Saturday, February 8
Kansas City, MO
7:00 PM
Kansas City
vs
New Mexico State
Five Things to Know vs New Mexico State MBB
2/7/2020 1:27:00 PM | Men's Basketball
KANSAS CITY, Mo. – The Kansas City Men's Basketball (12-12, 4-5) team has its sights set on knocking off first-place New Mexico State when the Aggies (18-6, 9-0) come to Swinney Center Saturday for a 7 p.m. start. The Roos look to halt a 12-game win streak by New Mexico State in a "White-Out" themed-game.
The first 1,000 fans will receive a Roo White-Out shirt. As always, University of Missouri-Kansas City students are free with a student I.D. Also, Kansas City Athletics will retire the No. 33 basketball jersey to honor the impact the UMKC student body has on all NCAA athletic programs. The No. 33 signifies the founding year of the University in 1933. The recognition will occur during a special half-time ceremony.
1)Â Â Â The Roos are looking to rebound from a Thursday home loss to UT Rio Grande Valley. Kansas City should get a boost from a home crowd where it holds a 7-3 home record, while the Aggies are 6-3 in true road games. The last loss by New Mexico State was against in-state rival New Mexico back on Dec. 14, 2019.
2)Â Â Â The game features the top-two shooting teams in the Western Athletic Conference. New Mexico State holds a slim lead shooting 45.6 percent and the Roos are second at a 45.5 clip. When Kansas City shoots at least 50 percent this year, the team is 4-1. In addition, Kansas City ranks No. 1 as a team in 3-point accuracy (37.3). Through nine conference games, the Roos are slightly better at 38.9 percent from downtown.
3)Â Â Â Senior Rob Whitfield has been deadeye from 3-point range this year. He leads the conference in 3-point shooting (.423) and is second in make's per game (2.4). In 11 of his last 12 games, he has nailed at least two treys. With the long-range accuracy also comes scoring. The Raleigh, N.C., native went for his team-leading 12th double-digit scoring game Thursday against UTRGV. In his last five games, he has averaged 13.4 points, up from his 9.9 season average.
4)Â Â Â On Thursday, the Roos started their 10th different combination: Kamgain, Whitfield and Williams in the backcourt with Giles and Allick in the frontcourt. The 10 different starting combos ranks in the top 10 in the NCAA for most starting rotations. Thus far, the most successful with a 4-0 record is McKissic, Nesbitt Jr. and Whitfield at the guard position and White paired with Giles at forward.
5)Â Â Â First-year head coach Billy Donlon is guiding a Kansas City team to much-anticipated success. The 12 season victories has already surpassed last year's win total. The Roos recently owned a four-game win streak and a three-game streak. In early January, Kansas City posted a 9-7 record, which was the fastest to nine wins since the 2010-11 season.
Last Time Out: UT Rio Grande Valley def. Kansas City, 73-60 (Feb. 6)
Last Time Out against New Mexico State (Jan. 11)
All-Time Series vs New Mexico State
The first 1,000 fans will receive a Roo White-Out shirt. As always, University of Missouri-Kansas City students are free with a student I.D. Also, Kansas City Athletics will retire the No. 33 basketball jersey to honor the impact the UMKC student body has on all NCAA athletic programs. The No. 33 signifies the founding year of the University in 1933. The recognition will occur during a special half-time ceremony.
1)Â Â Â The Roos are looking to rebound from a Thursday home loss to UT Rio Grande Valley. Kansas City should get a boost from a home crowd where it holds a 7-3 home record, while the Aggies are 6-3 in true road games. The last loss by New Mexico State was against in-state rival New Mexico back on Dec. 14, 2019.
2)Â Â Â The game features the top-two shooting teams in the Western Athletic Conference. New Mexico State holds a slim lead shooting 45.6 percent and the Roos are second at a 45.5 clip. When Kansas City shoots at least 50 percent this year, the team is 4-1. In addition, Kansas City ranks No. 1 as a team in 3-point accuracy (37.3). Through nine conference games, the Roos are slightly better at 38.9 percent from downtown.
3)Â Â Â Senior Rob Whitfield has been deadeye from 3-point range this year. He leads the conference in 3-point shooting (.423) and is second in make's per game (2.4). In 11 of his last 12 games, he has nailed at least two treys. With the long-range accuracy also comes scoring. The Raleigh, N.C., native went for his team-leading 12th double-digit scoring game Thursday against UTRGV. In his last five games, he has averaged 13.4 points, up from his 9.9 season average.
4)Â Â Â On Thursday, the Roos started their 10th different combination: Kamgain, Whitfield and Williams in the backcourt with Giles and Allick in the frontcourt. The 10 different starting combos ranks in the top 10 in the NCAA for most starting rotations. Thus far, the most successful with a 4-0 record is McKissic, Nesbitt Jr. and Whitfield at the guard position and White paired with Giles at forward.
5)Â Â Â First-year head coach Billy Donlon is guiding a Kansas City team to much-anticipated success. The 12 season victories has already surpassed last year's win total. The Roos recently owned a four-game win streak and a three-game streak. In early January, Kansas City posted a 9-7 record, which was the fastest to nine wins since the 2010-11 season.
Last Time Out: UT Rio Grande Valley def. Kansas City, 73-60 (Feb. 6)
- UT Rio Grande Valley shot 53 percent from the field to take a 73-60 victory against Kansas City Men's Basketball at Swinney Center.
- Senior Rob Whitfield led the way for the Roos with 13 points on a trio of three-pointers. Senior Javan White and freshman Josiah Allick each finished with 10 points.
- In addition to his scoring, White also gathered a team-high seven rebounds and career-high tying three blocks. Sophomore Franck Kamgain contributed a team-high six assists.
- As a team, the Roos held a slight 28-27 rebounding advantage and now has been on the plus-side of rebounding in four-straight games.
Last Time Out against New Mexico State (Jan. 11)
- The Roos, under first-year head coach Billy Donlon, battled and showed grit in a 74-71 loss at the Pan American Center.
- Kansas City hung tough in spite of being without leading scorer and rebounder Javan White, who was injured in the Jan. 9th loss at UT Rio Grande Valley.
- The Roos nailed a season-high 13 three-pointers and forced 18 New Mexico State turnovers.
- Seniors Jordan Giles (16 points) and Rob Whitfield (14 points) led the three-point barrage with four long-range shots each. Senior Jahshire Hardnett and junior Marvin Nesbitt Jr., each finished with 13 points.
All-Time Series vs New Mexico State
- Saturday is the 15th all-time meeting between the Roos and Aggies. New Mexico State is 14-1 all-time against the Roos.
- New Mexico State has won 14-straight games in the series.
- The lone Kansas City win occurred on Jan. 18, 2014 in the first-ever match-up.
- Kansas City is 1-4 all-time at home against NMSU.
- In the 74-71 loss in the last meeting on Jan. 11th, the three-point margin was the smallest in 10 meetings (Feb. 27, 2016).
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