Preview: Men's Basketball Wraps up First-Half of WAC Play

Kansas City Opening Tip
• Kansas City Men's Basketball (11-11, 3-4) tries to get back to .500 in the conference as the Roos head to Chicago State (4-18, 0-7) on Saturday. Tip-off is set for Noon at the Jones Convocation Center.
• Heading into this week's conference action, the Roos are tied for sixth in the standings, just one game back of fourth-place.
• Kansas City is 34-12 all-time against the Cougars and have won nine of the last 10 meetings overall.
• Kansas City is looking to begin February like it ended January. The Roos notched a road victory at California Baptist and over-powered Crowley's Ridge to cap January with two wins.

The Starting Five
1. With injury has come opportunity. Seniors Javan White, Jahshire Hardnett and junior Marvin Nesbitt Jr. have all been recently impacted by an injury. That has opened the door for freshman Josiah Allick, sophomore Franck Kamgain and junior Zion Williams. Both Kamgain and Williams earned their first start of their Kansas City career in the past two games. In the last two contests, here are the stats for that trio: Allick (25.5 mpg, 12.0 ppg, 9.0 rpg, 1.0 bpg); Kamgain (34.5 mpg, 15.0 ppg, 4.5 rpg, 4.5 apg, 2.5 spg); Williams (22.5 mpg, 8.5 ppg, 5.0 rpg, 2.0 spg).
2. Saturday's game marks the end of the first-half of the conference circuit. With a win against Chicago State, the Roos would move to 4-4 in the WAC. That win total would be significant marking the most wins through the first-half of league play since the 2014-15 team had five. On another level, a win Saturday means Kansas City would improve to 12-11 and eclipse last year's win total already.
3. Balanced scoring has been one of the strengths of this year's team. Five players post at least nine points per game. Overall, eight different players have led the team in at least one game in scoring. Additionally, at least three players have hit double-digit scoring marks in each of the past five games.
4. Senior Jordan Giles currently has 842 career points, which is 19th on the school list. In his pursuit of 1,000 career points, it would take him averaging 17.6 points in the last nine regular-season games to hit the mark. That is not too far-fetched considering the forward has averaged 15.4 in his last nine contests. He is looking to become the 13th Roo to surpass the 1,000-point milestone. Giles is also on track to climb in the top five for most games played. He currently is tied for eighth with 111 career games played. The best mark is held by Spencer Johnson (2007-11) who appeared in 121 games.
5. Kansas City has dominated Chicago State in the overall history of the series with a 34-12 record. Saturday marks the 47th meeting between the two teams. The Roos are looking to record a victory for the 10th time in 11 games against the Cougars.

The Comforts of Home
• The Roos are a different team playing at the renovated Swinney Center with a 7-2 record. As a team, Kansas City shoots 47 percent overall and outscores the opponent by nearly 22 points.
• On average, the Roos force 18 turnovers, are nearly +6 in rebounding margin and post nine steals.
• Prior to the Jan. 16th home loss to CSU Bakersfield, the 6-0 start tied for the second best home start with the 2015-16 team who also went 6-0 on its home court to begin the season. The 2010-11 program is the only Kansas City team to go 7-0 at home prior to its first loss. That 7-0 mark is the all-time best.

Series History Notes vs Chicago State
• Kansas City holds a commanding 34-12 record against Chicago State, including nine wins in the last 10 meetings.
• Kansas City is 15-6 when playing in Chicago. The Roos have won four out of the last five road meetings.
• The 34 wins against the Cougars is the most all-time against any opponent in Kansas City history.
• During the current 9-1 stretch for Kansas City, the Roos have won by double-digits in five of those games and hold an average margin of victory in those nine games of 12.4 points.
• In the last meeting, a 76-61 Roo victory on March 9, 2019, Jordan Giles gathered a game-high 17 points on 8-of-10 shooting and Rob Whitfield had 13 points on three trifectas. Kansas City held the Cougars to 17 percent (2-of-12) shooting from 3-point land and forced 15 turnovers.

National Stat Rankings
• Kansas City is ranked in the top 100 in seven different national statistical categories:
   - No. 23 in total steals (178)
   - No. 35 in 3-point FG percentage (.370)
   - No. 46 in steals per game (8.1)
   - No. 64 in turnovers forced (15.3)
   - No. 72 in total assists (303)
   - No. 75 in FG percentage (45.7)
   - No. 80 in 3-point FG percentage def (.307)

Statistical Trends
• There are a few statistical trends that equates to success for Kansas City. When the Roos do the following, they have a perfect record this year:
   - Out-rebounding the opponent: 6-0
   - More made FT's than opponent: 4-0
   - Allowing 60 points or less: 6-0

Last Time Out Against Crowley's Ridge (Jan. 27)
• Kansas City Men's Basketball was in the giving spirit posting 24 assists on 37 field goals en route to a 99-41 victory against Crowley's Ridge (7-13) in non-conference action. Balanced scoring was the norm for the Roos with five players hitting for 10-plus points and the other four notching at least five points.
• The Roos led wire-to-wire in their final non-league contest of the year and flexed their muscle against a smaller-sized opponent. The 58-point margin of victory stands as the second-most ever over an opponent.
• Collectively, the 19 steals were a season-high and the 14 made three-pointers also were the most this year.
• In the scoring column, Josiah Allick had a career-high 18 points on 6-of-8 shooting and he snared a team-high nine rebounds. Junior Brandon McKissic recorded 15 points, Franck Kamgain had 14 points and a team-high seven assists, Rob Whitfield finished with 13 and senior Jahshire Hardnett collected 10.

The Do-It-All Machine
• Senior graduate transfer Javan White is first or tied for first on the team in three of the five major statistical categories: scoring (11.0), rebounding (7.2), and blocks (1.2). He has compiled four double-doubles on the year and led the team in rebounding 11 times and scoring three times.
• In conference rankings, he is third in rebounding, fourth in blocks, tied for 14th in steals (1.1) and 18th in scoring.

Stat Watch
• Two individuals are in the top 20 for career scoring at Kansas City. Senior Jordan Giles is 19th with 842 career points in 111 career games and junior Brandon McKissic is 20th with 795 points in 83 career games.
• Senior Rob Whitfield is currently tied in the 10th spot in the Kansas City career top 10 3-pointers with 134. In his two-year KC career, he is 134-of-324 (.414) from downtown. He is now looking up at Reggie Chamberlain (2010-12) for ninth place with 152 three-pointer's.

Preview: Men's Basketball Wraps up First-Half of WAC Play

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Players Mentioned

Josiah Allick

Jordan Giles

Jahshire Hardnett

Franck Kamgain

Brandon McKissic

Marvin Nesbitt Jr.

Javan White

Rob Whitfield

Zion Williams