Game Preview: UMKC

Before I get into the the details of this particular game, I'll catch you up on how the team has done so far.  We currently sit at 9-7, 4-4 in the conference (for those who do not know our conference is called the Summit League), and have lost our last two games after winning three in a row.  One of the losses was to Oral Roberts 71-70 in double OT.  ORU has yet to lose a conference game and while that loss was tough to take, our guys definitely proved they can play with anyone in this conference.  The other loss was two days later to Southern Utah 65-55.  That was a frustrating one because we are definitely better than them.  You could tell that we were a little hungover from the ORU game.  The intensity we had vs ORU just wasn't there during the Southern Utah game.  Despite those losses, we're still in good shape.  Especially considering last year we only won seven games the whole season.  This team has a lot of potential to make a ton of noise in the conference.  After that ORU game I truly believe that we are in the top four teams in our conference.

 Ok, now that you have a good feel for the team, I'll get to today's game vs the Kangaroos of UMKC.  The Kangaroos enter the game sitting at 7-13, are 1-7 in the conference, and have lost they're last eight games.  Those numbers might not be that impressive, but this is still a very important game for us.  It's always tough to win on the road, but we're on a two game losing streak so we need to get back in the win column.  If we win this game it'll go a long way in creating some momentum for the rest of this trip.

UMKC's best player is a senior by the name of Reggie Chamberlain.  He averages about 16 points per game, is an 85% free throw shooter, shoots 44% from the field and is hitting 42% of his three pointers...all pretty good numbers.  He's the guy we need to watch out for, but we usually do a good job of slowing down the other teams top players.

As a team UMKC is averaging 65.9 points per game while we average 65.6.  We're the two lowest scoring teams in the conference, but offense isn't the Leathernecks game.  WIU is home to the best defense in the conference as we only give up 59.9 points per game.  We're number one in that category by four points.  Meanwhile UMKC is giving up 72.8 points per game, putting them at number six in the conference.  Western always plays a slower game that is designed to take opposing teams out of their element and force them to play our style of basketball.

I also want to note that our point guard Ceola Clark III is currently tied for the all-time career steals record at WIU.  So if he can grab another tonight he'll be all alone at #1!

My man Ceola Clark III putting his lock down D on display and grabbing another steal vs Oral Roberts.

To wrap this one up, I really believe that all three games on this trip are winnable.  The team needs to focus and not have the flat performance we saw vs Southern Utah.  It all gets started tonight at 7:05pm vs the Kangaroos.  As always:  GO 'NECKS!!!