Kangaroos Face Second Place Jackrabbits, Host Canned Food Drive
2/10/2012 2:32:00 PM | Men's Basketball
South Dakota State (19-7, 11-3) at UMKC (10-16, 4-10)
February 11, 2012 - 7:05 p.m. (Central)
Swinney Recreation Center * Kansas City, Mo.
TV: KSMO - Kansas City (Neil Harwell, Jaycie Pearson)
Radio: 810 AM (Steven Davis, Steven St. John)
Promotions: SAAC Food Fight (Canned Food Drive, get tickets half price if you bring canned food items); MAC Properties T-shirt giveaway for first 250 fans; UMKC Raffle for prizes.
THE GAME
The Kangaroos look to make it four in a row at home on Saturday when second place South Dakota State comes into Swinney Recreation Center. The Jackrabbits were upset by in-state rival South Dakota on Thursday night, but had won three in a row prior to that.
SCOUTING THE OPPOSITION
South Dakota State is 19-7 overall, and 11-3 in conference play and ranked No. 22 in the Mid-Major Top 25. The Jackrabbits come in after being upset by South Dakota on Thursday night.
They are led by first-team All-Summit guard Nate Wolters, who is averaging 21.5 points per game to go with his league best 154 assists. Sharpshooting guard Griffan Callahan is second on the squad with 11.2 points and a team-best 5.3 boards per game. He also leads the team with 61 threes (.412).
As a team, SDSU averages 78.7 points per game, and out-scores the opposition by a league-best 9.4 points per contest. The Jackrabbits shoot .463 from the floor, and hold opponents to a league second-best .322 from three-point land.
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 52-93 overall record and has coached seven players to all-Summit League recognition.
Scott Nagy is in his 17th season as the head coach of the Jackrabbits and has a 308-197 overall record there. He has led the SDSU program from Division II to Division I, and picked up numerous conference titles and NCAA Tournament berths in the NCAA-II days. He was also named conference coach of the year five times.
THE SERIES
The Kangaroos and Jackrabbits are meeting for the 10th time, with SDSU holding a 7-5 lead in the series. The Jacks ran past UMKC earlier this season in Brookings, 85-58.
In Kansas City, UMKC is 3-3, but has not won since January 15, 2009. SDSU won last year, 91-71.
Matt Brown has a 4-5 mark against SDSU, but had two wins later forfeited, while Scott Nagy is 7-5 vs. UMKC.
A WIN WOULD MEAN...
- UMKC would extend its home winning streak to four games, the most since the 7-0 start from last season.
- UMKC would have defeated SDSU at home for the first time since Jan. 15, 2009.
- UMKC would have its first win over a team in the top two of the standings this season.
UPCOMING MILESTONES
- Dustin Dibble will be playing in his 106th career college basketball game on Thursday, moving into ninth all-time in games played at UMKC.
- Reggie Chamberlain now has 133 career threes and needs two more to take sole possession of eighth. His current 3.0 made per game is third all-time at UMKC, while his percentage of .435 would be first.
- Chamberlain is now 14th on the all-time scoring list at UMKC (started the season 49th). He has 798 points now, and is the 14th player to reach 800 pts at UMKC. He needs 76 points to pass Nick Richmond in 13th.
