Roos Look to Use Momentum Dealing with California Baptist

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – The Kansas City Men's Basketball (13-14, 5-7) looks to get on a hot streak in the final four regular-season games beginning with a home game Wednesday against California Baptist (18-7, 7-3). The Roos, coming off a huge road win at CSU Bakersfield on Saturday, still have a chance to be in the top four in the Western Athletic Conference. Currently, the Roos are two games back of fourth-place UT Rio Grande Valley.

Start time at Swinney Center is 7 p.m. The game's promotion is "Way back Wednesday 90's Night" as the first 250 students are given neon ROO fanny packs. As always, UMKC students are free with a student ID.

Now is the time for Kansas City to start climbing up the conference standings. California Baptist has held down the No. 2 position for much of the season and the Roos, with a win, could reach the No. 5 slot with help. Currently, Kansas City is 5-7 in the league and in seventh place. Eight teams qualify for the WAC Championships, March 12-14 in Las Vegas.
The 60-point mark is an important one for the Kansas City scoring defense. The Roos are 8-0 this year when holding the opposition to 60-or-fewer points. In four of their last seven games – all victories – the Roo defense has limited teams to score less than 60. In the conference, Kansas City is No. 2 in scoring defense (66.2).
Kansas City has started out strong in the first half during its recent stretch. In six of the last seven games, the Roos have claimed a half-time scoring advantage. In those six games leading at the half, Kansas City has a 4-2 record.
The Roos have shown balance in the individual scoring column this year. Currently, four players average at least 10.0 points per game: Giles, White, McKissic and Whitfield. Kansas City is one of three teams in the conference to have five players pour in at least 10 a game. Eight of the current 10 players in uniform have led the team in scoring at least once in a game.
In addition to the scoring defense, Kansas City has been dominant in perimeter defense ranking No. 1 in the WAC in 3-point shooting defense (.301). On Saturday, the Roos limited CSU Bakersfield to 9.1% (1-of-11) from long-range. In 19 of 27 games this year, opponents have been under 40 percent.

Last Time Out: Kansas City def. CSU Bakersfield, 59-53 (Feb. 15)

Kansas City Men's Basketball (13-14, 5-7) built an 11-point lead under three minutes remaining and held on for a 59-53 victory at CSU Bakersfield (11-15, 5-6) at the Icardo Center. Entering the game, the KC defense ranked second in the conference in scoring defense and the unit proved their worth holding the 'Runners to their second-lowest scoring output, second only to 49 points scored against No. 8 Gonzaga back on Nov. 23.
The Roos' defense limited the CSU Bakersfield 3-point shooters to 1-of-11 (.091) and 19-of-48 overall (.396) from the field.
Kansas City snaps a five-game road losing streak in Bakersfield and posts the first road win in the series since Jan. 25, 2014.
Junior Brandon McKissic made 8-of-9 field goals en route to his second 20-point effort of the year – his first since a career-high 27 in the season-opener – to lead the Roos. Senior Rob Whitfield added 15 points, backed by his three triples, and senior Jordan Giles complimented the team with 10 points.
Senior Javan White, saddled with foul trouble much of the game, was a key part of the final stretch. His pair of free throws at the 2:38 mark gave the Roos their largest lead of the game at 53-42. He eventually finished with a team-high seven rebounds. He entered the contest fourth in the WAC in overall rebounding and now has led the team 14 times this year in rebounding.

Last Time Out against California Baptist (Jan. 25)

Kansas City used a 15-0 run spanning both halves and snapped a four-game losing streak defeating California Baptist, 67-57, on Jan. 25 at the CBU Events Center. Sophomore Franck Kamgain got his first Roo career start and recorded a season-high 16 points on four three-pointers to lead a balanced-scoring attack. Junior Brandon McKissic chipped in 13 points, senior Jordan Giles had 11 points and junior Zion Williams and senior Rob Whitfield each had eight points in the winning effort.
One of the keys to the game was the Kansas City defense holding down a potent California Baptist offense that came into the game leading the conference in scoring offense at over 81 points per game and shooting percentage at 46 percent. Tonight, the Lancers shot just 33 percent from the field and scored their second-lowest amount of the season.
Starting with a Kamgain three-pointer at the 2:25 mark of the first half, Kansas City turned a close back-and-forth game into an insurmountable 43-27 lead. The Roos held a double-digit lead for the most part until California Baptist's Milan Acquaah helped the Lancers make a late push. His long-range bomb cut the Kansas City lead at six points (63-57) with :50 seconds remaining. But four throws by Kamgain and Giles sealed the Kansas City victory.

All-Time Series vs California Baptist

Kansas City has won two-of-three all-time meetings against the Lancers.
In the only previous meeting at Swinney Center, the Roos won 84-68, back on Jan. 10, 2019. As a team, Kansas City shot 53 percent overall and the defense forced 18 California Baptist turnovers.

Roos Look to Use Momentum Dealing with California Baptist

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Jordan Giles

Franck Kamgain

Brandon McKissic

Javan White

Rob Whitfield

Zion Williams

Roos Look to Use Momentum Dealing with California Baptist

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Jordan Giles

Franck Kamgain

Brandon McKissic

Javan White

Rob Whitfield

Zion Williams

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University of Missouri Kansas City Athletics