Basketball Game Preview: Emporia Spartans vs. Washburn Rural Blues

Emporia is 2-8 against Washburn Rural since February of 2019 but they'll have a chance to close the gap a little bit on Tuesday. The Emporia Spartans will host the Washburn Rural Blues.

Last Friday, Emporia had to suffer through a 66-25 loss at the hands of Hayden. While losing is never fun, the Spartans can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Kansas basketball rankings (they are ranked 208th, while the Wildcats are ranked 12th).

Meanwhile, Washburn Rural waltzed into their match on Friday with four straight wins... but they left with five. They blew past the Bluejays 71-13. The Blues have made a habit of sweeping their opponents off the court, having now won eight games by 21 points or more this season.

Washburn Rural's victory bumped their record up to 11-3-2. As for Emporia, their loss dropped their record down to 4-11-2.

Emporia was able to grind out a solid win over Washburn Rural in their previous matchup back in February of 2024, winning 39-31. Will Emporia repeat their success, or does Washburn Rural have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.