PITTSBURG — The Pittsburg State University men's basketball team will close out the 2022-23 season schedule with a pair of road games this week. The Gorillas will travel to Emporia, Kan., Thursday (Feb. 23) to face Emporia State University and then journey to St. Joseph, Mo., Saturday (Feb. 25) to battle Missouri Western State University.

Pitt State will take on the Hornets at 7:30 p.m. (CST) Thursday at W.L. White Auditorium in downtown Emporia. The Gorillas and Griffons will clash at 3:30 p.m. Saturday at the MWSU Fieldhouse.

The Pitt State action can be heard on ESPN 100.7 FM radio, online at espn1007.com/ or through the ESPN 100.7 or KSHQ app for phones or mobile devices. 

The Records
Pitt State has compiled a 7-19 overall record and a 4-16 mark in MIAA play.

The Gorillas posted a 93-85 win over Newman University in their last action last Saturday (Feb.18) at John Lance Arena/Whetzel Court.

Emporia State is 20-6 overall and 14-6 in MIAA play. The Hornets have won three straight games, including a 72-66 road win against Lincoln University at Jefferson City, Mo., last Saturday (Feb. 18).

Western is 11-14 overall (7-12 MIAA) heading into a Wednesday (Feb. 22) home match-up against Newman University. The Griffons also have a Thursday (Feb. 23) home make-up game against the University of Nebraska-Kearney.

Head Coach Jeff Boschee
Jeff Boschee is in his first year as head basketball coach at Pittsburg State.

Prior to accepting the Pitt State position, Boschee served as head coach at MIAA rival Missouri Southern State University the past eight seasons. He compiled a 151-86 (.637) overall record leading the Lions.

Boschee directed MSSU to four 20-win seasons and three consecutive trips to the NCAA Division II National Tournament between the 2017-18 and the 2019-20 campaigns. He was selected the 2017-18 MIAA Coach of the Year and his 2018-19 squad reached the NCAA Sweet 16 while posting a 25-8 record.

As a collegiate player, Boschee was a four-year starter at the University of Kansas under former KU coach Roy Williams from the 1998-99 to 2001-02 seasons. While at KU he helped the Jayhawks win a Big 12 Conference Championship and a Big 12 Conference Tournament title, and he played in the 2002 NCAA Final Four.

Series History
This  will be the 202nd all-time meeting between Pitt State and ESU in a series that dates back to the 1920 season. The Hornets hold a slight 103-98 edge in the series, including a 61-40 advantage in games played at Emporia. ESU posted a 79-63 win over the Gorillas on Jan. 12 in Pittsburg.

Pitt State and Western will meet for the 84th time Saturday. The Griffons are 44-39 against the Gorillas overall. Western pulled out a hard-fought, 66-65, win over Pitt State in Pittsburg on Dec. 1.

Scouting the Gorillas
The Gorillas have two players scoring in double figures early in the season: junior guard/forward Deshaun English II (14.8 ppg) and senior guard Quentin Hardict Jr. (13.5 ppg).

English has averaged nearly a double-double on the season. The Pittsburg native has contributed 14.8 points, 9.6 rebounds and 1.3 blocked shots per game.

English enjoyed a record setting game vs. Lincoln on Nov. 28, scoring 17 points and tying a 56-year-old school record with 23 rebounds. He has posted double-doubles in 11 of 25 games played on the year.

English currently ranks second in the MIAA in rebounding, third in the league in minutes played (34.5) and third in the conference in blocked shots. He's currently 10th in the league in scoring.

English has 239 rebounds on the season. He needs 29 rebounds in the Gorillas final two games to break into Pitt State's top 10 list for single season rebounds.

English joined the Gorillas from Butler Community College. He was a two-time All-Jayhawk Conference performer for the Grizzlies, earning third-team All-Conference honors as a sophomore in 2021-22 and honorable mention All-Conference recognition as a freshman in 2019-20. He played at NCAA Division I University of Northern Colorado during the 2020-21 season.

The 2018 Kansas Class 5A Player of the Year, English averaged 20 points, eight rebounds and four assists per game his senior year at Pittsburg High School.

Hardrict is averaging 13.5 points, 3.8 rebounds and 4.8  assists per game. He scored a team-leading 23 points in the Gorillas win over Sioux Falls on Nov. 13 and he posted a double-double with 21 points and 10 assists vs. UCO (Jan. 26). Hardrict currently leads the MIAA in assists. He currently ranks 10th all-time at Pitt State with 229 assists in 65 career games played.

Hardrict averaged 8.8 points, 2.4 rebounds and 2.3 assists per game during his junior campaign. He started 14 of 17 games played, shooting .500 from the field on the year (43-86).

Hardrict (6-0, 165) contributed 10.8 points, 2.7 rebounds and 3.0 assists in 2020-21. He shot 45.0 percent from the field (85-189). He came to Pitt State from North Iowa Area Community College.

