BY CHRISTIAN PHILLIPS
PHOTOS BY FRANCOIS POTGIEER
Lawrence, Kansas — The Fort Hays State men’s basketball traveled to Lawrence for an exhibition game on Thursday against the Kansas Jayhawks. The Tigers lost 86 – 56 against KU at Allen FieldHouse.
The Jayhawks came into this exhibition game with an overall record of 8-0 against Fort Hays State University.
Right when Fort Hays State made it a game, the Jayhawks capitalized on turnovers and bad decisions by the FHSU Tigers. Failure to get back on defense in the second half setup Ochai Agabaji for back-to-back three-pointers for KU, which extended the lead to double digits. Agbaji finished with 21 points including 3-9 from beyond the arc.
A 14-2 KU run mid-way through the 2nd half laid to rest any hope that remained for the Tigers and winning their first contest against the Kansas Jayhawks stalled. The double-digit lead of 16 points with 11 minutes left, felt insurmountable for the talent and size that Fort Hays State had available. The disparity in second-chance points proved cruicial, with KU outscoring FHSU 28-3 in that category.
On the brighter side, Fort Hays State opened the second half with a stellar three-point shooting performance on back-to-back-to-back shots from Nyjee Wright, Calvin Harrington, and Jared Vitztumand propelling them into a 9-0 run pulling within two, 36-34. Fort Hays State went on to finish the game 8-25 from three, at 32%.
Coach Mark Johnson for the Fort Hays State Tigers, who is entering his 19th season at the university, is having to replace key players for the 2019-2020 season. For instance, Brady Werth’s paint presence last season kept the Tigers in many games, so it was crucial for FHSU to establish a rhythm early down in the low block. Werth is no longer with the team due to graduation, so potential talent in Jake Hutchings, Vitzum and Bjarni Johnson had to take over the load that Werth left behind.
“[It’s] so hard to score against their length,” Johnson said, when asked about what he expected from this Kansas team on both sides of the ball.
The Tigers were outrebounded 20 -10 on the offensive side and 27-26 on defense, which lead to why the Tigers struggled to defend against the much more lengthy KU team.
Fort Hays State fans can anticipate a breakout season from the senior guard, Devin Davis. Davis averaged a little over eight points a game last season, but that stat line should increase with elevated playing time due to the absence of graduated guard, Marcus Cooper.
Davis was quiet for a majority of the second half, only scoring a total of two points. Davis finished the game with 8 points, 0-2 from behind the arc, and 2-4 from the free-throw line.
Davis said KU’s size was a huge hurdle for them to overcome.
“[I was] surprised that we forced the number three team in the country to call a timeout,” he said.
The Tigers couldn’t take advantage of the deep cycling from the bench Bill Self’s Jayhawks used for the entirety of the game. Kansas imposed their will on offense by utilizing their size against the much smaller Fort Hays State team.
FHSU opens its regular season on November 8th at 5:30 p.m. versus Arkansas Tech in Russellville, Arkansas.
Stay tuned to TMN for additional coverage from tonight’s game.