Roos Go for Season Sweep of Seattle in Televised Game Saturday
2/5/2016 6:53:00 PM | Men's Basketball
UMKC Kangaroos (9-14, 2-6 WAC) at Seattle Redhawks (11-11, 5-3 WAC)
Date / Time: February 6 - 9 p.m. CT
Site: Seattle, Wash. / Key Arena (8,500)
TV: American Sports Network / KSMO in Kansas City (full list of market clearances)
Talent: Barry Tompkins (pxp), Dave Bollwinkel (analyst)
Listen:UMKCKangaroos.com (free)
Talent: Steven Davis (pxp)
Webstream: None
Live Stats: GoSeattleU.com
Twitter: @UMKCMensHoops #RooUp
Series: UMKC leads 4-2
Home: 3-0
Away: 1-1
Neutral: 0-1
Last Meeting: UMKC won 84-69 in KC, 1/7/16
Richardson vs. Opponent: 4-2
QUICK NOTES
- Shayok Shayok, Dashawn King, Kyle Steward and Grant Leach have all set career-highs in scoring the last four games.
- UMKC finished the first half of the WAC schedule allowing 75.3 points per game in conference play, while putting up 74.4 points per contest. Last year at this point the Roos were scoring 63.3 points and allowing only 60.7 per outing in WAC games.
- Martez Harrison is the WAC's active career leader in points (1,431), threes made (112), free throws made (455), steals (139), and assists (341).
- Harrison is fifth on the UMKC scoring chart with 1,431 points, he needs 12 points to tie Michael Jackson for fourth at 1,443. He also needs just three assists to tie Tony Dumas for fourth all-time.
- Harrison's 146 free throw attempts are 49th and 113 free throw makes are 41st in the country. LaVell Boyd is 63rd with 59 threes made.
- LaVell Boyd is the first player under Kareem Richardson to hit 50 threes in a season (59).
- UMKC has several players in the WAC rankings. Martez Harrison and LaVell Boyd are 3rd and 11th in scoring in the WAC at 15.4 and 13.5 ppg. Shayok Shayok is fourth in field goal percentage (.551). Harrison is 5th in assists (4.5), while sitting 5th in steals (1.3) and 6th in free throw percentage (.774). Boyd is 3rd in three-point percentage (.418) and 3rd in three point makes per game (2.6).
- UMKC is ranked No. 277 in the RPI rankings as of Monday, fifth highest in the WAC.
- The Roos non-conference strength of schedule is No. 146 in the nation, first in the WAC.
- The Kangaroos matched the school record for best home start at 7-0.
- UMKC finished its non-conference schedule with seven wins, marking the most for the Roos since the 2010-11 team also had seven. The last team with eight or more: 2001-02 team, with 10.
- The 'Roos are facing 10 schools this season that went to postseason tournaments last year (South Dakota St., UT-Martin, Iowa, Louisville, UNC-Wilmington, Oklahoma St., USC-Upstate, Seattle, New Mexico State and Grand Canyon). So far UMKC is 3-7 against those teams.
SCOUTING THE OPPOSITION
The Redhawks enter the contest with an 11-11 overall record, including wins in each of their last four games, including a win at Grand Canyon. In WAC play, they are 5-3.
They are led by a balanced attack, including Brendan Westendorf and Manroop Clair at 12.1 and 10.0 points per game, respectively. The duo of Jack Crook and William Powll paces the team in rebounding at 5.7 and 6.0 per game. Also scoring near double figures is Crook at 9.8 points per game. William Powell is averaging 8.6 points a game as well. As a team SU his holding opponents to 66.1 points per game.
THE COACHES
Kareem Richardson is in his third season as the head coach at UMKC, posting a 33-53 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.
His second season in Kansas City as the head man was another step in the right direction in 2014-15, and generated several program firsts. The 8-6 WAC record was the first above .500 at UMKC since 2005-06, and its second place finish matched the highest ever in league play. UMKC finished with a 6-1 WAC home record, the best in school history in conference play.
Cameron Dollar is in his seventh year at Seattle, posting an 90-115 record there. Overall, he is 101-137 in eight years as a head coach. He led SU to the WAC Tournament title game last season, as well as the CIT semifinals.
THE SERIES
The 'Roos are 4-2 all-time against Seattle, and 1-1 on the road against them. UMKC won the meeting on January 7 by an 84-69 score. This will be the seventh all-time meeting.
A WIN WOULD MEAN...
- The 'Roos would have won for the first time on the road since November 21 vs. Drake.
- The 'Roos would have swept Seattle during the regular season for the second time under Richardson, also doing it in 2013-14.
- Missouri-Kansas City would have defeated SU for the fifth time in the series, moving the record to 5-2 against them.
UP NEXT
The 'Roos return home for a game against UTRGV next Saturday at 2:05 p.m. The contest will be shown on the WAC Digital Network.
The Vaqueros lead the series 11-8 overall and the contest earlier this year in Texas, but UMKC won 2-of-3 meetings last season. In Kansas City, UMKC is 5-4 vs. UTRGV.
