Game #5
Northeastern State (1-3 MIAA) at Fort Hays State (1-3 MIAA)
Friday, December 18 at 7:30 p.m. | Hays, Kan. - Gross Memorial Coliseum

Game Coverage	goriverhawksgo.com/coverage.aspx
COVID-19 Protocols	FHSU Guidelines
NSU Game Notes	Game Notes
FHSU Game Notes	Game Notes
Live Audio	NSU Digital Network
Live Video	The MIAA Network

Opening Tip 

• Defense will be the key for the RiverHawks success, with the team being outscored by ten and out-rebounded by 11 through the first four games of the season. 
• Help off the bench will another key for NSU who has been outscored by 20 in the last two outings. 
• After playing three games within six days, the RiverHawks have been idle for nine consecutive.
• NSU is looking for a starting combination and has gone with a different group in all four games this season.
• One of two MIAA games on Friday evening with Rogers State playing at Nebraska-Kearney.
• For nine NSU student-athletes, it will be the first time that they will face Fort Hays State. 
• Within the NCAA Central Region, the MIAA is the only one playing at the moment of the three conferences.  Both the Northeastern Sun Intercollegiate Conference and Great American Conference will not start play until Jan. 2021.  
• The MIAA Coaches voted the RiverHawks to finish in 13th this season. 

NSU individual player notes are on page one of the game notes.

NSU's last five against Fort Hays State
2/22/20    L, 80-87 (A)
1/09/20    W, 76-70 (H)
2/23/19    W, 72-62 (H)
1/10/19    L, 65-69 (A)
2/15/18    L, 74-81 (A)

The Series with Fort Hays State

• Both teams have won the home game in the last two seasons of the series. 
• The RiverHawks have played three straight close games at Fort Hays State with results inside a seven-point spread.  However, NSU has dropped seven straight in the series at Fort Hays State.  
• An interesting note is in the first meeting on Nov. 14, 1981, at Fort Hays, NSU beat the Tigers in their 'Big Cheese Classic.'
• Head Coach Ja Havens has not faced the Tigers as a head coach.

About the Tigers

• Outscored Newman 13-7 in overtime to pick up their first MIAA win of the season.
• Opened the year 0-3 in the MIAA.  Despite the early woes at a glance, the three losses were inside of four points, with two of them being within two points. 
• Made national headlines for their exhibition win at Kansas State.  The game did count for the Wildcats, and it was the first non-Division I team to defeat a major conference team on the road since 2000 when Texas A&M-Corpus Christi topped Texas A&M.
• The Tigers have two starting returners from the 2019-20 season: Jared Vitztum and Nyjee Wright.  Vitztum is averaging a double-double with 21 points and 11 rebounds through four games this season.   Vitztum is the incumbent MIAA men's basketball Athlete of the Week.
• Roster features one player from Oklahoma in Traejon Davis, who is from Oklahoma City.

Looking Back

• Trey Sampson led the RiverHawks with 22 points on 9-for-12 shooting against (RV) Missouri Western.
• Northeastern State's defense gave up over 100 points for the first time since Jan. 3, 2019 (vs. Northwest Missouri [105])
• NSU was out-rebounded by 19, with the Griffons out-scoring them by 19 on second-chance points. 
• Brad Davis had half of NSU's three-pointers with two against Missouri Western.  The RiverHawks as a team was 4-for-19 at the arc.
• Daniel Dotson was for 4-for-5 and matched his career-best with 15 points to lead the NSU bench.