Men's Hoops To Host Oakland At Municipal In Summit League Opener
12/3/2008 11:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
The Setting
The UMKC men's basketball team returns to Kansas City for its Summit League opener on Thursday night against Oakland. The Kangaroos and Golden Grizzlies will square off at Municipal Auditorium beginning at 7:05 p.m. in a game that will be televised by Metro Sports.
On The Tube
Thursday's game will be broadcast on Metro Sports in Kansas City. Neil Harwell will call the play-by-play, while Doug Elstun will serve as the color commentator.
On The Air
Thursday's game will be aired on 810 AM WHB with the “Voice of the Kangaroos” Steven Davis calling the play-by-play and Steven St. John handling the color commentator. Davis is the son of long-time Kansas and Royals play-by-play announcer Bob Davis, while St. John is the host of the “Border Patrol” on the station.
Last Game
The Kangaroos dropped an 86-65 decision to No. 17/18 Florida on Sunday afternoon in Orlando. The Gators took control of the game with an 18-0 run over the final four minutes of the first half and the first 2:30 of the second half to build a double-digit lead. UMKC, however, led Florida, 32-29 when the run began.
Game Notes
- The Kangaroos forced Florida into 22 turnovers in the game. It was the third game this season where UMKC has forced its opposition into committing 20 or more turnovers.
- Femi Akinpetide made his first career start against Florida in Orlando. The freshman got the starting nod in his homecoming, as he prepped at the Monteverde Academy in nearby Monteverde, Fla.
Scouting Oakland
The Golden Grizzlies enter Thursday's contest with a 3-5 overall record and an 0-1 mark in Summit League play. OU dropped its league-opener at Southern Utah on Tuesday night, 82-66. Freshman Drew Maynard led the squad with 17 points on a 7-of-11 night from the field.
Three Oakland players are averaging in double figures on the season with guard Johnathon Jones pacing the team with 16.5 points per game. The guard, who was a preseason first team all-league selection, is also averaging 4.4 assists per contest. Senior Erik Kangas is second on the team with a 13.7 per game average, while Maynard is adding 10.1 points a night. Sophomore Keith Benson, meanwhile, is pulling down a team-best 5.6 rebounds per game.
The Grizzlies have averaged 68.2 points on .429 shooting from the field and .317 from three-point range. The squad is minus three on the boards (36.8-33.8), and it has committed 34 more turnovers than assists on the year.
OU Game Notes
- Thursday's game at UMKC rounds out a nine-game stretch of away games for the Grizzlies. The stretch included contests against teams from four of the power conferences in Oregon, Syracuse, Iowa and Kansas State. The Grizzlies defeated the Ducks in Eugene, 82-79, on Nov. 17.
- Freshman center Ilija Milutinovic played prep ball at the Milestone Christian Academy in Kansas City last season.
- Preseason first team all-Summit League selection Derick Nelson has missed the first nine games of the regular season due to injury. Nelson, who was OU's team leader in both scoring and rebounding last season, broke his foot during the team's preseason.
UMKC In League Openers
The Kangaroos are 8-6 all-time in league openers. The squad has won three of its last four conference openers. Last season, UMKC dropped a 114-105 overtime decision at Oakland on Dec. 6 to open Summit League play.
Sweet Home Municipal
The Kangaroos will make their Municipal Auditorium debut on Thursday night against Oakland. UMKC has been on the road for the past seven games after opening the season on Nov. 14 at the Swinney Recreation Center on the UMKC campus. The Kangaroos are 153-102 at Municipal in school history.
UMKC Matches 2007-08 Road Win Total
With the four-point win at Florida Gulf Coast, the Kangaroos matched their 2007-08 road win total. Last season, the squad finished with a 2-13 record in games away from Kansas City.
The Kangaroos picked up their first road victory at Wichita State on Nov. 19. The win was the program's first win in Wichita and the first road victory against a Missouri Valley Conference opponent. The win over WSU was also the largest crowd (10,282) that UMKC has won in front of since the squad topped Oral Roberts in from of 10,331 fans at the Mabee Center during the 2004-05 season.
Two Straight Over The MVC
The Kangaroos picked up their second straight win over a Missouri Valley Conference opponent on Nov. 24, when it topped Bradley in Fort Myers, Fla. It was just the third time in school history that the Kangaroos have defeated more than one MVC school in the same season. UMKC topped Creighton and Wichita State during the 1993-94 season to accomplish the feat for the first time, and in 2001-02, the squad beat Missouri State and Northern Iowa in back-to-back games.
Hamilton Shines In Florida
Sophomore Reggie Hamilton had a superb five-game stretch during UMKC's trip to the state of Florida. The guard hit the 20-point mark in four of the games, and he averaged 19.4 points on .493 (34-69) shooting from the floor and .483 (14-29) from long range. Hamilton also averaged 5.6 assists and 2.6 steals for the Kangaroos.
The Harvey, Ill., native matched a career-high with his 23-point showing against Richmond, when he made a career-best five three-pointers. Hamilton also tied a career-high with nine field goals in the 11-point win over Bradley. The guard flirted with a triple-double in the victory over Florida Gulf Coast, when he finished with 22 points, seven assists and six rebounds.
Hamilton was the first Kangaroo player since Michael Watson to score 20 or more points in four straight games. Watson had two different six-game streaks during the 2003-04 season.
On the year, Hamilton is leading the team and is fourth in The Summit League with a 17.9 scoring average. The guard also ranks second in the league in steals (1.9), third in assists (4.5), fourth in three-point field goal percentage (.500), fifth in three-point field goals (2.8) and ninth in field goal percentage (.475).
