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Tiger men look to snap skid
1/13/2012
By CONOR NICHOLL
cnicholl@dailynews.net
The Fort Hays State University men's basketball team is 10-4 overall, 4-4 in the MIAA and ranked No. 19 in NCAA Division II. FHSU is one and a half games out of second place in the league standings and just two contests out of first in the parity-heavy MIAA.
However, after Fort Hays lost its third straight game Monday against Missouri Southern State University, coach Mark Johnson decided to go back to "square one." FHSU ranks ninth in the 11-team league in scoring offense in conference games at 63.6 points a contest. The Tiger defense, known traditionally as one of the league's stingiest units, has been inconsistent.
"We have a lot of transfers, we play a lot of games in a row," Johnson said, referring to a stretch of four games in eight days that concluded with Monday's defeat. "...(It's) almost like the first couple weeks of practice because we have some guys, it just doesn't come natural to. We have too many people on the floor that have too many breakdowns. It's not that no one is not trying. It's not an effort problem."
FHSU, on its longest losing skid since it dropped four straight road games in the 2007-08 season, has had four days off since the Southern game. Fort Hays is in its first year of a ball-screen offense, while multiple transfers have often struggled with Johnson's defensive philosophy of forcing opponents to the middle, a rarity in the college game.
"Our effort problems have come when we have got our head down, and you are kind of taking a beating, you get a little frustrated," Johnson said. "We are not pushing through like we need to. We make too many mental mistakes on both ends of the floor. We are struggling to score, so we need to change again, kind of find a way to just figure out what we are doing. We are better than what we are playing."
On Saturday, the Tigers will travel to Pittsburg State University (10-5, 6-3) for a 3:30 p.m. tip at John Lance Arena.
The Gorillas have won four straight and have produced a significant improvement under second-year coach Kevin Muff. FHSU, though, has dropped back-to-back home games and hasn't won since Jan. 2. Johnson said his team has regressed since home wins against Missouri Western State University and Northwest Missouri State University in mid-December.
"You look at times right now, we can't even pass and catch," Johnson said. "If we played against Northwest and Western the way we are now, we wouldn't have beat them. We are better than what we are doing. We have got a confidence problem and things like that. Guys are really unsure of themselves and when you are unsure of yourself, more mistakes happen."
Three Tigers average in double figures, led by junior Karron McKenzie at 12.9 points per contest. Against Missouri Southern, junior Markus Yarbrough, who averages six points a contest, led the team with 13 points. However, Yarbrough committed three turnovers in 14 minutes. Johnson possibly could play senior forward Matt Simmons and Yarbrough more together. The 6-foot-8, 290-pound Yarbrough has played well against University of Kansas, Kansas State University and Missouri Southern, all teams with big post players.
"Markus is fine when you just put a big guy down on the block and he can just kind of stand there and bang with him on the defensive end," Johnson said. "When guys start moving around, it poses problems for him. ... His problems are a lot like our whole team. For everything we do good, we do a lot of things negative."
| Scoreboard | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Sport | Date | Opponent | Score |
| 2/18 | SW Baptist | L 66-53 | |
| 12/1 | Oklahoma - Panhandle | L 66-60 (OT) | |