Now Northwest Missouri State has really made Jordan Fithian mad.
Not only did the Bearcats end Emporia State’s school-record win streak and do so in convincing fashion in last week’s 89-72 victory over the Hornets in White Auditorium — they also forced the ESU forward to bring out the clippers.
And then the razor.
After vowing to keep his mustache and goatee until his team lost, Fithian felt compelled to get rid of the two-month’s growth after last Wednesday’s setback.
Fithian and the Hornets will already get a chance for payback on Wednesday, as they face No. 19 Northwest for the second time in seven days. Tipoff is set for 7:30 p.m. at Bearcat Arena in Maryville, Mo.
“We’ve got a chance to get them back at their home,” Fithian said. “They came in and played a helluva game. They beat us badly and embarrassed us at home.
“We want to come out and show that we can play.”
ESU jumped out to a 16-0 advantage in the first matchup, forcing two Northwest timeouts in the first three minutes.
From there, though, it was all Bearcats. After taking ESU’s opening punch, NWMSU went to work, gaining a 25-24 advantage with eight minutes left in the first half.
“Give the credit to them,” Fithian said. “They took us out of our game.”
The Bearcats weren’t challenged in the second half, hitting 7 of their 8 three-point attempts to keep their lead.
Now, the Hornets just want another shot at them.
“It’s good that we just lost to them,” ESU guard Wes Book said. “We can get back at them already instead of having that month or two off. It’s still really fresh in our minds.”
ESU responded to the loss with an impressive come-from-behind victory on Saturday, winning 76-73 over Fort Hays State.
The Hornets trailed by 13 in the first half before rallying for the victory.
The triumph kept ESU from dropping its second consecutive game.
“It’s easy to lose a game and start the snowball,” ESU guard Donta Watson said. “You see a team like Wichita State — they lose a couple and it starts to snowball. We didn’t want that to happen to us.”
Northwest still leads the conference in total defense, allowing just 58.2 points per game.
The Hornets have lost their last nine games at Bearcat Arena.
On the women’s side, ESU will look to pick up the season sweep over the Bearcats after winning last week’s contest, 89-66.
The Lady Hornets followed that game with a dominating 89-60 victory over Fort Hays State, giving them two solid performances in a row.
“We’re liking this. Hopefully this carries over,” ESU junior Michelle Stueve said. “We’ve got some big games coming up going through Round 2 of the conference.”
With Northwest’s up-tempo style of play, ESU coach Brandon Schneider said his team’s main focus would be to get back defensively and also box out every possession.
Northwest leads the league in rebounding (42.8 per game) and is second in offensive rebounding (14.79 orpg).
ESU has won six consecutive meetings between the two schools.
Comments
We allow registered users to post comments on this Web site. To learn more about our posting policies please read our User Poster Agreement Policy.
Use the comment form below to begin a discussion about this content.