The headline: Northeastern State will be on the road for four of the final six games in the regular season games starting with a home-and-home series with Fort Hays State and Nebraska-Kearney. The RiverHawks will host both teams next week in NSU's final home regular season contests at the Event Center.  The RiverHawks lead the MIAA in forced turnovers and with 16.2 per game they are 39th best in the nation.  Against schools in the MIAA, Northeastern State leads the field at the free-throw line by making 78.6-percent of their shots. Montre' Williams paces NSU with 13,4 points per game and in his third season has scored 729 points.

Last time out for NSU: Northeastern State's offensive woes continued on Saturday in a 78-58 loss to Central Missouri at the NSU Event Center. 

The Riverhawks shot 30.6-percent from the field while connecting on 19-of-62 shots against the Mules.  Tyler Williams was an offensive spark off the bench for the RiverHawks team high 14 points, and he was NSU's lone player in double-figures. 

In the rebounding battle, NSU trailed by one with 41 boards, and a season high 17 on the offensive glass.  Erick Broadnax led the RiverHawks with eight, Trent Cantrell, and Juvon Turner both added six.  The RiverHawks would cash in on their second chance points with 21, beating UCM by ten.  However, the scoring balanced out in points off of turnovers with the Mules picking up 18, compared to the RiverHawks' four; Northeastern State had one more turnover than UCM with 12.

Montre' Williams and Tanner Mouse both scored eight points, with Williams dishing out four assists.

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Northeastern State (3-18, 2-11 MIAA) at Fort Hays State (13-8, 7-6 MIAA)
Feb. 9, 2017 | 7:30 p.m. | Hays, Kan.
Live Stats | Live Video | Live Audio | Game Notes

The series with Fort Hays State: Thursday's meeting is the tenth between the Tigers and RiverHawks with NSU trailing in the series 5-4.  On the road at Hays, Kan., Northeastern State is 2-2 with their last win coming during the 2013-14 season.

Last time out for Fort Hays State: Fort Hays State played great defense and Emir Sabic scored a career-high 15 points in a 70-54 win at Washburn on Saturday (Feb. 4). The Tigers improved to 13-8 overall, 7-6 in the MIAA in front of a national audience on ESPN3, while the Ichabods dropped to 14-8 overall, 6-7 in the MIAA. It snapped a five-game losing skid for the Tigers inside Lee Arena, where they had not won since the 2010-11 season.

Fort Hays State held Washburn to just 29.3 percent shooting from the field, which included a 22.2 percent effort beyond the 3-point line (4-of-18). Washburn also had a rough night at the free-throw line, where it hit at just a 59.3 percent rate as a team. The biggest struggles at the line came from Brady Skeens, who was 2-of-8.
JaQuan Smith also had a solid night, earning his second double-double of the season with 11 points and 11 rebounds. Grant Holmes had a team-high four assists.

Scouting Fort Hays State: The Tigers are centered around Rob Davis and with 22.9 point per game he is 15th highest nationally in average scoring and is makes 50-percent of his three-point attempts which is fifth best nationally.  At home this season FHSU is 7-4 with their last appearance in Hays being a 71-62 loss to Lindenwood.  On the defense, the Tigers hold teams to a 42.2 field goal percentage which is third lowest in the MIAA.  At the arc, FHSU is 17th nationally with a 41.1-percentage. 

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Northeastern State at Neb.-Kearney (15-7, 8-5 MIAA)
Feb. 11, 2017 | 3:30 p.m. | Kearney, Neb.
Live Stats | Live Video | Live Audio | Game Notes

The series with Neb.-Kearney: Saturday's meeting is the tenth between the Lopers and RiverHawks with NSU trailing in the series 7-2.  The RiverHawks have dropped their last five in a row to UNK.

Last time out for Neb.-Kearney:  The Emporia State men's basketball team finished on a 7-0 run to rally past Nebraska-Kearney in overtime, 87-86, Saturday night in Kansas.

Kearney lost despite making 60% (29 of 48) of its shots, including half its three pointers (7 of 14). Emporia also was hot, converting on 53% (33 of 62) of its field goals, while having a plus eight rebounding margin, 31-23, as well.

Getting 28 points off its bench, Emporia saw Jevon Taylor score 13 on 5 of 8 (2 of 3 threes) shooting. Brandon Hall reached his point total by going 9 of 17 from the field and 4 of 8 at the line. Finally, the Hornets made just 14 of 20 free throws.

For UNK, Trey Lansman had another monster effort; 31 points, three key blocks, three assists, two boards and a steal. Playing all 45 minutes, he went 10 of 14 (2 of 4 threes) from the floor and 9 of 11 at the line. This marks his sixth 30-point game as a Loper with his career-best of 35 coming two years ago in a loss at Hays.

Scouting Neb.-Kearney: The Lopers will host Central Oklahoma on Thursday before facing NSU on Saturday.  At home this season, the Lopers are 10-3 and have won ten of their last 11 on their home court.  With 558 free-throw attempts, UNK has figured out ways to get to the line with their total landing them eighth nationally.  Trey Lansman leads the UNK offense with 19.4 points a game which is sixth in the MIAA, he also leads the Lopers in boards with 7.7 rebounds per game.  On defense, UNK allows 75.6 points each outing which is 13th in the MIAA and teams are shooting 41.4-percent at the arc which is third worst in the nation.