'Roos & Bison To Meet On Thursday Night In Fargo
2/3/2010 9:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
THE SETTING
The UMKC men's basketball team will look to end its three-game losing streak when it travels north to Fargo, N.D., to face North Dakota State for the second time in nine days on Thursday night. The Bison enter the contest in sixth place in the league standings with a 5-6 mark, while the 'Roos are in seventh with a 3-7 record. Game time is set for 7 p.m. at the Bison Sports Arena.
ON THE AIR
Radio: 810 AM WHB (Steven Davis - p-b-p)
Television: None
Web: Roo Vision (UMKCKangaroos.com)
Live Stats: UMKCKangaroos.com
LAST TIME OUT
The Kangaroos dropped a 69-56 road decision at Southern Utah on Saturday night in Cedar City. The game was tied at 50 all with 6:19 to play, but the Thunderbirds went on a 13-2 run to take control of the contest before running out 13 point winners. Jay Couisnard paced the squad with 18 points on 5-of-11 shooting, while Trey McKinney-Jones finished with 14 points and seven boards.
THE COACHES
Head Coach Matt Brown is in his third season with the UMKC men's basketball program, where he has compiled an 27-57 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.
Saul Phillips is in his third season as the head coach of the North Dakota State men's basketball program, where he has guided the Bison to a 50-33 overall record. Last season, Phillips led NDSU to a 26-7 record and NCAA Tournament berth before bowing out to Kansas in the first round.
UMKC-NDSU - FIRST MEETING - JAN. 26, 2010
The 'Roos dropped a tight 73-69 decision to North Dakota State on Jan. 26 at the Swinney Recreation Center. UMKC led by 12 points with 14:44 remaining, but the Bison then caught fire, making six straight three-point attempts to turn their deficit into a three-point lead. NDSU then maintained the advantage for the remainder of the night to hand the 'Roos the defeat. Trey McKinney-Jones led a group of three UMKC players in double digits, finishing with 18 points on 8-of-12 shooting. Three NDSU players also reached double figures with Josh Vaughan leading the way with 19 points on 6-of-8 shooting with four three-pointers.
SCOUTING NORTH DAKOTA STATE
The Bison have won two of their last three games to push their record to 8-13 overall and 5-6 in league play. On Saturday, NDSU had four players reach double figures in a 73-62 victory at Centenary.
North Dakota State has three players averaging in double digits on the season with forward Michael Tveidt leading the way with 15.3 points. Fellow forward Eric Carlson is right behind Tveidt with a 15.2 scoring clip to go along with a team-high 7.2 boards, and guard Josh Vaughan adds 14.7 points per game. Vaughan also has a team-best 52 three-pointers (.403) and 83 assists.
The Bison shoot .437 from the floor, .343 from long range and .706 from the free throw stripe en route to averaging 71.2 points per game. NDSU is also +3.0 on the glass and it has 22 more assists than turnovers (304-282) on the year.
NDSU GAME NOTES
• Guard Drew Lundberg, who transferred to NDSU from Northern Iowa, made his first start for the Bison in Saturday's win at Centenary.
• NDSU is 4-6 at the Bison Sports Arena this season after dropping back-to-back home games to Oakland and IPFW during its last home stand.
• Tveidt, Carlson and Vaughan all rank among the top-10 in The Summit League in scoring. The Bison are the only team in the league to have three players rank among the top-10.
• Josh Vaughan, who made the dagger three-pointer in NDSU's win at UMKC on Jan. 26, is leading the Summit League in three-point field goals (52) and ranks seventh in three-point percentage (.403).
THE SERIES
Thursday's meeting will be the eighth in the all-time series between UMKC and NDSU with the Bison holding the 6-1 advantage. The 'Roos won the first ever meeting, winning 80-67 in Kansas City on Jan. 10, 2005, but the Bison have won the last six match-ups, including a 87-49 win in Fargo last season.
'ROO TIDBITS
• Jay Couisnard has played 152-of-160 possible minutes over the past four games. This includes playing all 40 minutes for the second time this season in the win over WIU. The forward is averaging 17.3 points during the four-game stretch.
• Freshman Alex Bazzell made a career-best three long balls at Southern Utah. He went 3-for-3 in the game.
• Sophomore Trey McKinney-Jones tied a season-high against the T-Birds, finishing with seven rebounds.
• UMKC used its eighth different starting line-up in the road loss at Southern Utah. Freshman Fred Chatmon made his first career start in the contest.
• Freshman Kirk Korver's older brother, Kyle, was in the crowd watching his younger brother and the 'Roos play at Southern Utah on Saturday. Kyle, who plays for the Utah Jazz, was treated like a rock star, as several hundred T-Bird fans flocked to him throughout the game in search of pictures and autographs.
• Junior Bakari Lewis has four or more assists in six of the last eight games to give him a team-high 56 assists on the year. In league games, Lewis is fourth with 39 assists (3.9 p/game) and he's leading all players with a 2.8 assist-to-turnover ratio.
