DRAGONS LOOK TO EVEN SCORE WITH COWLEY

Hutchinson CC Sports Information

The last time the Hutchinson Community College men's basketball team met the Cowley Tigers, the Blue Dragons were alone in first place in the Jayhawk Conference.

The Blue Dragons were upset by the Tigers 81-74 on January 3 in Arkansas City, which started a roller-coaster month for the Blue Dragons and a freefall from the top of the Jayhawk.

Hutchinson and Cowley meet for the second time at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday at the Hutchinson Sports Arena. 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 7:20 p.m. with Glen Grunwald (play-by-play) and Rusty Hilst (analysis) calling the action. The game will also be videostreamed live on the Blue Dragon Sports Network at 7:20 p.m.

Saturday's game is the seventh-annual Blue Dragon Pink-Out night. At halftime, there will be a special presentation to the Cancer Council of Reno County. Pink-Out shirts will be available for purchase on Saturday.

The Dragons went 5-3 in January and fell as many as two games behind Barton for first place in the Jayhawk. Now after Wednesday's 85-72 win over the Cougars in Great Bend, the Blue Dragons are in a three-way tie for the KJCCC lead with Barton and Coffeyville with four games to play in the regular season.

The Tigers are in fourth place in the Jayhawk four games behind the lead pack. But the Tigers have been a central figure in the 2018 title race. In addition to defeating the Blue Dragons on January 3, the Tigers nailed 18 3-pointers in a 100-92 victory over Barton on January 31 when the Cougars had that two-game lead.

Cowley bedeviled the Blue Dragons on January 3 with a potent inside-outside punch.

Inside, Darnell Cowart – the cousin of Hutchinson's J.J. Rhymes – had 22 points and 15 rebounds. Outside Jeremiah Starks and Patrick Cairns led the way as Cowley nailed 10 3-pointers.

Rhymes had 25 points to lead Hutchinson in the first meeting with Cowley, but on 7 of 22 shooting. Devonte Bandoo, Hutch's second-leading scorer, to two points. Since that game, Bandoo has averages 19.5 points per game, shooting better than 56 percent from 3-point range.

Three of the Top 10 scorers in the Jayhawk will be featured on Saturday. Rhymes still leads the league at 20.1 points per game, while Bandoo is now fourth at 16.0 points per game. Cowart is sixth in scoring at 15.2 points and seventh in rebounding at 7.3 rebounds per game.