By: Paxton Ritchie
CSC Sports Information Director
CHADRON, Neb. – With one win and one last second loss out of the first two games of the Chris Francis era, the Chadron State men's basketball program will take another road trip to Kansas City for two more nonconference tests.
The Eagles will face No. 20 Northwest Missouri State, who won four national titles in a five-year span from 2017-2022 but are currently 0-2 with a brand-new coaching staff, on Thursday at 5 p.m. CT (4 p.m. MT). The following day, Chadron State will take on Ottawa University, an NAIA school in Kansas, at 11:00 a.m. CT (10:00 a.m. MT).
Both matches will take place in the Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City as part of the "Bearcat/Gorilla Classic," hosted by Northwest Missouri State and Pittsburg State.
No video live streams will be available, but Eagle fans can follow along via live stats. The NW Missouri State game will be broadcast on KXCV Northwest Missouri Public Radio.
Looking Back
The Eagles split a season-opening trip to Texas, defeating Texas A&M International 72-68 before losing to Texas A&M Kingsville 73-71 on an overtime buzzer beater.
Chadron State outscored International 11-4 over the final four minutes of game time to pull off a win in the season-opener before battling to an extra period with Kingsville.
In the game against TAMUK, the Eagles tied the score with 15 seconds left in regulation to send it to overtime and with 25 seconds remaining in the extra period before falling on the last shot.
Municipal Auditorium
By Con Marshall
The Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City has a long, storied history. Annually, it hosts the NAIA Men's Basketball National Tournament and has also hosted over 80 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament games, including nine NCAA Final Fours.
CSC Coach Chris Francis is no stranger to the arena. He played in the Municipal Auditorium's 10,700-seat basketball arena twice as a member of the Rogers State basketball teams in 2007-2011 and was the head coach when his University of Science and Arts in Oklahoma team qualified for national tournaments there five times.
His many memories from those contests include one from his senior year in 2011 when he blocked a shot at the buzzer that helped Rogers State upset Texas Wesleyan 66-64. In 2019, as a head coach, his Science and Arts team edged No. 1 ranked Master's University from California 78-75 by sinking a 3-pointer at the buzzer.
After he became Chadron State's head coach late last summer and the Eagles' schedule was incomplete, Francis's familiarity with the Kansas City area helped him line up the games that will be played this week.
As the annual home of the NAIA national tournament, it makes sense that several of the coaches participating in this weekend's classic at the Municipal arena have NAIA connections. Francis and Northwest Missouri's Matt Keeley, who came from Ottawa University in Arizona, are both in their first years as Division II coaches after careers at the NAIA level, while Ottawa (Kansas) is a current NAIA school hoping to return to Municipal for the national tournament this spring.
Ballin' Ballard
Senior guard Trey Ballard was the breakout performer of the season's first weekend for Chadron State.
Ballard scored 15 points twice over CSC's first two games, setting and then immediately matching a CSC career high. In the season-opener against Texas A&M International, Ballard was the team's leading scorer while shooting 6 of 13 from the field with five rebounds, three assists and one steal.
Against Texas A&M Kingsville, Ballard again scored 15 points while hitting 4 of 8 three-point attempts. Ballard also grabbed eight rebounds for another CSC career-high and blocked a shot.
While not in the starting lineup, Ballard will likely be in a prominent sixth-man role for the Eagles this season, as his 30 minutes per game lead the Eagles after the first weekend.
Cleaning The Glass
Chadron State won the rebounding battle in each of its first two games of the season, and by no small margin.
The Eagles nearly doubled up Texas A&M International in rebounds, grabbing 36 to TAMIU's 19 last Friday. Against Texas A&M Kingsville, the Eagles again finished with more boards, grabbing 51 while the hosts snared 42.
Ballard is also the team's leading rebounder with 13, 6.5 per contest. Just behind him are graduate student guard Jalen Thomasand senior guard Zy Wright, who have 12 rebounds each. Junior forward Trey Harris has 10.
In Rotation
Over the opening weekend, a total of 11 players saw the court for Chadron State, with nine of those averaging 16 minutes or more per game.
The starting lineup over the first two games has been the same – guard Jalen Thomas (22.5 minutes per game) and forwards Trey Harris (23.5), Jaylen Davis (16.0), John Jenkins (21.0) and Darrius Miles (24.5).
Starting hasn't necessarily correlated to minutes played, however, as guards Trey Ballard (30 minutes per game) and Zach Smith(28.5) come off the bench to play significant roles and are CSC's leaders in minutes played through the first weekend.
Guard Zy Wright (22 minutes per game) and forward Julio Phipps (17 per game) have also played big roles as reserves.
Opponent Previews
By Con Marshall
No basketball team in the nation has had more success in recent years than Northwest Missouri State. With Ben McCollum as the head coach, the Bearcats won the NCAA Division II national championship in 2017, 2019, 2021 and 2022. However, McCollum resigned last spring to become the head coach at Division I Drake and took several of his players with him.
Northwest Missouri State's new coach is Matt Keeley, who came from the Ottawa University in Arizona and got the job after leading the Spirit to two NAIA Final Fours from 2021-2023. The Bearcats opened their season last weekend during a classic in St. Joseph. Mo., and are 0-2 after losing to Augustana of South Dakota 72-50 and Wayne State of Nebraska 75-64.
It is the first 0-2 start for the Northwest Missouri State program since 1977-78. The 22-point loss to Augustana was the first time since 2010 that the Bearcats had lost a game by that much.
The Bearcats are ranked No. 20 in the nation, down from last season when they finished 2024 ranked No. 4. The Bearcats won the MIAA but lost to eventual national champions Minnesota State-Mankato in the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament.
Through two games, the Bearcats' leading scorer is forward Luke Moustakas, who is averaging 13.5 points per game while hitting 7 of 19 three-point attempts.
As an NAIA team, Ottawa University started playing in October and has a 4-1 record entering their game with the Eagles. The Braves tallied 114 points in one of their early games and won two others by more than 30 points. However, last Tuesday, MIAA school Washburn beat Ottawa 97-57 in an exhibition game.
Ottawa's leader is 6-foot-7 Keith Robinson, an Australian who after five games was shooting 64% from the field and averaging 18.6 points and seven rebounds.