UMKC Faces Tough Road Test at League-Leading ORU Saturday
1/27/2012 9:59:00 PM | Men's Basketball
UMKC (9-14, 3-8) at Oral Roberts (19-4, 11-0)
January 28, 2012 - 7:05 p.m. (Central)
Mabee Center * Tulsa, Okla.
TV: Fox College Sports (KGEB-Tulsa)
Radio: 1140 AM / 102.9 FM (Steven Davis)
THE GAME
The Kangaroos head to the second game of a road swing at league-leading Oral Roberts on Saturday evening at 7:05 p.m. The 'Roos are coming off a tough loss at Southern Utah in its final game in Cedar City, while ORU is on a 12-game win streak and sits at 11-0 in Summit play.
SCOUTING THE OPPOSITION
Oral Roberts comes into the contest winning its last 12 games, and are the league leaders in the Summit League at 11-0 (19-4 overall). The Golden Eagles are 13th in the week's CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Poll.
They are led by a balanced attack with seven players averaging at least 7.3 points per game. Senior Dominique Morrison leads the way with 19.9 points per game, while Michael Craion is at 11.7, Steven Roundtree at 10.7, and Warren Niles is averaging 12.2 per contest. Three ORU players are averaging at least 5.7 boards per game.
ORU averages 74.3 points per game, and allows 65.3 per contest. They out-rebound opponents by 3.6 per outing, and hit 48.3 percent from the floor. They also force opponents into 14.3 turnovers per game.
THE COACHES
Matt Brown is in his fifth season as the head coach of the UMKC men's basketball program, and comes off his most successful season at the helm. In 2010-11, he posted his first winning record at 16-14 overall. The 'Roos also posted the third-most home wins in school history, going 11-4 in Kansas City, and the third-most overall wins in program history.
Brown joined the 'Roos as the eighth head coach in school history on April 12, 2007. In his five seasons as head coach, Brown has guided UMKC to a 51-91 overall record and has coached seven players to all-Summit League recognition.
Scott Sutton is in his 13th season with the Golden Eagles, posting a 242-159 overall record. He has led ORU to a first or second place finish in the league the last eight years. He is a graduate of Oklahoma State, where his father Eddie was the legendary head coach.
THE SERIES
The Kangaroos and Golden Eagles are meeting for the 34th time, with ORU holding a 23-10 advantage. The last 13 contests have gone to the Golden Eagles, including a 72-65 win at UMKC earlier this year. The last win in the series for the 'Roos came on Feb. 22, 2005 by a 77-70 score. From 2000-2005, the Kangaroos won 9-of-13 meetings.
This will be the last trip to the Mabee Center as a conference opponent for UMKC, as ORU is leaving the Summit League. UMKC is 4-11 in Tulsa all-time. The first trip to ORU came on Feb. 14, 1996 with the Golden Eagles winning 70-59.
Matt Brown has a 0-9 mark against ORU, while Scott Sutton is 19-9 vs. UMKC.
A WIN WOULD MEAN...
- UMKC would have snapped a 13-game losing streak against ORU that dates back to Feb. 22, 2005.
- UMKC would have defeated the Golden Eagles in Tulsa for the first time since Jan. 29, 2005.
- UMKC would have only its fifth win all-time in Tulsa.
Familiar Faces
The UMKC-ORU game features nine players from the Kansas City area, with the 'Roos boasting four and ORU with five. The area that is especially rich is Raytown, including UMKC's Reggie Chamberlain and Michael Gholston, along with ORU's Dominique Morrison and Roderick Pearson. Chamberlain and Morrison, both Raytown High graduates, lead their teams in scoring. Gholston and Pearson went to Raytown South.
UPCOMING MILESTONES
- Dustin Dibble will be playing in his 103rd career college basketball game on Saturday, and needs just two more games to crack the UMKC top 10.
- Reggie Chamberlain now has 120 career threes and needs 15 more to take sole possession of eighth. His current 2.9 made per game is third all-time at UMKC, while his percentage of .426 would be second.
- Chamberlain is now 18th on the all-time scoring list at UMKC (started the season 49th). He has 736 points now, and is the 19th player to reach 700 pts at UMKC. He needs 37 points to pass Bakari Lewis in 15th.
