'Roos & Jackrabbits To Square Off At Municipal Auditorium On Thursday Night
1/6/2010 11:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
THE SETTING
The UMKC men's basketball team will look to match its 2008-09 league win total when it hosts South Dakota State on Thursday night at Municipal Auditorium. The game between the 'Roos and Jackrabbits will begin at 7:05 p.m. and be televised live on Metro Sports.
ON THE AIR
Radio: 1140/1160 AM (Steven Davis - p-b-p; Steven St. John - color)
Television: Metro Sports (Neil Harwell - p-b-p; Doug Elstun- color)
Web: Roo Vision (www.UMKCKangaroos.com)
Live Stats: www.UMKCKangaroos.com
LAST TIME OUT
The Kangaroos picked up their second league victory of the season by beating Southern Utah, 53-50, on Saturday night at Municipal Auditorium. Junior Bakari Lewis propelled UMKC to the victory, as the guard drained a three-pointer from the top of the key with 17 seconds remaining to give his squad the win. Overall three 'Roo players - Jay Couisnard, Spencer Johnson and LaTreze Mushatt - finished with 11 points to pace the squad in scoring.
THE COACHES
Head Coach Matt Brown is in his third season with the UMKC men's basketball program, where he has compiled an 26-51 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.
Scott Nagy is in his 15th season as the head coach of the South Dakota State men's basketball program, where he has compiled a 263-170 overall record. Nagy, who is the winningest coach in SDSU history, guided the Jacks through the transition from NCAA Division II to Division I.
SCOUTING SOUTH DAKOTA STATE
After starting the year 2-5, the Jackrabbits have won five of their last eight games to improve their record to 7-8 overall and 3-1 in Summit League play. Last weekend, SDSU edged Oral Roberts, 72-70, before routing Centenary, 89-59, at Frost Arena.
South Dakota State has two players averaging in double digits on the year, but a total of five Jack players score at least 8.7 points per contest. The guard duo of Garrett Callahan and Clint Sargent are pacing the Jacks in scoring, averaging 12.4 and 10.6 points, respectively. Forwards Kai Williams and Anthony Cordova chip in 9.4 and 9.1 points, respectively, while tying for the team lead with 5.1 rebounds per game. Michael Palarca is the squad's top assist man with 45 helpers on the season.
The Jackrabbits are shooting .429 from the floor and .381 from long range en route to 74.2 points per game. Defensively, SDSU is allowing its opposition to shoot .493 from the field and score 74.1 points a contest. The Jacks are +1.1 on the boards and they force their opponents into 14.6 turnovers per game.
SDSU GAME NOTES
• The Jackrabbits are 2-3 in true road games and 2-6 when you include neutral contests. The squad's second road win - a 80-74 triumph at Western Illinois - was the team's first road Summit League victory in school history.
• Guard Garrett Callahan, who started the first 13 games of the season, came off the bench in each of the last two contests for SDSU.
• 16 players have seen action for South Dakota State and nine different players have appeared in the starting line-up.
• SDSU is second in The Summit League in three point field goals (106) and three-point field goal percentage (.381) this season.
THE SERIES
Thursday's meeting will be the eighth in the all-time series between UMKC and South Dakota State with the 'Roos holding the slight 4-3 advantage. UMKC has won three-of-the-last four meetings in the series over SDSU. Last season, the two squad split the two games with the 'Roos winning 69-67 in Kansas City and the Jacks winning 76-66 in Brookings.
'ROO TIDBITS
• Sophomore Trey McKinney-Jones is fourth in The Summit League in field goal percentage at .516 (49-95).He is one of just three guards among the top-10 in the category. Fellow sophomore LaTreze Mushatt ranks eighth in the league with a .489 shooting clip. As a team, the 'Roos have the second best overall mark in the league (.440).
• Junior Spencer Johnson tied a career-high with five steals vs. Southern Utah, while matching a career-high in minutes played (38).
• UMKC defeated Southern Utah despite shooting a season-low .339 (19-56) from the field.
• After committing 46 turnovers in games at SIUE and at Missouri, the 'Roos had just seven TOs in the win over SUU. It was the team's second game with fewer than 10 turnovers this season.
