Kangaroos Return Home To Face Eastern Washington On Monday Night
12/1/2007 3:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
The Setting
The UMKC men's basketball team will put its perfect 3-0 home record on the line on Monday night against Eastern Washington at Municipal Auditorium. The game will tip-off at 8:05 p.m. following the UMKC women's game against Texas State that starts at 5:05 p.m. Both contests will be broadcast live on Metro Sports.
On The Tube
Monday's game will be broadcast live on Metro Sports with Neil Harwell calling the play-by-play and Doug Elstun handling the color commentary.
On The Air
All UMKC men's basketball games can be heard on Sports Radio 810 WHB AM or 97.3 FM. Fans can also hear the games online at www.810whb.com. “The Voice of the Kangaroos” Danny Clinkscale will call the play-by-play action for UMKC for the seventh straight season. Former Kangaroo Michael Watson will serve as the color commentator for the broadcast.
On The Web
Fans can watch all UMKC home games live on SummitTV. Fans can access SummitTV through www.umkckangaroos.com or www.thesummitleague.org. More than 275 men's and women's games will be featured as part of the $49.95 annual subscription package.
Live Stats
Fans can follow the action as it happens via live stats at www.umkckangaroos.com.
A Look At Eastern Washington
The Eagles enter Monday's contest with a 2-6 overall record after falling 57-66 to Santa Clara on Thursday night. EWU's first victory of the season came in the third game against UC-Riverside (59-51), and it won at Alaska Anchorage (64-62) on Nov. 24 to finish seventh in the Great Alaska Shootout.
Forward Kellen Williams leads the Eagles in both scoring (9.9) and rebounding (7.5) this season. Adris DeLeon and Trey Gross, meanwhile, average 9.9 and 9.5 points, respectively, for the squad.
As a team, EWU is scoring just 56.4 points per contest, while shooting .375 from the floor. The squad is also -6.4 on the boards, while averaging 13.8 turnovers per game.
EWU Game Facts
- EWU is the second Big Sky Conference opponent that UMKC will face this season. The Kangaroos fell at Northern Arizona, 77-62, on Nov. 17 in Flagstaff.
- Eastern Washington finished in seventh place at the Great Alaska Shootout in 2007. UMKC, meanwhile, was the seventh place finisher at the Shootout in 2006.
- The Eagles return just one starter and three letterwinners from last season's squad from a team that finished 15-14 overall last season. EWU was picked to finish eighth in the Big Sky Conference by the coaches and ninth by the media this season.
- Former Eagle Rodney Stuckey was the 15th overall pick in the 2007 NBA Draft by the Detroit Pistons.
EWU vs. UMKC - The Series
Monday's game is the first in the all-time series between the two schools.
Last Contest
The Kangaroos dropped a 73-61 decision at UTSA on Thursday night in San Antonio. Trailing by five points late in the first half, the Roadrunners used a 8-2 run to take a 28-27 lead into the break. They continued the spurt by scoring 10-of-12 points to start the second half. UMKC got to within four points, but UTSA wouldn't allow them to get any closer. The Roadrunners extended their lead to a game-high 18 points with four minutes remaining before winning the game by 12.
Notes From The UTSA Game
- UMKC won the battle on the glass for the third straight game, 33-30.
- The Kangaroos made a season-low five three pointers and had a season-low 12 long ball attempts. The squad entered the game averaging nearly 10 makes and 27 attempts per contest.
- UMKC's bench was outscored 29-11 in the game.
- The Kangaroos finished with 18 turnovers to 13 assists, while UTSA had 18 assists to just nine turnovers.
- Forward/center Brian Gettinger missed the UTSA game with a stomach virus.
Defending Their Home Court
UMKC has posted a perfect 3-0 record at Municipal Auditorium this season. The team is averaging 82.0 points per game at the venue, while shooting .475 (77-162) from the floor and .423 (33-78) from three point range. Dating back to last season, the Kangaroos have won six straight games at Municipal.
Brumagin Leads Offensive Charge
Junior Dane Brumagin has led the Kangaroos in scoring in each of the last three games. The forward posted back-to-back 20-point games, as he finished with 22 points against Arkansas Tech and 21 against Florida Atlantic. He then followed it up with 17 points on 5-of-8 shooting against UTSA.
Brumagin is leading UMKC with a 17.0 scoring average, which ranks ninth in the league. He's scored in double digits in 6-of-7 games on the year and in 20 games in his career. Among the 20 double figures scoring games are seven games with 20 or more points.
Steady Stephens
Senior Brent Stephens is the only UMKC player to score in double figures in each of the first seven games this season. The forward ranks second on the squad with a 16.1 average (10th in the Summit League), and he's shooting .462 from the floor and .424 from long range. Against Washburn on Nov. 13, Stephens scored a career-high 28 points, which included an 11-of-11 night from the free throw line.
Sharing The Ball
The Kangaroos rank third in The Summit League this season with 106 assists (15.14 p/game) in seven games. The team finished with a season-high 20 helpers in the victory over Washburn on Nov. 13.
Blackwell Distributes
Senior Tim Blackwell is second on the team with 22 assists this season, and he's committed just 11 turnovers for the Kangaroos despite leading the team with 31.8 minutes of court time each game. His 2.0 assist-to-turnover ratio ranks third in the league.
Helping Hand
Freshman Reggie Hamilton posted a career-high eight assists on Nov. 26 in the victory over Florida Atlantic. It was his third game of his career where he's finished with five or more helpers. The guard is leading the Kangaroos with 30 assists (4.3 p/game), which ranks third in The Summit League this season.
Block-R-Us
Senior Jeremiah Hartsock ranks third in The Summit League with 10 blocked shots in seven games this season. The forward finished with a career-high four swats against Arkansas Tech on Nov. 24. As a team, UMKC ranks fourth in the conference with 20 blocks on the year.
Hail To The Three
The Kangaroos are averaging 25.0 three point attempts per game this season. The team is connecting on 9.1 of those chances, while shooting .366 from the behind the three-point arch. The team's 64 three point makes are the most in The Summit League, and the 175 three point attempts are also tops in the conference.
UMKC finished with a season-high 13 long balls against Florida Atlantic on Nov. 26. It was the third time this season that the squad has connected on 10 or more makes in a game.