• Freshman Kirk Korver reached double figures for the fourth time this season, finishing with 11 points on 2-of-4 shooting from long range against NDSU. He also went 5-of-5 from the free throw line in the four-point loss.
• UMKC limited Western Illinois to a .373 field goal percentage on Jan. 21. The mark was the lowest shooting percentage for a Division I opponent this season.
• Sophomore Trey McKinney-Jones is sixth in The Summit League in field goal percentage at .515 (84-163). He is one of just three guards among the top-10 in the category.
• UMKC committed just nine turnovers in the road loss at Southern Utah on Jan. 30. It was the fifth game this season that the squad has finished with 10 or fewer turnovers.
• The X factor? UMKC is 7-3 this season when junior Spencer Johnson reaches double figures.
• UMKC is leading the league in turnover margin (+2.3). The squad is also third in the league in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.0), fifth in steals (6.3) and fifth in assists (12.3) per game.
• With his next field goal, sophomore LaTreze Mushatt will join the 500-point club.
• Junior Spencer Johnson has moved into the top-15 in UMKC history in career rebounding, ranking 12th with 371 caroms. He also ranks 27th in the record books in career scoring with 573 points.
• Freshman Kirk Korver has made two or more three pointers in seven games on the season.
• Foul trouble has been consistently plaguing junior Jay Couisnard, as the forward has had four or more fouls in 12 games with five disqualifications.
• The 'Roos are 6-1 on the year when attempting more free throws than its opposition with its lone loss coming at IPFW on Jan. 16.
• In wins, UMKC is averaging 74.3 points on .462 shooting from the floor and .358 from long range in victories. The squad has also shot 50 more free throws than its opponent. The opposition, meanwhile, shoots .436 from the field, .365 from distance and averages 17.9 turnovers per game.
• In losses, the 'Roos average 61.1 points with a .412 field goal percentage and a .340 mark from three-point land. The opposition, meanwhile, shoots .495 from the floor, .347 from long range and has attempted 114 more free throws than UMKC.
• The 'Roos are shooting .448 from the floor and .363 from long range at home and .419 from the field and .333 from long range on the road.
• In five games at Municipal, UMKC is shooting .407 from the floor, .350 from long range and .707 from the charity stripe. In contrast, the opposition is shooting .435 from the field, .321 from three-point land and .725 from the free throw stripe.
• Junior Spencer Johnson has made 44 consecutive starts and has started 51 of the last 52 contests.
• UMKC's reserves average 18.4 points per game.
OH SO CLOSE
During the current streak where the 'Roos have dropped six-of-seven games, four of the games have been decided by five points or less. The average margin of defeat in the six defeats is 7.7 points.
KNOCKIN' 'EM DOWN FROM LONG RANGE
Over the past six games, UMKC has made a total of 49 three-pointers or 8.2 per game. At Oakland on Jan. 14, the 'Roos made 10 long balls, which were the most for the squad in more than a calendar year, as it hadn't made 10 three pointers since Dec. 31, 2008, at IUPUI.
The 'Roos have made eight or more long balls in four-of-the-last-six games to give them a total of seven games with eight or more treys this season. The squad is 4-3 in such contests.
'ROOS TALLY NINTH WIN; THIRD LEAGUE VICTORY
UMKC secured its ninth victory of the season by beating Western Illinois on Jan. 21. The victory was the team's third Summit League win on the year, which matches last season's total. The 'Roos have already surpassed last season's overall win (7) and road win totals (3).
COOZY NOTCHES THIRD 20-POINT GAME
Junior Jay Couisnard notched his third 20-point game of the season when he finished with 22 points on 10-of-16 shooting in the tight one point loss to IUPUI on Jan. 23. The forward also grabbed a team-high eight rebounds, which tied a career-high. Additionally, the 10 field goals were a career-best for the junior and a team-high for the 'Roos this season.
Couisnard has been UMKC's most consistent scorer, as he's reached double figures in a team-best 17 games. The forward has been the team's leading scorer in 11 games and he's surpassed the 15-point mark in eight contests. His career-best performance came in his return to his hometown of Houston, when he netted 24 points in the win at Houston Baptist.
On the year, Couisnard is pacing the team and ranks 13th in The Summit League with a 13.5 points per game average, while shooting .417 from the floor and .379 from long range. He also leads the team in free throw makes (71) and attempts (109).
JUST TREY-MENDOUS
Sophomore guard Trey McKinney-Jones has shot 70 percent or better from the floor in five games and 50 percent or better in 13 contests. The guard made 8-of-9 shots in the win at Centenary on Dec. 5 as the 88.9 percentage is the high mark for a 'Roo player this season. Overall, McKinney-Jones ranks sixth in the league with a .515 shooting clip, and he has the highest field goal percentage among guards in the league.