• Freshman Alex Bazzell did not see any game action in the win over Southern Utah. The guard missed the game due to a hamstring injury he sustained at Missouri.
• UMKC forced 20 turnovers in the win over Southern Utah. It is the fifth game this season that the 'Roos have forced at least 20 TOs.
• UMKC is leading the league and rank 42nd in the nation in turnover margin (+3.4). The squad is also third in the league in assist-to-turnover ratio (0.9), fourth in steals (7.4) and sixth in assists (12.2) per game.
• The 'Roos have attempted at least 24 free throws in 6-of-the-last-8 games and the squad has attempted 30 or more from the charity stripe in three of those contests. The squad is 6-0 on the year when attempting more free throws than its opposition.
• The 'Roos have 15 more offensive rebounds than their opponents this season (127-112). Overall, however, UMKC is -1.8 (30.4-32.1) on the glass on the year.
• The 'Roos are shooting .446 from the floor and .333 from long range at home and .435 from the field and .303 from long range on the road.
• In two games at Municipal Auditorium, the 'Roos are shooting .343 from the field and .222 from three-point land.
• Junior Spencer Johnson has made 37 consecutive starts and has started 44 of the last 45 contests.
INYARD LEAVES TEAM
Sophomore guard Patrick Inyard, who joined the team as a walk-on during the 2008-09 season, has left the team due to personal reasons. Inyard, who will not enroll in classes during the second semester, is expected to re-enroll in classes in the fall and rejoin the squad during the 2010-11 season.
'ROOS SURPASS 2008-09 WIN TOTAL
UMKC surpassed its 2008-09 win total when it picked up its eighth victory of the season in the Jan. 2 win over Southern Utah. Additionally, the squad has four road wins and a pair of conference victories thus far in 2009-10. The four road wins surpass last year's total (3), and the team's next Summit League victory will match last year's mark.
BK DOES IT AGAIN
Junior Bakari Lewis is developing a knack for taking and making the big shot, as the guard connected for the game-winner for the second time this season on Jan. 2. Lewis drained a three-pointer from the top of the key with 17 seconds remaining to lift the 'Roos to the 53-50 win over Southern Utah. Prior to making the shot, Lewis was just 2-10 from the floor and 0-4 from long range in the contest.
The Cleveland, Ohio, native had his first late game heroics in the 84-83 road victory at Centenary on Dec. 5 when he 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.
BALANCED SCORING
The 'Roos have five players averaging over 8.8 points per game this season and a total of three players in double figures. UMKC is a perfect 4-0 on the year when it has four or more players finish in double digits.
THE 'ROOS ARE...
• 6-1 when leading at the half.
• 6-0 when scoring at least 70 points.
• 5-0 when out rebounding their opponent.
• 4-0 when opponent scores fewer than 60 points.
• 6-2 when it has fewer turnovers than the opposition.
• 5-2 when it has more steals than their opponent.
CONSISTENT COOZY
Junior Jay Couisnard has been UMKC's most consistent player this season, as the forward has reached double digits in 12 of the team's 14 games and he's been the leading scorer for the squad in eight contests.
The Houston, Texas, native has surpassed the 15-point mark in five games, which includes two 20-point contests. In his return to his hometown on Dec. 12, Couisnard scored a career-high 24 points on 6-of-10 shooting in the win at Houston Baptist. He also knocked down 10-of-13 free throws in the victory.
Couisnard is pacing the team and is 12th in The Summit League with a 13.3 per game average, while shooting .382 from the floor and .359 from long range. He also leads the team in free throw makes (56) and attempts (89).
TMJ STRONG IN DECEMBER
Sophomore Trey McKinney-Jones enjoyed a breakout month in December for the 'Roos. The guard reached double digits in six-of-eight games in the month, and he established two career highs. Overall, the Wisconsin native averaged 13.1 points and 4.4 rebounds on .563 shooting and a .500 clip from long range. He also made 28-of-33 free throws during the eight contests.
On the year, McKinney-Jones has scored in double figures in seven games and he's averaging 10.2 points, which is third best on the team, with a .516 field goal percentage.
