UMKC Looks to Bounce Back in ASN Showdown at Utah Valley Saturday Night
1/30/2015 8:21:00 PM | Men's Basketball
UMKC Kangaroos (8-14, 3-2) at Utah Valley Wolverines (8-11, 3-2)
Date / Time: January 31, 2015 - 9:30 p.m. CT
Site: Orem, Utah / UCCU Center (7,000)
TV: American Sports Network/KMCI 38 the Spot (Kansas City)
Talent: Daron Sutton, Bob Donewald
Radio: 810 AM
Talent: Steven Davis (pxp)
Webstream: americansportsnet.com
Live Stats: UMKCKangaroos.com (via UVU)
Twitter: @UMKCMensHoops #WACHoops #RooUp
Series: UVU leads 6-3
Home: 3-2
Away: 0-4
Neutral: 0-0
Last Meeting: UMKC won 74-56 in KC, 2/22/14
Richardson vs. Opponent: 1-1
THE GAME
The 'Roos are looking to salvage the road trip on Saturday night in a late nationally televised contest against reigning WAC regular season champion Utah Valley at 9:30 p.m. CT. They look to grab their first WAC road win, while UVU is hoping to string together back-to-back wins after taking out Chicago State on Thursday.
QUICK NOTES
- UMKC started 3-0 in league play at home for the first time since 2004-05.
- Martez Harrison was named College Sports Madness WAC Player of the Week on Monday.
- The 'Roos have improved immensely on the defensive end this season, and it was evident in the previous eight games before Thursday, holding opponents to only 63.8 points per outing. None of those eight opponents scored more than 70 until GCU tallied 78 two days ago.
- So far this year, the 'Roos have forced 386 turnovers and turned them into 432 points (19.6 ppg).
- UMKC ranks No. 24 in the nation in free throw attempts (505), led by Martez Harrison, who has been a WAC-high 166 times, and ranks No. 4 in the nation individually.
- As a team the 'Roos are 19th in the nation and first in the WAC in steals per game at 8.5, while ranking first in the WAC with a +2.2 turnover margin.
- Martez Harrison is leading the WAC in steals (1.9), while ranking second in scoring (18.0) and third in assists (3.6). He is also fifth in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.2) and seventh in free throws (.741).
- UMKC has been hit hard by the injury bug this year, with seven different scholarship players missing games due to injury, including Shayok, Smith, Holliday, Knight, Jennings, Wedel and Rivas.
- The roster currently has eight players from the Kansas City area, the most ever at UMKC (previous record set last season with seven).
- Mason Wedel made the decision to retire from playing basketball in late December.
- UMKC is playing its second year back at Municipal Auditorium, and second in the WAC.
- In Richardson's first year, he led the team to a fifth place finish in the WAC, and the fourth seed in the conference tournament, both of which were the highest since 2006 at UMKC.
SCOUTING THE OPPOSITION
The Wolverines enter the contest with an 8-11 overall record, and are 3-2 in the WAC. They have defeated Seattle, UTPA and Chicago State so far in league play, while falling only to NMSU and Grand Canyon. Last time out on Thursday, UVU took out CSU 78-62.
Individually, they are led by Mitch Bruneel, with 12.9 points per game, while guard Donte Williams is averaging 10.4 points a contest. Bruneel and Zach Nelson are pulling down 6.3 and 5.9 rebounds a game, respectively. The Wolverines average only 60.3 points per game, but are solid defensively, giving up only 65.1 per contest. They also average only 12.7 turnovers per outing and shoot 71 percent from the free throw line.
THE COACHES
Kareem Richardson is in his second season as the head coach at UMKC, posting a 18-34 record. He was named the sixth coach in the Division I era on March 19, 2013 after helping Louisville to a National Championship in 2013 as an assistant under Hall of Fame coach Rick Pitino.
He brings 14 years of Division I coaching experience to the fold, as well as four years playing at the Division I level, graduating from Evansville in 1997.
Dick Hunsaker is in his 12th season at Utah Valley, posting a 229-151 record there. He has an overall record of 396-224, also coaching at Ball State and Utah. He led the Wolverines to the WAC Regular Season title a year ago, and a berth in the NIT.
THE SERIES
The 'Roos are 3-6 against Utah Valley all-time, and 0-4 in Orem. UMKC won the last meeting in Kansas City by a 74-56 margin, but dropped a 66-48 game in Orem, last January.
A WIN WOULD MEAN...
- The 'Roos would have won their first road WAC game of the season in three tries.
- UMKC would have won for the second consecutive time against UVU.
- The 'Roos would have won at Utah Valley for the first time ever, coming in 0-4.
UP NEXT
The 'Roos will head back to Kansas City to wrap up the first round of WAC play against UTPA on Thursday night at 7:05 p.m. The game will be televised on the American Sports Network nationally (locally on KMCI 38 The Spot).
The 'Roos are 5-9 overall against Texas-Pan American, dropping both contests last year. This will be the 15th overall contest, with the series knotted at 4-4 in Kansas City.
