Roos Host Broncs, Look to Stay Hot and in Title Contention
2/4/2015 6:17:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Texas-Pan American Broncs (8-14, 2-4) at UMKC 'Roos (9-14, 4-2)
Date / Time: February 5, 2015 - 7:05 p.m. CT
Site: Kansas City, Mo. / Municipal Auditorium (9,827)
TV: American Sports Network/KMCI 38 the Spot (Kansas City)
Talent: Trey Bender (pxp), Rich Zvosec (analyst)
Radio: 810 AM
Talent: Steven Davis (pxp)
Webstream: americansportsnet.com
Live Stats: UMKCKangaroos.com
Twitter: @UMKCMensHoops #WACHoops #RooUp
Series: UTPA leads 9-5
Home: 4-4
Away: 1-5
Neutral: 0-0
Last Meeting: UTPA won 68-59 in Edinburg, 2/15/14
Richardson vs. Opponent: 0-2
THE GAME
The 'Roos look to stay in the race for first place when Texas-Pan American comes to town for a contest on Thursday night. The game will be televised nationally on the American Sports Network, and locally picked up on KMCI 38 The Spot. UMKC enters the week winning four of their last five, while UTPA has played two of its best games the last two times out.
QUICK NOTES
- UMKC has started 3-0 in league play at home for the first time since 2004-05.
- The 'Roos have improved immensely on the defensive end this season, and it has been evident in nine of their last 10 games (save the GCU contest), holding opponents to only 63.3 points per outing. None of those nine opponents scored more than 70.
- UMKC is in second place alone in the WAC standings entering the week with a 4-2 mark, the highest it has been in the standings six games into conference play since 2005-06.
- So far this year, the 'Roos have forced 401 turnovers and turned them into 447 points (19.4 ppg).
- UMKC ranks No. 25 in the nation in free throw attempts (530), led by Martez Harrison, who has been a WAC-high 170 times, and ranks No. 6 in the nation individually.
- As a team the 'Roos are 18th in the nation and first in the WAC in steals per game at 8.4, while ranking first in the WAC and 39th in the nation with a +2.4 turnover margin.
- Martez Harrison is leading the WAC in steals (1.8), while ranking second in scoring (17.9) and assists (3.8). He is also sixth in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.2) and fifth in free throws (.741).
- UMKC has been hit by injuries this year, with eight different scholarship players missing games due to injury, including Shayok, Smith, Holliday, Knight, Jennings, Wedel, Rivas and Franceschi.
- The roster currently has eight players from the Kansas City area, the most ever at UMKC (previous record set last season with seven).
- 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 Broncs enter the contest with an 8-14 overall record, and are 2-4 in the WAC. They have defeated Grand Canyon and Chicago State, while playing first-place New Mexico State close on the road last time out. On the road, UTPA is 1-11 overall.
Individually, the Broncs are led by the WAC's top scorer, Janari Joesaar, at 18.8 points per game. He also pulls down 7.3 rebounds a game to rank third in the league. They also return both Shaquille Boga and Shaquille Hines, who average 11.8 and 12.4 points per game, respectively. Boga and Joesaar are the only two that have hit a significant amount of threes, as UTPA makes only 4.3 per game as a team. They average only 57 points a game in league play, but allow only 65.3 per contest.
THE COACHES
Kareem Richardson is in his second season as the head coach at UMKC, posting a 19-34 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.
Dan Hipsher is in his second season at UTPA, posting a 17-37 record there. He has an overall record of 255-219, also coaching at Akron for nine seasons. He has been a top assistant in the high-major ranks as well, most recently at Alabama for four years.
THE SERIES
The 'Roos are 5-9 overall against Texas-Pan American, dropping both contests last year. This will be the 15th overall meeting, with the series knotted at 4-4 in Kansas City. The last time they met, UTPA won 68-59 in Edinburg on 2/15/14.
A WIN WOULD MEAN...
- The 'Roos would have started 4-0 at home in league play for the first time in school history.
- Richardson would have defeated every WAC school in the league in his career.
- The 'Roos would have won four straight at home overall for the first time since 2010.
UP NEXT
The 'Roos will start the second half of WAC play on Saturday when league-leading New Mexico State comes to town for a 6:05 p.m. tipoff at Muni. The game will be locally televised on KSMO and streamed on ESPN3.
The 'Roos are 1-2 against NMSU all-time, dropping a 63-45 decision in Las Cruces in the WAC opener earlier this year. Last time the two met in KC, the 'Roos won 68-66.
