MIAA Men's Basketball Report No. 11

MIAA MIAA Men's Basketball Report No. 11

More MIAA Tournament berths up for grabs this week

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- With just two weeks left in the regular season and only three teams having locked up berths in the MIAA Championship Tournament, there's plenty of battles left to be settled.

Slots are within arms reach for three squads. Nebraska-Omaha (15-8, 9-7 MIAA) and Washburn (13-11, 9-8 MIAA) need only to win or have Northwest Missouri State (11-12, 6-10 MIAA) lose once to secure their places in Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City for the opening round March 5.

Both the Mavericks and Ichabods each have head-to-head sweeps over Northwest, so in case of a tie each would have the edge on Northwest.

Emporia State (15-9, 9-8 MIAA) split the season series with Northwest, so the Hornets need a win and a Bearcats loss to start making reservations for KC.

Wednesday (Feb. 18), the UNO Mavs host seventh-ranked Central Missouri (20-3, 13-3 MIAA) -- the MIAA co-leaders. ESU hosts Pittsburg State (10-13, 5-11 MIAA) the same night while Northwest entertains Truman (6-18, 1-16 MIAA) .

The WU Ichabods return to action Thursday (Feb. 18) when they host Missouri Southern (17-9, 7-9 MIAA).

The Mules are the MIAA's hottest team, winning their last eight games. UCM will be aiming to taking a nine-game winning streak into its nationally-televised game Saturday (Feb. 21) against Northwest. It will be the 200th renewal of the series between the Mules and Bearcats.

Central Missouri defeated UNO in their first meeting, 85-72, but will be trying to even the season series when the CBS College Sports cameras come to the Multipurpose Building.

Emporia State claimed a 102-100, four-overtime win over the Gorillas Jan. 10. The Hornets are idle Saturday.

Washburn dropped its first meeting to the Southern Lions, 82-67, in Joplin Jan. 10. Since that win, MSSU has just two victories in its last nine games.

After hosting the Lions, WU goes to Pitt State Saturday. The Ichabods defeated the Gorillas in Topeka, 85-73, Jan. 14.

League co-leader and fourth-ranked Southwest Baptist (20-3, 13-3 MIAA) hits the road to take on third-place Fort Hays State (17-6, 10-6 MIAA) Wednesday before returning to Meyer Sports Center to host UNO.

The Bearcats defeated the Tigers in their first meeting, 84-64, FHSU's last loss before embarking on the eight-game win streak snapped by UCM last Saturday (Feb. 14).

SBU will be out to avenge one of its three losses when the Mavericks come to Bolivar. UNO handed the Bearcats an 88-84 setback on Jan. 14 in Omaha.

Missouri Western (11-13, 8-9 MIAA), with a magic number of three entering the week, is idle until hosting Truman Saturday at the MWSU Fieldhouse. The Griffons lost their first meeting with the Bulldogs, 69-67.

REGIONAL RANKING OUT WEDNESDAY: The next NCAA Division II South Central Region ranking will be released Wednesday (Feb. 18).

In the list released Feb. 11, the top seven stayed the same, including Central Missouri at No. 1, Southwest Baptist at No. 3 and Fort Hays State at No. 7. Nebraska-Omaha moved up one spot to No. 8.

UCM and SBU both went 2-0 last week. FHSU lost to the Mules and defeated Truman, while UNO lost to Western and downed Truman.

The South Central Region consists of the MIAA, Lone Star and Heartland conferences. Each conference has an automatic berth to the regional tournament -- the other five teams to advance to the eight-team bracket will be determined by their regional ranking.

UCM STOPS TIGERS' STREAK AT EIGHT: The Central Missouri Mules won the battle of the two hottest teams in the MIAA on Saturday afternoon (Feb. 14) against Fort Hays State by a 69-57 score at the UCM Multipurpose Building.

The Tigers had won eight consecutive contests coming in to the game while Central Missouri had taken seven straight.

Central Missouri scored the game's first five points and led the entire day.

The second stanza saw Fort Hays State cut the lead down to three in the early minutes on two occasions, the last with 17:29 on the clock. It took less than two minutes for the Mules to take back control though, and UCM would push that margin to 16 with 9:43 left.

The Tigers made one last run at it with six unanswered points to make it a six-point game with 3:06 to play, but a layup by Watts off the Fort Hays press on the next possession sealed the deal.

Junior F Sanijay Watts and senior G De'Andre Byrd had 18 points apiece for UCM. Senior G Terry Jeffries scored 16 points for Fort Hays State.

Team-by-Team Notes
Central Missouri: The win over FHSU gave the Mules their fourth 20-win season in five years... The nine-game win streak is UCM's longest since 2006-07... Junior F Sanijay Watts is averaging 19.7 points in his last five games... Junior G Alex Moosman had a season-high 18 points vs. WU... The 69 points vs. FHSU was fewest for UCM in a win this year.