Brumagin Joins The 1,000-Point Club
Senior Dane Brumagin became just the ninth player in UMKC history to join the 1,000-point club on Nov. 24 against Bradley. The forward hit the mark on a fast break dunk at the 1:46 mark of the first half.
The Montgomery City, Mo., native now has 1,066 career points in UMKC Blue and Gold, which is just five points behind his former teammate Tim Blackwell (1,071) for eighth place on the all-time list.
Reggie Halfway To Milestone
Sophomore Reggie Hamilton scored his 500th career point when he finished with 10 points in the game against nationally-ranked Florida on Nov. 30. The guard now has 505 points in Blue and Gold, which puts him in 29th place in the record books.
I Know You.....
Freshmen Latreze Mushatt and Dustin Dibble will face some familiar faces on Thursday when UMKC faces Oakland in its Summit League opener. Mushatt will square off against OU's Johnathon Jones for the first time as a collegiate player. As a sophomore in high school in 2006, Mushatt led his Arthur Hill squad to a state title win over Jones' Okemos squad. Dibble, meanwhile, will meet up with some former teammates in the Grizzlies' Matt Samuels, Blake Cushingberry and Drew Maynard. All four players played on the Michigan Roadrunners AAU team.
Distributing The Basketball
Sophomore Reggie Hamilton has finished with five or more assists in four of the last five games for the Kangaroos. During the five-game stretch, the guard had a total of 28 assists or 5.6 per game. On the year, the guard has 36 assists (4.5 p/game), which ranks third in The Summit League.
Brumagin Scores UMKC Season-High
Senior Dane Brumagin, who was tabbed as a Preseason First Team all-Summit League selection, scored a UMKC season-high 26 points in the loss to Richmond on Nov. 25. The forward connected on 8-of-16 field goals and 8-of-8 free throws in the game.
Brumagin, who is second on the team with a 14.9 scoring average, has reached double figures in 7-of-8 games this season. The only game where the forward missed double digits was at Florida Atlantic, when he sat out the second half of the contest due to injury.
Brumagin has scored in double digits in 45 games in his Kangaroo career, which includes 17 games with 20 or more points.
Mushatt Crashes The Boards
Freshman Latreze Mushatt has finished with eight rebounds in the past two games for the Kangaroos, and he's led the team on the glass in a total of four games this season. In his second career game, the Michigan native grabbed 10 rebounds at No. 24/23 Kansas on Nov. 16. The 10 rebounds are a season-high for UMKC, and it is just the third time in the Matt Brown era for a player to finish in double digits on the glass. Last season it took 17 games before the team had a 10-rebound player, and the squad had just two 10-board games on the year (Dane Brumagin - 10 vs. SUU, James Humphrey - 10 at Centenary).
Mushatt Rebounds AND Scores
Freshman Latreze Mushatt has not only been UMKC's top rebounder this season (5.6 p/game), but the forward has developed into the No. 3 scorer for the team. The Saginaw, Mich., native has scored in double figures in five of the past six games for UMKC. The forward scored a career-best 14 points in the 11-point win over Bradley on Nov. 24, and he matched his career-high two games later in the win over Florida Gulf Coast.
Closing Out On The 3's
UMKC has been contesting the three-point shots through the early portion of the schedule. The Kangaroos are second in the league in allowing its opposition to shoot 29 percent (58-176) from three-point range. UMKC has held its opponents under 30 percent from three-point land in a total of five games on the year.
Steals Away
Sophomore Reggie Hamilton tied a career-high with five steals against No. 17/18 Florida on Nov. 30. The five steals are tied for the third most in a single game in school history.
Trey Pulls Down Eight Boards
Freshman Trey McKinney-Jones pulled down eight rebounds - all defensive - in the 12-point win over Bradley on Nov. 24. The figure was the second highest rebounding total for the Kangaroos this season. The guard also contributed seven points in the contest after making all three of his field goal attempts.
Switch-A-Roo
Head Coach Matt Brown has used five different starting line-ups over the first eight games this season. Last season, UMKC used a total of 17 different starting line-ups on the year.
Returners Carry The Load
Through eight games, the four returning players on the UMKC roster have been carrying the scoring load. Dane Brumagin, Reggie Hamilton, Spencer Johnson and James Humphrey have accounted for 70 percent of the team's scoring. The four players have scored 363 of the team's 522 points on the season. In the season opener against North Dakota, the group scored 50 of the squad's 56 points.
The Youth Movement
UMKC has a total of 10 underclassmen on its 2008-09 roster, which includes five freshmen and five sophomores. The five freshmen are tied for the most on a roster in school history, while the 10 underclassmen are also tied for the most all-time. This year's squad also has the second most true freshmen on its roster in school history.
The 2005-06 squad also had five freshmen (all true freshmen), while the 1999-00 squad also had a total of 10 freshmen and sophomores. One of the members of the 05-06 class was none other than current senior Dane Brumagin.
Freshmen Starters
The Kangaroo have had more than one freshman considered as a starter in the end of the year statistics just once in school history. In 2000-01, Javin Tindall and Michael Watson both started 29-of-30 games for UMKC.
Raining Threes
UMKC has made at least one three-point basket in 253 consecutive regular season or tournament games dating back to January 22, 2000.
Brumagin In The Career Record Books
Free Throw Percentage - 1st - .861 (179-208)
40-point scoring games - t3rd - 1
30-point scoring games - t4th - 3
Three-Point Field Goals Made - 5th - 185
Three-Point Field Goal Percentage - 6th - .393 (185-471)
Field Goals Attempted - 6th - 859
Three-Point Field Goal Attempts - 7th - 471
20-point scoring games - 7th - 17
Points - 9th - 1066
Field Goals Made - 10th - 351
Double Figure Scoring Games - 10th - 45
Rebounds - 14th - 328
