Men's Hoops Travels To South Dakota State On Thursday Night
1/15/2008 11:15:00 AM | Men's Basketball
The Setting
The UMKC men's basketball team will head to Brookings, S.D., in search of its first road victory of the season on Thursday night against South Dakota State. The Kangaroos and Jackrabbits will square off at 7 p.m. at Frost Arena in a game that will be broadcast live on Metro Sports in Kansas City.
On The Tube
Thursday's game will be broadcast live on Metro Sports. Neil Harwell will call the play-by-play, while Doug Elstun will serve as the color commentator.
On The Air
All UMKC men's basketball games can be heard on Sports Radio 810 WHB AM. 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.
On The Web
Fans can watch all UMKC home games and all league contests 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.gojacks.com.
A Look At South Dakota State
The Jackrabbits enter Thursday's game having lost five of their last six contests on the year to drop their overall record to 6-11 and 1-5 in Summit League play. SDSU picked up its first league win with a 73-60 home win over IPFW on Jan. 5, but the squad dropped its past two road games at Western Illinois (75-52) and IUPUI (72-44) this past weekend.
Three Jackrabbit players are averaging in double figures on the season. Forward Kai Williams is leading the squad in both points (14.7) and rebounds (8.2), while guard Garrett Callahan is averaging 13.4 points and 3.3 assists per game. Forward Ben Beran also adds 11.8 points per game for the Jacks.
South Dakota State is averaging 66.4 points per game on .455 shooting from the floor and .352 shooting from long range. The team is +3.7 on the boards (35.0-31.3), but the team has 55 more turnovers than assists on the season.
SDSU Game Facts
- Scott Nagy is in his 13th season as the head coach at SDSU. At the Division II level, Nagy guided the Jacks to four conference championships and to the NCAA Regional Tournament on eight occasions. His squad also advanced to the Elite Eight in 1997.
- South Dakota State and UMKC have played one common opponent outside of Summit League play. The Jacks topped Northern Iowa, 61-55, on Nov. 23 in Brookings, while the Kangaroos fell in overtime to the Panthers, 64-60, on Dec. 19 in KC.
- The Jackrabbits are 5-3 in games played at Frost Arena this season.
SDSU vs. UMKC - The Series
South Dakota State is 2-1 in three all-time meetings against UMKC. The Kangaroos won the first meeting against the Jackrabbits, 95-85, on Jan. 17, 2005. SDSU, however, has claimed the last two games in the series, including a 79-71 overtime victory over the Kangaroos a season ago.
Last Contest
The Kangaroos picked up their first Summit League victory of the season with a 63-60 win over Southern Utah last Saturday night in Kansas City. In a back-and-forth game that had nine ties and 10 lead changes, UMKC got a key three pointer from Brian Gettinger with 1:45 remaining, and it then held on for the three-point victory.
Notes From The SUU Game
- The Kangaroos dominated the battle on the glass, 35-22. The 22 rebounds allowed are a season-low by a UMKC opponent this season. It was the first time since the Eastern Washington game on Dec. 6 that the team won the battle on the boards.
- UMKC's starters accounted for for 60 of the team's 63 points.
- The Kangaroos committed 20 turnovers in the game, while forcing SUU into 17 TOs in the contest. It was the team's third straight game with 20 or more turnovers.
- UMKC had a pair of players finish with 20 or more points in the contest. It was the first time that has occurred this season, and it is the first time it has happened since Quinton Day and Dee Ayuba each scored more than 20 points against Centenary on Jan. 11, 2007.
More Notables
Brian Gettinger tied a career-high with four assists against SUU... UMKC has shot 40 percent from three-point range in each of the last four games... the Kangaroos are 3-1 when leading at the half... UMKC is 4-1 when it has a higher field goal percentage and when it shoots more free throws... the team is also 6-3 when it has a higher three-point field goal percentage... in league games, UMKC is second in the conference in scoring (74.4)... the squad is also leading the league in free throw percentage (.796) and three point field goals (52).
Nicholls State Transfer Bakari Lewis Joins Program
Nicholls State University transfer Bakari Lewis has joined the UMKC men's basketball program. The 6-1, 175-lb., guard, played in seven games for the Colonels this season, where he averaged 1.9 points. Before going to Nicholls, Lewis attended IMG Prep in Bradenton, Fla., where he averaged 16 points, five rebounds, four assists and two steals. In transferring to UMKC, Lewis is reunited with assistant coach Martin Unger. Unger was the recruiting coordinator at Nicholls when Lewis signed with the Colonels.
