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Struggling Tiger men host Missouri Southern in top-25 matchup
1/9/2012
By CONOR NICHOLL
cnicholl@dailynews.net
The Fort Hays State University men's basketball team has encountered a dismal last five days. Last Wednesday, the Tigers lost 78-40 on the road to University of Central Missouri, the worst defeat in the 11-year Mark Johnson era.
"Bus ride back was very quiet," junior guard Kendrick Morse said. "Everybody was mad."
On Saturday, FHSU lost again, this time at home to Southwest Baptist (Mo.) University, 68-63, in a game Johnson labeled "very disappointing." It marked the first time the Tigers had lost back-to-back contests since Jan. 30-Feb. 2, 2010 in a pair of road losses to Northwest Missouri State University and Missouri Western State University. The contests continued the offensive struggles for the Tigers, ranked No. 8 in NCAA Division II, at 10-3, 4-3 MIAA.
"When you can't score, it puts a lot of pressure on all phases of the game," Johnson said.
However, Fort Hays received little time to worry about the defeats. Tonight, the Tigers take on another ranked squad going through its own difficulties: Missouri Southern State University, ranked No. 14 in the national poll (both squads will likely drop multiple spots when the new poll is released Tuesday).
Game time is 7:30 p.m. from Gross Memorial Coliseum.
"What are you going to do?," Johnson said. "Sit here and cry about it? Got to go to work."
Missouri Southern is the defending conference champion and rose to No. 1 in the nation earlier this season. Johnson calls the Lions probably the best team in the league with probably the top-two players in senior guard/forward Jason Adams and senior center Keane Thomann.
"We're a team and everybody else has got to play their role and step it up," Morse said.
Adams, a first team all-MIAA player last season and a preseason All-American by The Sporting News this winter, averages 19.1 points per game, third-best in the conference. The 6-foot-11, 265-pound Thomann was third team all-MIAA as a junior and paces the league at 21.7 points per contest.
"I think their point guard is about 6-4," Johnson said. "Their 2 guard is about 6-4. Their 3 man is about 6-5. Their 4 man is about 6-6 and their center is about 6-1(1). We are pretty much outmatched height-wise at pretty much every position. We've got to be tougher and find a way to get it done."
However, Missouri Southern (12-3, 5-3 MIAA) has struggled all season on the road. The Lions are 6-0 at home and 5-0 in neutral site games, but 1-3 in true road contests. Missouri Southern has dropped two of its past three games, including a 67-49 defeat at Washburn University on Saturday.
After finishing 1-2 in the conference race and each advancing to the second round of the NCAA tournament, FHSU and Missouri Southern are two of five teams that have three league losses. Northwest Missouri State University leads the MIAA at 6-1, while Washburn University is second at 5-2. Unlike the last several seasons, the conference has no dominant team or teams.
"I don't know if we have that one or two high, high level teams, so you are looking at a lot of parity," Johnson said.
Fort Hays has proven it can play with the league's top teams - the Tigers are the lone squad to beat Northwest Missouri, and did so soundly with an 83-64 home victory on Dec. 17. That represents the only game since Dec. 7 FHSU has scored more than 66 points.
"When we are playing hard and we are making some shots and things are clicking, we have got an opportunity to play with anybody and beat anybody," Johnson said.
Senior Karron McKenzie leads Fort Hays in scoring at 13.9 points per contest and three players, junior Tyrone Phillips, Morse and senior Moses Dayee average between 10.9 and 10 points a contest. However, Phillips didn't score Saturday and played just eight minutes, one of many Tigers who has struggled in the last two contests.
"Everybody has got to keep their head up and keep playing and stay confident in each other," Morse said.
| Scoreboard | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Sport | Date | Opponent | Score |
| 2/18 | SW Baptist | L 66-53 | |
| 12/1 | Oklahoma - Panhandle | L 66-60 (OT) | |