.
Alijah Comithier had 21 points while Butler and
Owen Long each scored 12 points for the Hornets.
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.
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 54-38 in MIAA play with a 76-49 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.
