Hutchinson CC Sports Information

It's time to get back to work for the Hutchinson Community College men's basketball team.

After 24 days off with the holiday break, the No. 14-ranked Blue Dragons return to the court and the resumption of the Jayhawk Conference season on Saturday when Hutchinson takes on the Allen Red Devils at 4 p.m. in the ACC Gym.

Game time on Saturday is at 4 p.m. at the ACC Gym in Iola. 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 Rusty Hilst (play-by-play) and Daren Dunn (analysis) calling the action beginning at 3:50 p.m. The game will be videostreamed on the Blue Dragon Sports Network at 3:50 p.m.

The Blue Dragons have had all that time to think about their last game on December 12 in Concordia, a 72-64 loss to Cloud County where the Thunderbirds scored the final eight points of the game in the last 52 seconds. That loss sent Hutchinson to 12-2 overall and just 3-2 in the Jayhawk West. The Blue Dragons trail front-runner Seward County by a game heading into the second half of the 2018-19 season.

The Red Devils enter play on Saturday with an 11-3 overall record and a 3-2 mark in the Jayhawk East. Allen has been off for 26 days. The Devils snapped a two-game losing streak on December 10, winning at Dodge City 90-76.

One year ago, Allen entered its home game with Hutchinson – last season the league played a double round-robin compared to this season where the West and East divisions play each other only once – with a 7-20 record. The Red Devils upset Hutchinson 87-86.

That victory has sparked the Red Devils as Allen head coach Andy Shaw's team has gone 15-4 since that point last season.

Hutchinson is just 2-2 away from the Sports Arena in true road games – the Dragons are 4-0 on neutral courts and 6-0 at home.

In Hutch's three Jayhawk Conference road games, the Blue Dragons are being outscored 77-0-72.3. They shot only 39.0 percent overall and 63 percent from the foul line in those three games. The Dragons are averaging just shy of 19 turnovers per game. In the Dragons' two home conference games, Hutch is outscoring its opponents 80.5-53.5 and is shooting 42.1 percent overall with only 14 turnovers per game.

Overall the Blue Dragons are second in the KJCCC offensively at 91.6 points per game and are third in field-goal shooting 48.1 percent. Defensively, the Blue Dragons rank fifth in the league in scoring defense at 71.1 points per game. Hutch is second in field-goal defense at 37.2 percent.

Sophomore forward James Rojas continues to lead the Blue Dragons in scoring at 16.8 points per game, which is sixth in the league.

D.J. Mitchell is at 14.9 points per game, shooting 40.0 percent from 3-point range. Chris Giles is at 10.6 points per game and 43.6 percent from 3-point range. Rheaquone Taylor is averaging 10.0 points and a team-high 6.8 rebounds per game.

The Red Devils are averaging 81.2 points offensively, shooting 41.6 percent overall and 34.4 percent from 3-point range, which is the seventh-best mark in the Jayhawk. The Devils are the third-best free-throw shooting team in the league at 71.2 percent and are second in getting to the foul line with 30.2 charity attempts per game. The Devils also average the third-fewest turnovers in the KJCCC at 12.9 miscues per game.

Four players average in double figures for the Devils led by sophomore Perry Carroll at 15.4 points per game. Carroll averages 2.1 made 3-pointers per game and shoots 37.5 percent from distance.

Malik Hardman averaged 11.5 points and 8.8 rebounds per game. Darius Love averages 11.0 points and Trez Hankins averages 10.8 points per game.