Hutchinson CC Sports Information

Coming off back-to-back victories to close the first semester, the Hutchinson Community College men's basketball team returns from its holiday break to open the second half of the 2022-23 season with a road trip to face the Northwest Tech Mavericks on Wednesday.

Playing for the first time in 23 days, the 10-5 Blue Dragons will tip off against the Mavericks at 8:30 p.m. CT (7:30 p.m. MT) at the Max Jones Fieldhouse in Goodland. The Blue Dragon Sports Network will provide audio on Blue Dragon flagship station KHUT-FM (102.9) and sister stations KWBW-AM/FM (1450/98.5) beginning around 8:15 p.m. CT. Northwest Tech will provide a pay-per-view stream on the Northwest Tech web site.

The Blue Dragons (10-5) start the second half of the season tied for eighth place in the Jayhawk Conference at 4-5. The Dragons are tied with Seward County - Hutchinson's opponent Saturday in the Sports Arena. The Blue Dragons trail first-place Dodge City by 3.5 games.

A 113-112 victory over now-No. 8 Dodge City on December 10 and a 96-81 victory two days later over Colby is hoping to be the spark that re-ignites a Blue Dragon team that started the season 7-0 and was ranked as high as No. 4 in the national rankings.

Before the consecutive wins over Dodge City and Colby, the Dragons went through a stretch of one win in six games.

The Blue Dragons remain second in the nation in scoring at 104.1 points per game and redshirt freshman guard Aaron Franklin is tied for fourth in the nation in individual scoring at 24.1 points per game. The Blue Dragons also have knocked down 169 3-pointers this season, which is fourth-most in the NJCAA this season.

Northwest Tech (7-6) is tied for 10th in the KJCCC standings, tied with Cowley entering the second half of the season with a 3-5 league record. The Mavericks earned an 88-80 victory over Colby on December 3, but has since lost at Garden City (94-67) and Seward County (74-71).

Northwest Tech has a new head coach in Jay Bradley.

Tech point guard Taiden Conner is the 10th leading scorer in the KJCCC this season at 16.2 points per game. He is also fourth in the league in steals with 32.

Wednesday's game features the Nos. 1 and 2 teams in the nation in steals. The Blue Dragons are No. 1 in the country with 15.7 steals per game. Northwest Tech is second in the NJCAA with 13.8 steals per contest.