MANHATTAN, Kan. — Jared Vitztum had 16 factors and 11 rebounds, and Division II Fort Hays State shocked Kansas State 81-68 on Tuesday evening with out its two veteran basketball coaches.
Kaleb Hammeke added 15 factors, seven rebounds, 5 assists and 4 steals for Fort Hays State, which performed the sport as an exhibition and with out coach Mark Johnson, who examined constructive for COVID-19, and affiliate head coach Jeremy Brown, who’s in quarantine as a detailed contact.
Behind second-year assistant Todd Johnston, 29, the Tigers by no means trailed and led by 21, 71-50, after Hemmeke hit a 3-pointer with 7:07 to play.
“This was very, very disappointing and unhappy for our program,” Ok-State coach Bruce Weber stated.
In accordance with the Elias Sports activities Bureau, Fort Hays State — a college of 15,908 college students in Hays, Kansas — grew to become the primary non-Division I program to beat a major-conference workforce on the street since Texas A&M Corpus Christi topped Texas Tech in Lubbock on Dec. 18, 2000.
The sport got here on the 83rd anniversary of the first-ever assembly between the Tigers and Wildcats. Fort Hays State received that 1936 sport 47-25, and the Tigers received once more in 1938. The subsequent three regular-season contests have been received by Kansas State in 1946, 1947 and 2009.
Mike McGuirl led Kansas State (1-4) with 22 factors on 7-of-9 taking pictures, together with 4 3-pointers, however his teammates went 0-15 behind the arc and 14 of 15 total. The Wildcats additionally have been outrebounded 34-26 and outscored within the paint 36-30.
Fort Hays’ lead went from seven to 13 factors within the second half, then a 9-0 run on the midpoint made it 68-49 with 9:03 to go.
Fort Hays has 9 20-win seasons and 7 journeys to the NCAA Division II event in Johnson’s 19 seasons. The Tigers misplaced their first three video games this season by a complete of eight factors.
The Related Press contributed to this report.
