Kansas State Upset by Division II Fort Hays State 81-68

Division II Fort Hays State earned its first win of the season Tuesday—over 2019 Big 12 regular-season champion Kansas State.

Per a statement from the school, Kansas State was originally scheduled to play Butler on Saturday in the Big 12/Big East battle, but that game was canceled because of COVID-19 issues with Butler. In its place, a game between Kansas State and Milwaukee originally set for Tuesday was moved to Friday, and Kansas State scheduled Fort Hays for Tuesday night.

The Wildcats had won just once heading into Tuesday's game, with a Nov. 30 victory over UM Kansas City coming amid losses to Drake, Colorado and UNLV. Fort Hays was 0-3, with losses to Division II teams Washburn, Emporia State and Nebraska-Kearney.

Rick Peterson Jr. of the Hays Daily News reported that FHSU played without head coach Mark Johnson and associate head coach Jeremy Brown because of COVID-19 protocols, so assistant coach Todd Johnston was the lead force on the bench for the Tigers.

The two teams last met in 2009, which was the first time they had played each other during the regular season since four games between 1936 and 1947. They played exhibition games in 2011, 2015 and 2017.

As a team, Fort Hayes managed to shoot 55.2 percent from the field and 41.7 percent from three compared to the Wildcats, who hit 44.0 percent of their field goals and just 19.0 percent on three-point attempts (four-of-21).

Fort Hays had six players score in double digits, led by senior forward Jared Vitztum, who posted 16 points and added 11 rebounds. Redshirt freshman guard Kaleb Hammeke added 15 points, seven rebounds and five assists, and senior guard Alvin Thompson scored 14 points with five rebounds.

The Wildcats looked almost solely to senior Mike McGuirl, who posted 22 points and two rebounds, while DaJuan Gordon added 11 points, six rebounds and two assists. Selton Miguel scored 10 points off the bench.

FHSU will look for its first win of the year against a Division II opponent on Saturday against Newman.