UMKC Looks to Wrap Up Second Place with Finale at UTPA Saturday
3/6/2015 9:05:00 AM | Men's Basketball
UMKC Kangaroos (13-17, 8-5) at Texas-Pan American Broncs (9-20, 3-10)
Date / Time: March 7, 2015 - 2 p.m. CT
Site: Edinburg, Texas / UTPA Fieldhouse (2,500)
TV: KMCI 38 The Spot / American Sports Network
Talent: Brett Dolan (pxp), Bob Donewald (analyst)
Radio: 1510 AM
Talent: Steven Davis (pxp)
Webstream: Americansportsnet.com (Free)
Live Stats: UMKCKangaroos.com (via UTPA)
Twitter: @UMKCMensHoops #WACHoops #RooUp
Series: UTPA leads 9-6
Home: 5-4
Away: 1-5
Neutral: 0-0
Last Meeting: UMKC won 70-45 in KC, 2/5/15
Richardson vs. Opponent: 1-2
THE GAME
The 'Roos play their final regular season game on Saturday afternoon at 2 p.m. at Texas-Pan American. The contest will be televised nationally on the American Sports Network, and locally to Kansas City on KMCI 38 The Spot. UMKC comes in off two huge home wins to move into second place alone, while UTPA has dropped its last three contests.
QUICK NOTES
- The 'Roos will be the No. 2 seed in the WAC Tournament with a win Saturday, but no worse than a No. 3 seed with a loss to UTPA. They were the two seed only one other time, in 2004-05.
- UMKC finished with a 6-1 home record in WAC games this season, its best ever at home in league. The previous best was 6-2 at home by the 2004-05 team.
- The 'Roos have improved immensely on the defensive end this season, and it has been evident in conference play, holding opponents to only 61.9 points per outing (71.4 in non-conference).
- Thaddeus Smith has 40 blocks this year, ranking fourth in a single season at UMKC. He is second in the WAC with 1.5 blocks per game.
- So far this year, the 'Roos have forced 500 turnovers and turned them into 553 points (18.4 ppg).
- Martez Harrison has shot a WAC-high 213 free throws, and ranks No. 9 in the nation.
- As a team the 'Roos are 19th in the nation and first in the WAC in steals per game at 8.2, while ranking first in the WAC and 28th in the nation with a +2.8 turnover margin.
- Harrison is leading the WAC in steals (1.9) and scoring (17.8), while ranking second in assists (3.9). He is also seventh in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.4) and ninth in free throws (.737).
- UMKC has been hit hard by injuries this year, with nine different players missing games due to injury, A total of 79 games have been missed during the season due to injury.
- The roster currently has eight players from the Kansas City area, the most ever at UMKC (previous record set last season with seven).
- 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 a 9-20 overall record, and are 3-10 in the WAC. They have defeated Grand Canyon and Seattle this year at home, and post a 3-2 mark there in conference games. They come in losing seven of their last eight games.
Individually, the Broncs are led by the WAC's second leading scorer, Janari Joesaar, at 17.9 points per game. He also pulls down 6.9 rebounds a game to rank fifth in the league. Both Shaquille Boga and Shaquille Hines are also leaders, averaging 12.0 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 56.5 points a game in league play, but allow only 66.8 per contest.
THE COACHES
Kareem Richardson is in his second season as the head coach at UMKC, posting a 23-37 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 18-43 record there. He has an overall record of 256-225, 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 6-9 overall against Texas-Pan American, winning earlier this year. This will be the 16th overall meeting, with the UTPA leading 5-1 in Edinburg. On 2/5/15, UMKC won 70-45 in Kansas City.
A WIN WOULD MEAN...
- The 'Roos would have matched their highest ever finish in league play at second.
- UMKC would have won three straight games for the second time this season.
- The 'Roos would have swept their third WAC opponent of the season, also winning twice against UVU and Chicago State.
UP NEXT
The 'Roos will head to Las Vegas, Nev. for the WAC Tournament, which starts for the men on Thursday with quarterfinals. UMKC will play at either 4:30 p.m. PT as the No. 2 seed or 7 p.m. PT as the No. 3 seed.
WAC TOURNEY SEEDING
UMKC will be either the No. 2 or No. 3 seed in the WAC Tournament next week. If it wins on Saturday, it will be the No. 2 seed. If it loses, it could still end up being the No. 2 seed as long as Seattle loses as well. The No. 2 seed will play at 4:30 p.m. PT on Thursday, while the No. 3 seed plays at 7 p.m. PT.
