Game #6
Northeastern State (1-4 MIAA) at Nebraska Kearney (1-5 MIAA)
Sunday, December 20 at 3 p.m. | Kearney, Neb. - Health and Sports Center

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

Opening Tip 

• After beating a then ranked #21 Missouri Southern team on the road, the RiverHawks are looking to halt a three-game skid.  The Lopers also enter Sunday's contest, dropping their last three in a row.
• Brad Davis saw the Lopers once last season and had 12 points, his best outing in the last ten games.  Daniel Dotson is averaging seven points off the bench in two appearances against the Lopers. 
• Sunday is the final scheduled game for the RiverHawks until Dec. 31, where they will host Northwest Missouri; that game is make up from Nov. 18, which would have been NSU's season opener. 
• NSU is looking for a starting combination and has gone with a different group in all five games this season.
• One of two MIAA games on Sunday afternoon with Rogers State playing at Fort Hays State.
• For eight NSU student-athletes, it will be the first time that they will face Nebraska Kearney. 
• 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 Nebraska Kearney
2/20/20      W, 75-64 (A)
1/11/20     L, 79-83 OT (H)
2/21/19      L, 75-82 (H)
1/12/19      W, 70-61 (A)
2/17/18     L, 84-93 (A)

The Series with Nebraska Kearney

• Northeastern State has beaten the Lopers in their last two visits in Kearney.   In Tahlequah, the RiverHawks have lost the previous six meetings. 
• Neither team has blown the other out in the last 11 meetings, with each contest being decided within single digits.
• Northeastern State is one of three teams who have an active streak of beating UNK on their home floor.  Missouri Southern and Rogers State join NSU with active streaks. 
• The Lopers met NSU in the 2003 Elite Eight, with Northeastern State winning that contest 94-75.   
• Ja Havens faced the Lopers once as head coach one season ago while at East Central.  The Tigers would win that contest in Shawnee, 86-78. 

About the Lopers

• Following a 66-60 loss to Rogers State on Friday evening, the Lopers are 1-5 to start the season for the first time since 1991. They have not gone 1-6 to start the season since the 1948-49 season, where they went 1-8.
• The Lopers lone win was edging Fort Hays State 84-80 in Kearney.  UNK's last three losses have come within seven points. 
• Putting up points has been a struggle for the Lopers, and they are last in the MIAA, scoring just 64.8 points a game, five less than the next lowest school.  Northeastern State ranks last in the MIAA, allowing 86 points a game. 
• Defensively UNK is ranked fourth in the MIAA, allowing 70.7 points a game.  However, teams are shooting 47.9-percent against them, which is second to last in the MIAA. 
• Led in scoring by Jake Walker, who averages 17 points a night.  Walker missed the first two games of the season and scored 13 points on Friday against Rogers State.

Looking Back

• Troy Locke scored a career-high 21 points off the bench at Fort Hays State after missing the last three games.
• Trey Sampson recorded NSU's first double-double of the season with 12 points and ten rebounds. 
• A three-minute cold spell for the RiverHawks late allowed enough of a gap for Fort Hays State to pull away.
• Early missed free-throws came back to bite NSU after going 6-for-15 at the line in the first half.
• The RiverHawks out-rebounded the Tigers by six.