The Minneapolis, Minn., native was a two-time All-Iowa Community College Athletic Conference selection. Hardrict averaged 16.9 points, 3.6 rebounds and 5.6 assists per game as a sophomore in 2019-20. 

He contributed 15.4 points, 2.9 rebounds and 5.4 assists per game during his freshman season.

Junior guard Albert McBride is averaging 8.7 points and 2.5 rebounds per game. He scored a season high 18 points vs. HSSU.

McBride joined the Gorillas from Coffeyville Community College. He averaged 13.2 points, 3.3 rebounds and 2.8 assists for the Red Ravens last year.

McBride (6-3, 190) also played at the University of North Carolina-Asheville in 2019-20. He was a first-team All-District performer at Houston's Manvel High School as a senior in 2018-19 (18.2 ppg).

Redshirt sophomore guard R.J. Forney Jr. has contributed 8.4 points and 2.7 rebounds on the season. He has made a team-leading 62 3-point field goals (62-147, .422). Forney scored a career best 17 points and hit five 3-pointers vs. MWSU (Dec. 1) and vs. MSSU (Feb. 11).  He currently ranks seventh in the MIAA in 3-point field goals (2.4 pg).

Forney (6-3, 195) saw action in 17 games, including one start, a year ago. He has played in 39 career games, scored 103 points (2.6 ppg) and made 27 3-point field goals.

Forney started eight games and averaged 3.9 points per game as a true freshman in 2020-21. He came to Pitt State from Tulsa's Union High School, where he averaged 10.5 points, 5.3 rebounds and 4.0 assists his senior year.

Junior guard/forward Jeramy Shaw has added 6.9 points and 2.7 rebounds to the Gorillas stat ledger. He scored a season best 23 points vs. Neb.-Kearney (Feb. 18).

Shaw transferred to Pitt State from the University of Detroit Mercy. He played one season for the Titans, after earning second-team NJCAA All-America honors at North Central Missouri College in 2020-21. He averaged 16.4 points, 6.2 rebounds and 3.2 assists while shooting .559 from the field during his All-America campaign.

Shaw was a two-time Missouri Class 3A All-District performer at St. Louis' Valley Park High School.

Senior forward Calvin Poulina also is contributing 6.2 points and 4.1 rebounds on the season. He posted season highs of 14 points and eight rebounds vs. UCO (Dec. 11).

Poulina, an international player, transferred to Pitt State from Bethune-Cookman University, where he averaged 3.2 points and 2.0 rebounds per game in 2021-22.

Poulina (6-8, 240) contributed 6.0 points and 2.0 rebounds per game in 2019-20 at Eastern Florida State College. The native of Leiden, Netherlands played his freshman season at Binghampton University in 2018-19.

Freshman guard Landen Hughlett joined the Gorillas active roster on Jan. 12 and he's appeared in 11 games on the season, averaging 3.9 points per game. He scored a season high 19 points vs. NU (Jan. 28).

Hughlett came to Pitt State from Kimball (Texas) High School, where the standout prep guard helped the Knights to a 30-8 record his senior season.

Freshman center Tane Prictor made his season debut vs. HSSU and has played in 19 games on the season, averaging 3.7 points, 2.9 rebounds and 0.8 blocked shots per game. He posted his first career double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds vs. MSSU (Feb. 11).

Prictor (6-11, 275) signed with Pitt State out of Mountain View (Ore.) High School where he was an honorable mention Oregon Class 6A All-State performer as a senior for the Cougars. He averaged 16 points, eight rebounds and 2.1 blocked shots per game, leading the state of Oregon in blocked shots.

Redshirt junior center Ethan Holloway is contributing 2.3 points and 1.7 rebounds per game to date. Holloway has converted 54.2 percent (13-24) of his shots on the season.

Holloway (6-8, 220) returned for his fifth year in the Pitt State program.

The Iola, Kan., native has played in 44 career games, averaging 2.0 points and 1.3 rebounds per game and shooting .507 from the field (34-67).

He was a two-time Kansas Class 4A All-State performer and a four-year All-SEK League honoree at Iola High School.

As a team, Pitt State is shooting .436 from the field (621-1423), .705 from the free throw line (284-403) and averaging 67.9 points per game.

Pitt State Probable Starters
  F   3  Deshaun English II, 6-6, 200, Jr., Pittsburg, Kan.
  C  12  Tane Prictor, 6-11, 275, Fr., Bend, Ore.
  G   5  Quentin Hardrict Jr., 6-0, 165, Sr., Minneapolis, Minn.
  G   4  Jeramy Shaw, 6-4, 205, Jr., St. Louis, Mo.
  G  10  R.J. Forney Jr., 6-3, 195, R-So., Tulsa, Okla.