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Tigers look to climb MIAA ladder
1/22/2008
By CONOR NICHOLL
Hays Daily News
Last Wednesday, Fort Hays State University men's basketball coach Mark Johnson called the next five games a turning point in his team's season.
The Tigers enjoyed a stretch of four home games and one road contest against Missouri Western, one of the weaker teams in the Mid-American Intercollegiate Athletic Association.
"This is very important," Johnson said.
Fort Hays has won the first two contests. They beat Washburn on a 3-point buzzer beater by junior guard Tyrone Evans last Wednesday and easily defeated Missouri Western on Saturday.
The third game comes Wednesday night.
The women (7-7, 1-5) will first face Central Missouri (5-10, 0-6) at 5:30 p.m. Fort Hays stands in ninth place, one spot out of the top eight and a bid to conference tournament.
Central Missouri is the only team that hasn't won a conference game and will enter Wednesday night with a 0-6 record in the MIAA.
A win could bump Fort Hays into the top eight, while a loss will drop them into last place -- and likely move them two games out of the coveted No. 8 spot in the conference.
The Tigers are last in the MIAA in scoring offense (65.5 points/game), field goal percentage (38.9) and second to last in free throw shooting (66.5 percent) and turnovers (20.7). They must shoot the ball better -- and turn the ball over less - to win games.
"If we can consistently shoot 40 to 50 percent, that can change the outcome of a lot of our games," Tiger coach Annette Wiles said on her weekly radio show Monday night.
The men's game features bigger ramifications.
The Tiger men are 10-4 and 3-3 in the conference, while Central enters with a 10-5 overall record and an identical 3-3 mark in the MIAA.
The teams split their two regular-season meetings last year.
In the past two years, the conference has had four bids to the NCAA tournament. Entering Wednesday, Fort Hays and Central Missouri are tied with five other teams for third place in the conference.
A victory would lift the Tigers above the logjam and place them firmly in control of one of the top spots in the MIAA. A loss, though, could plummet Fort Hays as far as seventh - and put them in a precarious position.
They would have to win more road games.
The Tigers are 8-1 at home this year, but 2-3 on the road.
"We have to win at home," Johnson said.
The Tiger offense is based on balanced scoring from several different players. When the team shoots at least 43 percent from the field, they are 10-1 this season. When they don't, they are 0-3 - with all three losses coming in conference play.
In the last three contests, Evans has carried the Tigers' offense. The MIAA Player of the Week, Evans scored a career-high 28 points against Washburn (the most by any Tiger since they joined the MIAA) and finished the week averaging 21.5 points and five assists per game.
Evans ranks fourth on the team in scoring, averaging 8.6 points per game. He is one of five players averaging six points a contest this year.
Central, a team that lost all five starters from last season's run to the Final Four, lost to Emporia State on Saturday, ending their 31-game home winning streak. They are 1-3 on the road this season, including a 1-2 mark in the conference.
The Mules also have lost to Emporia and Missouri Western (two teams Fort Hays defeated), but beat Southwest Baptist, a squad Fort Hays lost to by 33.
| Scoreboard | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Sport | Date | Opponent | Score |
| BB | 5/04 | Pittsburg State | W 17-5 |
| BB | 5/04 | Pittsburg State | L 4-3 |
| BB | 5/03 | Pittsburg State | L 15-7 |
| BB | 5/03 | Pittsburg State | L 5-4 |
| SB | 5/02 | Central Missouri | L 3-1 |
| SB | 5/02 | Missouri Western | W 3-2 |
| SB | 5/01 | Pittsburg State | W 6-0 |
| SB | 5/01 | Emporia State | L 11-0 |
| BB | 4/30 | Kansas Wesleyan | W 14-1 |
| BB | 4/30 | Kansas Wesleyan | W 12-2 |
