Kangaroos Gear Up To Face Florida Atlantic On Saturday
11/20/2008 5:00:00 PM | Men's Basketball
The Setting
The UMKC men's basketball team will head south to the Sunshine State for its next five games beginning with a Saturday night match-up at Florida Atlantic. The Kangaroos and Owls will meet at the FAU Arena in Boca Raton, Fla., beginning at 6 p.m. (CST).
On The Air
Saturday's game will be aired on 1480 AM with the “Voice of the Kangaroos” Steven Davis calling the play-by-play with Nick McCabe serving as the color commentator. Davis is the son of long-time Kansas and Royals play-by-play announcer Bob Davis, while McCabe is the Director of Operations at 810 AM WHB.
Live Stats
Fans can follow the statistics live on www.fausports.com.
Last Game
The Kangaroos held off Wichita State to pick up the 66-63 road victory on Wednesday night at the Charles Koch Arena. UMKC shot 50 percent from the floor and had four players finish in double digits in the contest. The Kangaroos trailed by as many as nine points in the first half before an 11-0 run put the ?Roos up two at 25-23. In the second half, UMKC built its advantage to eight points on a pair of occasions before WSU staged a comeback. The Shockers climbed to within one with 14 seconds left, but Dane Brumagin grabbed a rebound on a missed free throw before being fouled. He then made a pair of pressure attempts from the charity stripe to give UMKC the three-point win.
Game Notes
- UMKC shot 80 percent from the charity stripe, which included 8-of-9 in the second half in the upset of Wichita State.
- UMKC got 21 points from its bench on Wednesday night.
- The Kangaroos shot a season-low 16 three-pointers, but it finished with a season-high .500 field goal percentage.
Scouting Florida Atlantic
The Owls enter Saturday's game with a 2-1 overall record after beating Santa Clara, 65-61, on Tuesday night in a neutral site game in Tucson, Ariz. Three Owl players finished in double figures with reserve Shavar Richardson leading the way with 17 points and six rebounds. FAU opened the year with a home win over Monmouth (72-69) before dropping a 75-62 game at Arizona on Nov. 17.
Guard Paul Graham III, who is one of four Owl players in double digits, is leading the squad with 17.3 points per game. He is shooting .486 (17-35) from the floor and .533 (8-15) from long range on the season. Graham enters the game needing just two points to reach the 1,000-point mark for his career. Forward Chris Watson, meanwhile, is leading FAU on the glass with 7.0 rebounds per game.
FAU Game Notes
- The Owls return three senior starters, including projected Sun Belt “Player of the Year” Carlos Monroe.
- FAU is 33-7 when playing at the FAU Arena since the 2005-06 season.
- The Owls were picked to finish fourth in the Sun Belt's East Division as voted upon by the league's coaches. Middle Tennessee State is the projected favorite to win the league title in 2008-09.
Moore Returns To Boca Raton
The Kangaroos will know the FAU personnel inside-and-out on Saturday, as former Owl assistant Wendell Moore is now a member of the UMKC coaching staff. Moore joined Coach Brown's staff in June after serving in the same position under Rex Walters in Boca Raton from 2006-08.
More FAU Ties To UMKC
The Owls have another tie to UMKC in their athletics department in Associate Athletics Director for External Relations Terry Mohajir. Mohajir served in a similar role at UMKC from 1997-2004.
A Rare Early Road Win
The Kangaroos bucked a two-year trend when it picked up an early season road victory at Wichita State on Wednesday. Last season, UMKC dropped its first eight games before winning at South Dakota State on Jan. 17. In 2006-07, the Kangaroos dropped their first 15 road games before winning at Western Illinois in their second to last away game on the year.
Road Win Vs. The Valley
UMKC's three-point win at Wichita State was the school's first victory over the Shockers in Wichita. It was also the Kangaroos' first road win against a Missouri Valley Conference school.
The victory was also the largest crowd (10,282) that UMKC has won in front of since the squad topped Oral Roberts in front of 10,331 fans at the Mabee Center during the 2004-05 season.
A Busy Trip To The Sunshine State
The Kangaroos will make the 1,400-mile trek and 10-day trip to the Sunshine State, where they will play their next five contests. UMKC will play four games over a five day stretch beginning with FAU on Saturday. The squad will then play Bradley, Richmond and Florida Gulf Coast in Fort Myers, Fla., as a part of the O'Reilly Auto Parts CBE Classic. UMKC rounds out the trip against Florida at Amway Arena, the home of the NBA's Orlando Magic.
Two ?Roos Return To Florida
Freshman Femi Akinpetide and sophomore Bakari Lewis will return to their old stomping grounds in the state of Florida this week. Akinpetide prepped at the Monteverde Academy, in Monteverde, Fla., which is located in a suburb of Orlando. Lewis, meanwhile, played prep ball at the IMG Prep Academy in Bradenton, Fla.
Brumagin Closing In On 1,000 Points
Senior Dane Brumagin enters Saturday's game needing just 14 points to become just the ninth player in UMKC history to reach the 1,000-point plateau. The Montgomery City, has scored 984 points in Kangaroo Blue and Gold.
Hamilton Is 3-For-3
Sophomore Reggie Hamilton has scored in double figures in each of the first three games for the Kangaroos. In the season opener, the Illinois native notched his fourth career 20-point game in his 22-point scoring effort against North Dakota. He followed it up with 13 points at Kansas before finishing with 11 in the win at Wichita State.
Hamilton, who has scored in double figures in 25-of-34 career games, is leading the team with a 15.3 scoring average. He is shooting .438 (14-32) from the floor and .533 (8-15) from three-point range.
Pressure Packed Free Throws
The Kangaroos had the right player going to the free throw line when they were clinging to a one point lead with eight seconds remaining at Wichita State. Senior Dane Brumagin, the UMKC career leader in free throw percentage at 85.8 percent, confidently drained both of his attempts in front of a raucous 10,282 fans in attendance.
Brumagin Reaches Double Digits For 41st Time
Senior Dane Brumagin, who was tabbed as a Preseason First Team all-Summit League selection, reached double figure for the 41st time in his career at Wichita State on Wednesday night. The Montgomery City, Mo., native finished with 12 points in the contest, but no two points were bigger than the two free throws he hit in front of 10,000 plus screaming fans in the closing seconds.
Brumagin has scored in double figures in all three games this season, and he is second on the team with 12.3 points per contest.
Balanced Scoring Attack Propels UMKC
UMKC had a season-high four players finish Wednesday's game in double figures and a total of six players finished with eight or more points in the contest. Freshmen Latreze Mushatt and Dustin Dibble provided the team a spark off the bench as both players posted career-highs. Mushatt scored 13 points on 6-of-10 shooting, while Dibble finished with eight points on a 3-of-4 night from the field.
