BLUE DRAGON MEN'S BASKETBALL |
Atrium ClassicWhen: Friday/Saturday, November 8-9 |
Hutchinson CC Sports Information
For only the second time in 30 years, the Hutchinson Community College men's basketball team opens the home schedule after the season has started.
This weekend, the No. 10-ranked Blue Dragons will play host to the Atrium Classic. The four-team field for the Atrium Classic has a combined record of 7-0 entering play on Friday.
The 2-0 Blue Dragons take on Murray State and Labette. Barton is the fourth team in the Classic. The combined record of the teams in the Atrium Classic is 7-1.
The Hutchinson games will be broadcast live on Blue Dragon flagship station KHUT-FM (102.9) and on sister stations KWBW-AM/FM (1450/98.5) at 7:20 p.m. each night. Glen Grunwald (play-by-play) and Dan Naccarato (color) will have the call on Friday. Daren Dun will have play-by-play duties on Saturday. Barton Sports Information will provide video of both Cougar games at 3:30 p.m.
The Blue Dragons earned two wins over Eastern Oklahoma State (93-74) and Midland (73-53) at the Pizza Hut Classic in Liberal.
Five players scored in double figures for Hutchinson against Eastern Oklahoma State led by the career-best 20 points by sophomore Tyler Brown, who hit 6 of 7 3-pointers.
Then against Midland on Saturday, freshman Josh Baker stepped into the starting role and scored 25 points.
One big improvement the Blue Dragons had between games 1 and 2 was turnovers. The Dragons committed 29 turnovers against Eastern Oklahoma State on Friday, but cut that number to 13 against Midland on Saturday.
Hutchinson shot better than 50 percent in both games
Hutchinson played both Murray State and Labette last season on a neutral court in El Dorado.
The Blue Dragons rolled by Murray State 88-55 last season, but had to rally in the second half to defeat Labette 105-98 in overtime. The Cardinals hit 12 3-pointers. The Dragons countered with six players scoring in double figures, including three with 21 or more points.
Hutchinson is 10-3 all-time against Murray State with a winning streak of nine games. Against Labette, the Blue Dragons are 32-14 all-time. Labette's last win came in 2014 against Hutchinson in the season opener.
Ranger started off the season with wins over Premier Prep and Arizona Western. The Aggies suffered an 84-66 loss to No. 2 Ranger on Tuesday night. Labette comes in 2-0 with wins over Metropolitan Community College and a 77-73 win over Allen.
The Blue Dragons are 76-12 in home openers.