'Roos To Host Central Arkansas At Swinney On Saturday Night
12/18/2009 9:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
THE SETTING
After a week-long break for finals, the UMKC men's basketball team returns home to Kansas City to host Central Arkansas on Saturday night. The game between the 'Roos and Bears will be held at the Swinney Recreation Center beginning at 7:05 p.m.
ON THE AIR
Radio: 1140/1160 AM (Steven Davis - p-b-p; Steven St. John - color)
Television: None
Web: Roo Vision (UMKCKangaroos.com)
Live Stats: www.UMKCKangaroos.com
LAST TIME OUT
UMKC improved to 5-4 on the season with a 102-87 road win at Houston Baptist on Dec. 12 in Houston. The 'Roos shot lights out from the floor, finishing with season-highs in field goal percentage, three-point field goal percentage and free throw percentage in the contest as they reached the 100-point mark for just the second time in the Matt Brown era. Additionally, a total of six UMKC players reached double digits in the win with Jay Couisnard pacing the squad with 24 points on 6-of-10 shooting.
THE COACHES
Head Coach Matt Brown is in his third season with the UMKC men's basketball program, where he has compiled an 23-49 overall record and has coached three players to all-Summit League recognition. Former forward Dane Brumagin was a second team all-league honoree and Reggie Hamilton was an all-newcomer team selection in 2007-08, while Brumagin earned an honorable mention all-league nod in 2008-09. Last season, Brown guided the 'Roos to a pair of wins over Missouri Valley Conference foes Wichita State and Bradley. It was just the third time in school history for the team to beat two MVC teams in the same season.
Rand Chappell is in his seventh season as the head coach of the Central Arkansas men's basketball program, where he has compiled a 100-88 overall record. Before going to UCA, Chappell spent five seasons at Henderson State University, where he led his squad to five NCAA Division II appearances and three NCAA Regional Finals.
SCOUTING CENTRAL ARKANSAS
The Bears enter Saturday's contest on a four-game winning streak that has evened its record at 5-5 on the year. During the streak, the squad posted victories over Cal State Fullerton (69-49), Southern (79-63), at UT-Martin (81-71) and Harris-Stowe State (72-55).
Four Bear players average in double figures on the year with Chris Poellnitz leading the team with a 15.7 average. Mike Pouncy (12.2), Tadre Sheppard (11.9) and Jared Rehmel (11.3) are also in double digits. Sheppard is shooting .587 from the floor, while pulling down a team-high 8.1 boards per contest.
UCA is shooting .411 from the floor, .270 from long range and .632 from the charity stripe. The squad is +0.8 on the glass, but it has 47 more turnovers than assists.
UCA GAME NOTES
• The Bears are eligible to win the regular season divisional title but cannot advance to the Southland Tournament until 2010-11 when their NCAA Division I transition is complete.
• Guard Mike Pouncy, who is UCA's second leading scorer at 12.2 points per game, has not played since Nov. 28 at Oakland. Pouncy re-injured his foot that he broke last season and will be held out until at least January.
• UCA is 1-3 in true road games this season, as it picked up its first win at UT-Martin on Dec. 12.
• The Bears are 0-2 against The Summit League this season, falling at home against Western Illinois (56-46) and at Oakland (83-75).
• UCA forward Tadre Sheppard was named the Southland Conference Player of the Week on Dec. 14 after posting a double-double with 21 points and 16 boards in the Bears' 81-71 win at UT-Martin. He followed it up with his second straight double-double, finishing with 23 points and 16 boards in the 72-55 win over Harris-Stowe State.
• UCA's most famous alum is former Chicago Bulls' great Scottie Pippen.
• The Bears were picked to finish sixth in the East Division in the Southland Conference by both the league coaches and SIDs.
THE SERIES
Saturday's game will be the third meeting between UMKC and UCA with the two squads splitting the previous two match-ups. The 'Roos won the first ever meeting on Dec. 16, 2006, by the score of 80-68 in Kansas City. The Bears then won a 64-57 decision on their home court on Dec. 29, 2007.
UMKC VS. THE SOUTHLAND
The 'Roos are 4-6 all-time against the current members of the Southland Conference. The squad's four wins have come over UCA, Nicholls State, UT-Arlington and Texas A&M-Corpus Christi.
QUICK HITTERS
• Sophomore Trey McKinney-Jones is leading The Summit League in field goal percentage this season. The guard has connected on 27-of-44 attempts for a 61.4 shooting clip.
• Alex Bazzell opened his collegiate career by playing 108 minutes before committing his first turnover. Bazzell now has a 4.3-to-1 assist-to-turnover ratio (26-6).
• The 87 points scored by Houston Baptist were the most by a UMKC opponent this season.
