Game #20
Rogers State Hillcats (9-10, 9-10 MIAA) at Newman Jets (3-16, 3-16 MIAA)
Saturday, Feb. 20 • 3:30 P.M. Wichita, Kan. • Fugate Gymnasium
Series Record: RSU leads series 11-5 Last Meeting: Jan. 7^th, 2020 RSU 73 NU 56 in Claremore, Okla.
Internet Audio: Newmanjets.com/listen Internet Video: themiaanetwork.com/newman
Up Next: at Lincoln • Thurs. Feb. 25 • 7:30 P.M. • Jefferson City, Mo.

LAST TIME OUT
The Riverhawks would start the game on an 8-2 run to gain the early advantage. Newman would respond cutting the deficit down to one with 14:26 left in the first half. Both teams would then trade baskets for most of the first half with neither team gaining much separation. With 6:44 left in the first half, Newman would gain it's first lead of the contest 28-27.  Northeastern would score the next four points before Newman would tie up the game at 31-31 after a free throw by Tracy Jones with 2:14 left in the first half. Northeastern State would take a four point lead going into halftime.  In the second half, both teams would continue to exchange baskets with one another as we would have 12 ties and 9 lead changes. With a 1:18 left on the clock and the score tied 66-66, David Javorsky would make a huge three point basket to give the Jets the lead 69-66. The Jets would hold the Riverhawks on the following possession. Tracy Jones would get fouled and sent to the free throw line where he would knock down both shots putting the Jets up by five points, 71-66 with 32 seconds left in regulation. The Jets would add a couple more free throws late to seal the deal as Newman would snap its losing streak with a 74-66 comeback win over Northeastern State.

THE COACHES
RJ Allen is in his fourth season as the head coach and tenth on the staff for the Jets. Allen is 3-16, 3-16 in the MIAA in his fourth season at Newman. Last season under coach Allen, the Jets went 9-19 and 3-16 in the MIAA.  Allen has led Newman to a 34-23 overall record and a 21-11 Heartland Conference record over his first two seasons. Allen won Heartland Conference Coach of the Year honors in the 2017-18 season, he was the first coach to win the award in their first season. Prior to Newman Allen spent 5 season as an assistant coach at Concordia University in St. Paul, Minn.

Justin Barkley is in his 11th season as the head coach of the Rogers State Men's Basketball program.  Rogers State hit several milestones during the season, including the highest ranked victory in the NCAA era for the program, as the Hillcats snapped No. 11 Missouri Southern's 26-game winning streak at the Leggett & Platt Athletic Center. The win helped propel the Hillcats to their first-ever NCAA-era top 25 ranking at No. 23 two weeks later. The Hillcats would climb as high as No. 15 before finishing the year at No. 18.  Under Barkley's guidance, the Hillcats finished second in the regular season standings in their first season in the MIAA, often referred to as the toughest league in Division II, behind only No. 1 and defending national champion Northwest Missouri State.
 
ABOUT THE JETS
Newman is 3-16 on the season, 3-16 in the MIAA.  Newman is led in scoring by Redshirt Junior guard Joel Boyce at 14.2 points per game.  Boyce also leads the Jets in rebounding at 7.1 rebounds per game.
 
ABOUT THE HILLCATS
Rogers State is 9-10 on the season, 9-10 in the MIAA. Rogers State is led in scoring by Devin Pullum at 15.3 points per game. Destin Eke also leads the Hillcats in rebounding at 5.8 rebounds per game.

SERIES HISTORY
This will be the 17th all-time meeting between these schools with the Hillcats leading the series 11-5 over the Jets.

LAST TIME VS ROGERS STATE
Early in the first half, Newman was able to get their first and only lead of the game, 6-4. After this point in the first half of the contest, the Hillcats started to knock down shots and pull away from the Jets. RSU would take a 29-18 lead into the intermission.  Newman would come out in the second half and cut the Rogers State lead to just 6 points five minutes into the final frame. An 11-0 run for RSU with just over eleven minutes left, would extend their lead to 17, 45-28. The Jets wouldn't be able to get it any closer than 14 points the rest of the way as RSU would take a 73-56 victory on their home court.

UP NEXT
The Jets will travel to Jefferson City, Missouri to take on Lincoln University on Thursday, Feb. 25^th with tip-off at 7:30 P.M.


LISTEN, WATCH & FOLLOW LIVE
Video streams for all of Newman's regular season contests are available on a pay per view basis on the MIAA Network. Events are available live and is immediately archived for on-demand viewing at the conclusion of the event at www.themiaanetwork.com/newman and on the MIAA Network apps for Amazon Fire TV, Android TV, Apple TV and Roku. Listen along to all of the Newman Jets games on The Jets Audio Network with Blake Cripps on the call at newmanjets.com/listen. You can find all things Newman in the Newman Jets Athletics app available in both the App Store and on Google Play.