UMKC In The National Rankings
In the NCAA statistical rankings that were released on Jan. 13, UMKC ranked ninth in the nation as a team in three point field goals per game (9.6) and 31st in the country in three point field goal percentage (.396; 173-437).
Individually, junior Dane Brumagin ranked 18th in three point percentage at .466 (54-116). He is also tied for 41st in three point makes (3.0).
Still Looking For A Road Win
The Kangaroos head to Frost Arena looking for their first road win of the Matt Brown era on Thursday night in Brookings. UMKC is currently 0-8 on the road this season, and the team has lost 22-of-its-last-23 road contests dating back to the 2006-07 season.
Four Games.....Four Different Starting Line-ups
Head Coach Matt Brown used his fourth straight different starting line-up on Saturday night against Southern Utah. The first year head coach has now used a total of eight different starting fives this season.
Double-Double Dane
It took 18 games, but junior Dane Brumagin recorded UMKC's first double-double of the season on Saturday night against Southern Utah. The forward finished with 21 points on 6-of-13 shooting to go along with a career-high 10 rebounds. The double-double is also the first of Brumagin's career, and it is UMKC's first double-double since Brian Gettinger's 18-point and 10-rebound performance against Oakland on Feb. 15, 2007.
Timmy Goes For 20 Against SUU
Senior Tim Blackwell notched his third 20-point performance of the season against Southern Utah on Saturday night. The guard finished with 20 points on 6-of-11 shooting, which included a 4-of-6 night from three-point land. In the second half, Blackwell ended a seven-minute field goal drought for the Kangaroos with 11 straight points to keep UMKC in the tightly contested game.
The Cameron, Mo., native has scored in double figures in seven games this season and in 37 games in his career. The 20-point game is Blackwell's seventh such game in his Kangaroo career.
Playing The Close Ones
UMKC broke through with its first Summit League victory on Saturday against Southern Utah. Prior to the win, the Kangaroos dropped their first four league games by an average of 7.5 points, but in each of those defeats, the team was well within reach of a victory before ultimately losing. UMKC forced overtime at Oakland, and they were up one at IPFW with seven minutes to play. In their last two league games, UMKC was topping IUPUI by three with 42 seconds remaining, and the team was within a field goal with three minutes to play against Western Illinois.
Double Digit Dane
Junior Dane Brumagin notched his seventh 20-plus scoring game of the season on Saturday night against Southern Utah. The forward finished with 21 points on 6-of-13 shooting to go along with a 7-of-9 mark from the charity stripe.
The Montgomery City, Mo., native has now scored in double figures in 15-of-18 games on the season. The forward has also been the high scorer for the Kangaroos in 10 games.
On the year, Brumagin is leading the team with an 18.3 scoring average, which is sixth in the league. In conference games only, the forward is second in the Summit League with 24.6 points per contest.
Brumagin's most prolific games of the season, and his career, came during a two-game stretch in early December when he scored 75 points in two games. The forward netted 40 points at Oakland on Dec. 6 on 12-of-17 shooting, and he followed it up with 35 points on 14-of-20 shooting at IPFW on Dec. 8. As a result, he was named the Mid-Majority Baller of the Week on Dec. 10.
More Than Just A Scorer
Junior Dane Brumagin has not only been UMKC's most consistent scorer this season, but the forward has also been one of the team's top rebounders. The Montgomery City, Mo., native has led the team on the boards in seven of the last nine games and in a team-best nine contests on the season. His 5.6 rebounds per game are also tops on the team. Brumagin has finished with eight or more rebounds in five games this season, and he grabbed a career-best 10 rebounds against Southern Utah on Jan. 12.
Triple Me Up
The Kangaroos have made 10 or more three pointers in three of the last four games this season. On Jan. 8 at Missouri, UMKC connected on 14 treys, which were the second most for the squad in a game this season. The Kangaroos also tied a season-high with 35 three-point attempts (at Northern Arizona), and it was the fourth game that the squad has attempted 30 or more long balls.
UMKC is averaging 24.2 three point attempts per game this season. The team is connecting on 9.6 of those chances, while shooting .396 from behind the three-point arch.
The team's 173 three point makes and 437 three point attempts are both tops in The Summit League. UMKC has made 10 or more three pointers in eight games this season with a season-high of 16 makes coming on Dec. 6 at Oakland.
Players Mentioned
