Blue Dragon Sports Information
The Hutchinson Community College men's basketball team goes after a second-straight win over an NJCAA-ranked opponent when the Cowley Tigers come to the Sports Arena on Saturday.
The Blue Dragons (7-4, 2-3 KJCCC) and No. 21-ranked Tigers (8-2, 3-1) will play at 3 p.m. in a Jayhawk Conference battle at the Hutchinson Sports Arena.
The Hutchinson-Barton game will be broadcast live on Blue Dragon flagship station KHUT-FM (102.9) beginning at 2:45 p.m. with Sean Boston (PBP) and Dan Naccarato (color) calling the action. The game will be streamed live exclusively on the Blue Dragon Sports Network beginning at 2:45 p.m.
The Blue Dragons got a huge lift on Wednesday when sophomore Lolo Rudolph's buzzer-beating 3-pointer gave Hutchinson a come-from-behind 58-57 win over No. 15 Barton in Great Bend. The Dragons trailed by as many as 10 points in the second half.
Kyrell Shaw scored 14 of his game-high 18 points in the second half for the Blue Dragons. Bobby Cannon finished with 10 points as Hutchinson avoided a 1-4 start to conference play.
Wednesday's win snapped a seven-game losing streak to Barton.
Entering play on Saturday, the Blue Dragons are averaging 77.6 points per game with Cannon leading individually at 18.3 points and Shaw averaging 17.5 points per game.
Since dropping its KJCCC opener to Dodge City on November 22, Cowley has reeled off wins over Cloud County, Colby and a dominating 96-76 win over No. 10 Coffeyville on Wednesday in Arkansas City. Marcus Smith scored 20 points to lead the Tigers over the Red Ravens. Five other Cowley players scored in double figures as Cowley shot 54.9 percent from the floor with 10 3-point goals.
The Tigers are the fifth-highest scoring team in the KJCCC at 87.3 points per game. Defensively, Cowley ranks third in the KJCCC allowing 70.3 points per game.
Smith is Cowley's leading scorer at 15.1 points per game. Roman Miller averages 14.1 points per game.
The Blue Dragon defense has come to life over the last two games allowing only 55.0 points per game and 33.6 percent shooting.