Emporia State: Junior G Lamar Wilbern scored a season-low five points in the loss at Southern... The Hornets have dropped six of their last eight games... Junior G Tim Niles has led ESU in scoring three times in the last five games an averaged 15.8 points in that stretch... Junior G Robert Moores has averaged 16.8 points in the last five outings.

Fort Hays State: The eight-game win streak was the Tigers' longest since joining the MIAA... Senior G Terry Jeffries has scored in double-figures in each of the last seven games... In all 17 wins this season, FHSU has held its foes to less than 70 points... Junior F Tim Peintner has averaged 13.6 points in his last seven games.

Missouri Southern: Freshman G/F Jason Adams scored 22 points in the win over ESU -- he's averaged 16.0 points in his last four games... Sophomore G Skyler Bowlin dished out seven assists at PSU, most since he set the league's season high with 11 vs. Evangel (Mo.) Nov. 29... The Lions have just three wins in their last 10 games.

Missouri Western: Junior G Marcus Rhodes scored a season-high 23 points at UNO, then followed up with 21 vs. Northwest... Rhodes has made 61.2 percent of his shots from the field in the last eight games (41-of-67)... Sophomore F Dominique Thuston scored a season-low one point in the win at Nebraska-Omaha.

Nebraska-Omaha: Senior G Michael Jenkins passed Phil Cartwright (1988-92 -- 1,457) for third on UNO's career scoring list -- he has 1,480 points... After scoring a season-low five points vs. Western, sophomore G Mitch Albers bounced back with 24 at Truman... UNO is 57-of-98 (58.2 percent) from the field in the last two games.

Northwest Missouri State: The Bearcats have won the last five vs. Truman... The Bearcats are trying to avoid being the first defending tournament champ to miss the field the next year since 1997 (Missouri-Rolla)... Senior F Hunter Henry needs five rebounds to pass Joe Hurst (777 -- 1982-86) for third on the school's career list.

Pittsburg State: The Gorillas snapped a three-game skid with the win over the Lions... PSU is 1-6 in road games this season... Junior F Rodney Grace led the Gorillas vs. MSSU with 21 points -- his third 20-point outing of the season... Senior G Carlos Taylor is averaging 17.7 points in his last six outings.

Southwest Baptist: The Bearcats have won their last 28 games at the Meyer Sports Center... SBU shot 55-of-102 (53.9 percent) from the field in the last two games... The Bearcats have scored at least 80 points in nine of their last 10 games... Junior C Matthew Rogers has averaged 23.4 points in his last five games.

Truman: Sophomore F Ethan Freeman made his first eight shots on the way to 19 points in the loss to UNO... The Bulldogs are seeking their first road win in 12 tries this season... Senior G Banks Estridge is the only Bulldog to have started all 24 games this season.

Washburn: The Ichabods will be trying to snap a five-game losing skid to the Lions... WU just missed forcing overtime vs. SBU when senior F Lekheythan Malone's follow dunk after a three-point miss by senior G DeAndre Eggins didn't beat the buzzer... Eggins had just six points vs. UCM, snapping his string of double-figure games snapped at 16.

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MIAA Men's Basketball Athlete of the Week

For week of action ending Feb. 15

Matthew Rogers, C
Southwest Baptist University

Rogers, a 6-foot-11, 205-pound junior from Doniphan, Mo., averaged 24.0 points, 7.5 rebounds and 4.5 blocked shots as the No. 5 Bearcats maintained a share of first place with two home wins last week.

He scored a career-high 37 points in SBU's 81-70 victory Tuesday (Feb. 10) over Emporia State. Rogers had 22 first-half points -- matching the Hornets' total output as the Bearcats held a 39-22 lead at halftime. It was his fourth 30-point game of the season

He also added seven rebounds, three blocks and two assists.

In an 86-84 triumph against Washburn, Rogers scored 11 points with eight rebounds and six blocked shots. He also added two steals and two assists against the Ichabods as SBU avenged an earlier loss.

Rogers is a graduate of Doniphan High School.

Others Nominated: Jason Adams, G, MSSU; Andrew Bridger, G, UNO; DeAndre Byrd, G, UCM; Hunter Henry, F, NWMSU; Marcus Rhodes, G, MWSU; Carlos Taylor, G, PSU.

Previous winners: 11/24 -- Vincent Ateba, F, MSSU; 12/1 -- Matthew Rogers, C, SBU; 12/8 -- Matthew Rogers, C, SBU; 12/15 -- Dominique Thuston, F, MWSU; 12/29 -- Dominique Thuston, F, MWSU; 1/5 -- D'Ante Harris, G, SBU; 1/12 -- Lamar Wilbern, G, ESU; 1/19 -- Michael Jenkins, G, UNO; 1/26 -- Mitch Albers, G, UNO; 2/2 -- Sanijay Watts, F, UCM; 2/9 -- Matthew Rogers, C, SBU.

-- MIAA --

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