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Mules get tough to beat Tigers
2/15/2010
Central Missouri gives Tigers first home defeat this season
By CONOR NICHOLL
cnicholl@dailynews.net
Tiger men's basketball coach Mark Johnson noticed one major difference in the two games between Fort Hays State University and University of Central Missouri this year. In early January, the Tigers knocked off Central Missouri 81-71.
On Saturday, the Mules beat Fort Hays 79-63 for the Tigers' first home loss of the season and yielded one of FHSU's poorest performances all season.
"We were allowed to play a loose game at their place and they just got tough and physical with us (Saturday) and anytime a team gets tough and physical with us all season long, we have struggled," Johnson said. "We have been lucky that not a whole lot of teams have done that to us."
"We are a finesse team and until we figure that out and change that, we are going to have moments like this. Central Missouri came in and they are a physical team. They got after us this time around. The first time they didn't and this time they did, took it to us and we didn't have an answer," Johnson added.
In front of a season-high 6,210 fans, Fort Hays never led and suffered its first loss by double figures. The Tigers, ranked 10th in NCAA Division II, dropped to 19-4 overall, 13-3 in the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association. Central Missouri improved to 22-1 overall and 15-1 in the MIAA. Central Missouri has a two-game lead in the conference with four regular-season games left. Johnson said there's a "possibility" Fort Hays could still win the MIAA, but called the scenario "not likely."
The Tigers have their final road trip of the season, going to Southwest Baptist (Mo.) University on Thursday and Missouri Southern State University on Saturday before finishing with two home contests.
"We just have to take care of ourselves," Johnson said. "Find a way to go to Southwest Baptist and get a win next week. That needs to be our focus and have a little pride about ourselves and come back and try to have a strong performance."
In the first meeting, FHSU, led by 28 points from junior guard Dominique Jones, defeated Central Missouri, then-ranked No. 1 in the nation, and ended the Mules' 27-game home-court winning streak. Afterwards, the Mules refocused on defense in practice and have won 10 straight contests.
"When we played there, our defense was horrible," Central Missouri coach Kim Anderson said. "Very poor. Really it was a wakeup call for us because we had kind of skated through 12 games, gotten by maybe with some things. So after that game, we immediately kind of went back to the basics."
On Saturday, Central Missouri tied an MIAA record with its eighth road conference win and stopped FHSU's 13-game home winning streak.
"At times, Central Missouri did a great job guarding us and the ball didn't always go where it's supposed to go," Johnson said. "Fort Hays State took a lot of bad shots tonight and I think Central Missouri deserves a lot of credit for that."
Central Missouri held Jones to a season-worst 1-of-11 shooting and four points; Jones, the team leader with 13.7 points a contest, had never scored fewer than eight points in a game this season. The Tigers shot 36.8 percent from the field, slightly better than their season-low, and were 5-of-19 (26.3 percent) from the 3-point line.
"Did a better job on the ball screens," Anderson said. "I thought we did a better job of helping off of our man so when he (Jones) went to the basket there was somebody there. We didn't always help, we didn't always get there like they should. Then, we got up in him a little bit."
In addition, Jones and junior guard Willie Hassell combined for one steal. FHSU had a season-low two steals overall. Normally Jones and Hassell can produce points off steals and fastbreaks, but that didn't occur Saturday.
"We play good when me and Dom are both hitting shots," Hassell said. "Our defense, we couldn't help our team out defensively tonight. We use it as a spark, but we couldn't give our team a spark tonight. That killed us."
Junior guard Corbin Kuntzsch, who averages 13.5 points a game, was held to five points, his lowest in MIAA play, on 1-of-5 shooting. Junior forward Dijon Smith, who has averaged double figures in the last eight games, scored eight.
"Central Missouri came in here, they outperformed you, they out-toughed you, they played better than we did, they coached better than we did," Johnson said. "Give Coach Anderson a lot of credit. He did a great job."
Smith contained Mule senior All-American forward Sanijay Watts in the second half in FHSU's win earlier this season, but Watts delivered 30 points and 17 rebounds on Saturday. Watts is the second player in the MIAA this season to collect at least 17 rebounds in a game. Mules senior point guard Alex Moosmann, who Johnson calls "maybe the best point guard in the country," scored 13 points and had six assists; he had four points in the January meeting.
"At the end of the day, (Watts) was tougher than anybody on the floor tonight and that's what happens when you are a pretty talented guy and you are tougher than anybody out there, you are going to be a pretty good player," Johnson said.
| Scoreboard | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Sport | Date | Opponent | Score |
| TS | 04/06 | Emporia State | L 8-1 |
| SB | 03/30 | Panhandle State | W 10-2 (5 inn.) |
| SB | 03/30 | Panhandle State | W 13-3 (5 inn.) |
| BB | 03/30 | Washburn | W 3-1 |
| BB | 03/30 | Washburn | W 3-1 |
| TS | 03/23 | Kansas Wesleyan | L 6-3 |
| BB | 03/23 | Metro State | W 20-8 |
| BB | 03/23 | Metro State | W 6-5 |
| SB | 03/19 | Nebraska-Omaha | L 4-2 |
| SB | 03/19 | Truman State | W 4-1 |
| SB | 03/18 | Mo. Western | L 6-2 |
| BB | 03/17 | Missouri S&T | W 2-1 (10) |
| SB | 03/17 | Bethany | W 6-1 |
| SB | 03/17 | Bethany | W 8-1 |
| BB | 03/16 | Misosuri S&T | L 13-4 |
| MB | 03/14 | Central Missouri | L 80-73 |
| BB | 3/13 | NW Missouri | W 13-10 |
| BB | 03/13 | NW Missouri | W 4-3 |
| MB | 03/13 | Central Oklahoma | W 80-64 |
| SB | 03/08 | Fort Lewis | W 5-4 |