• The 'Roos are in the midst of a stretch of playing four of five games on the road.
• UMKC shot .533 (8-15) from long range at HBU. Last season, the squad didn't shoot 50 percent in any of the team's 31 games.
• UMKC picked up its third road win of the season when it scored the 102-98 victory at Houston Baptist. The three wins match the 2008-09 road win total.
• The 'Roos scored a season-high 52 points in the first half at HBU and they followed it up with 50 points over the second 20 minutes. The two totals are the top-two scoring outputs for the team in a half this season.
• Jay Couisnard (24 points) and Alex Bazzell (10 points) both scored career-highs in the win at HBU.
• UMKC's +12 margin on the boards (38-26) against Houston Baptist was the largest for the team this season.
• UMKC tied a season-high with eight three-pointers at Houston Baptist. In the previous two games, the squad made seven treys and it made a total of 10 in the previous three contests.
• Junior Bakari Lewis grabbed a career-high seven boards against the Shockers. He is the only player not named Spencer Johnson or LaTreze Mushatt to lead the team in rebounding this season.
• UMKC is a perfect 3-0 on the year when it has four or more players finish in double figures.
• The 'Roos are shooting .453 from the floor and .317 from long range at home and .457 from the field and .350 from long range on the road.
• The 'Roos have forced 151 turnovers in nine games, while committing 111 TOs. This includes just four turnovers in the road win at North Dakota.
• Junior Spencer Johnson has made 32 consecutive starts and has started 39 of the last 40 contests.
OFFENSIVE EXTRAVAGANZA
The Kangaroos finished with season-highs in field goal percentage (.571), three-point field goal percentage (.533) and free throw percentage (.809) in the road win at Houston Baptist. The squad also tied a season-high with eight three-pointers in the victory, which helped the squad score 102 points.
The 102 point output is the 15th highest point total in school history and it is the second time in the Matt Brown era that the squad has reached the century mark.
SIX'S COMPANY
All five UMKC starters and a total of six 'Roo players finished in double digits in leading the team to a road win at Houston Baptist. It was the first time since Dec. 30, 2003 in the 93-52 blowout win over Kansas State that the squad had six players reach double figures.
'ROOS TIE SCHOOL RECORD
UMKC tied a school record with 38 free throw makes in the road win at Houston Baptist. The squad connected on 38-of-47 attempts, which translated into a season-high .809 free throw percentage. The 38 makes tied the school record that was set on Jan. 4, 1992 against Wisconsin-Milwaukee.
STEADY TREZ
Sophomore LaTreze Mushatt has provided the 'Roos with a steady scoring option this season. The forward has reached double figures in four straight games and in 7-of-9 contests on the year. In the road win at Centenary on Dec. 5, the Michigan native tallied his first career double-double, as he finished with 17 points and 10 boards. Mushatt is the first and only 'Roo player to tally a double-double this season.
Mushatt is averaging 13.0 points, while shooting .485 from the floor. He is also leading the team with 6.3 rebounds per game and is second on the squad with 20 assists.
TMJ STEPPING UP
After reaching double figures just once in the first five games, sophomore Trey McKinney-Jones has scored in double digits in 3-of-the-last-4 contests for the 'Roos.
The Wisconsin native had a career-night in the road win at Centenary on Dec. 5, as he made 8-of-9 field goal attempts en route to a career-high 17 points. The eight field goals are also a career-best, while the .889 field goal percentage is a team high this season.
During the four-game stretch, McKinney-Jones is averaging 12.3 points per game, while shooting nearly 70 percent (.696) from the floor and 60 percent (3-5) from long range.
BK-LUTCH
Junior Bakari Lewis was clutch when it mattered most in the 84-83 road victory at Centenary on Dec. 5. The guard scored 10 of his team-high 18 points over the final four minutes of the contest. This included seven straight points over the final 52 seconds, which included the game-winner with 3.3 seconds remaining to lead the 'Roos back from a 10-point deficit for the victory.
The 18-point out in Shreveport kick started a strong three-game stretch for Lewis, as he's reached double digits in all three contests. He is averaging 15.0 points on .407 (11-27) shooting and .500 (5-10) from long range in the three games.
COOZY SCORES BIG IN RETURN TO HOUSTON
With 200 friends and family in attendance, junior Jay Couisnard scored a career and UMKC season-high 24 points in the road win at Houston Baptist. The forward made 6-of-10 shot attempts and 10-of-13 free throws en route to his second 20 point game of the season.
Couisnard has been the team's top offensive weapon this season, as he's scored in double digits in eight of the team's nine games and he's paced the team in scoring on six occasions. The forward is tops on team with a 14.3 average, while shooting 41.9 percent from the field.
