Hutchinson CC Sports Information
Coming off its most complete game of the season on Wednesday, the Hutchinson Community College men's basketball team looks to continue that trend heading into the Christmas break.
The Blue Dragons (8-5, 3-4 KJCCC) will close the pre-Christmas schedule at 4 p.m. on Saturday in the Hutchinson Sports Arena against the Cloud County Thunderbirds (6-6, 1-5 KJCCC).
The game will be broadcast live on Blue Dragon flagship station KHUT-FM (102.9) and on sister stations KWBW-AM/FM (1450/98.5) beginning at 3:45 p.m. with Sean Boston (PBP) and Dan Naccarato (color) calling the action. The game will be streamed exclusively on the Blue Dragon Sports Network at 3:45 p.m.
After Saturday's contest, the Blue Dragons won't return to action until Saturday, January 3 at Colby and won't return to the Sports Arena until January 7 against Coffeyville.
Hutchinson enters play on Saturday after an impressive 82-66 victory at No. 21 Dodge City on Wednesday.
Sophomore Kyrell Shaw posted his second career double-double with a game-high 20 points and career-high 11 assists. The Dragons shot 48,4 percent, including 54.8 percent in a 47-36 second half against Dodge City.
The Blue Dragon defense has kicked into higher gear over the last four games. After allowing 80-plus points in the three previous games, the Dragons have allowed only 60.2 points over the last four games, holding all four opponents under 70 points.
The last time the Blue Dragons did that was early in the 2019-20 season where Hutchinson held Midland, Murray State, Labette and NEO to a combined 60.5 points per game.
Cloud County comes into Saturday's game on a five-game losing streak, but the largest margin of defeat in any of those games was six points, 95-89 at Cowley on November 25.
The Thunderbirds led No. 21 Coffeyville by 10 points, but wound up dropping a 72-68 decision to the Red Ravens on Wednesday in Concordia. The Thunderbirds had a 68-61 lead with 3:06 remaining, but couldn't hold off the Ravens.
The Blue Dragon defense will get another strong test with Cloud County, which ranks No. 4 in the KJCCC in scoring at 88.3 points per game. They are sixth in overall shooting at 45.3 percent and are the Jayhawk's top rebounding team with 45.3 total boards, 17.1 offensive rebounds and a rebounding margin of plus-17.1.