HUTCH MEN BATTLE RED DEVILS ON WEDNESDAY

Hutchinson CC Sports Information

The Hutchinson Community College men's basketball team goes for a seventh-straight victory on Wednesday when the No. 14-ranked Blue Dragons head to play the Allen Red Devils in Iola.

The Blue Dragons and Red Devils will play at 5 p.m. on Wednesday at the Allen Gym. The game was moved up three hours because of impending wintery weather that's supposed to start Wednesday evening.

The game will be broadcast live on Blue Dragon flagship station KHUT-FM (102.9) and sister stations KWBW-AM/FM (1450/98.5) with Glen Grunwald (play-by-play) and Daren Dunn (analysis) calling the action at 4:50 p.m. The game will be videostreamed on the Blue Dragon Sports Network at 4:50 p.m.

Hutchinson's six-game winning streak has put the Blue Dragons right back in the thick of the Jayhawk Conference title chase. The Blue Dragons, Barton and Coffeyville are all tied for first place with 19-4 record. Last Wednesday's 85-72 win over Barton gives the Dragons the head-to-head tiebreaker with the Cougars. Hutchinson and Coffeyville have split games this season. Barton has a win over Coffeyville this season. Those two teams play again on Saturday in Great Bend.

On Wednesday, Coffeyville plays host to Butler and Barton is at Pratt. Hutchinson closes out with Independence at home on Saturday and at Dodge City on Monday.

The Dragons have had a tremendous 1-2 scoring punch during the six-game winning streak. Sophomores Devonte Bandoo and J.J. Rhymes have averaged 19.3 and 18.0 points per game, respectively, during the winning streak. Bandoo is hitting 51.5 percent overall and 52.2 percent from 3-point range. Freshman James Rojas is third in scoring during the streak at 13.5 points.

Hutchinson will be going for the season sweep over Allen on Wednesday after a 103-75 victory over the Red Devils on January 6 at the Sports Arena.

The Blue Dragons shot 52.6 percent overall and got a combined 56 points from Rhymes (31 points) and Bandoo (25 points). Bandoo hit five 3-pointers in that game. The Dragons limited Allen to 32.5 percent shooting, but Red Devil Tevin Townsend had 20 points on 4 of 7 3-point shooting.