Courtesy: UMKC Athletics Sophomore Trey McKinney-Jones and the UMKC men's basketball team will play at North Dakota in its first road game of the season on Saturday afternoon.

THE SETTING
The UMKC men’s basketball team will hit the road for the first time this season when it travels north to face off against North Dakota on Saturday afternoon in Grand Forks.  The ‘Roos and Fighting Sioux will play at the Betty Engelstad Sioux Center beginning at 1 p.m. in a game that will be televised on Fox College Sports.

ON THE AIR
Radio: 810 AM WHB (Steven Davis - p-b-p)
Television: Fox College Sports (Pat Sweeney - p-b-p; Jody Norstedt - color)
Web: Roo Vision (www.UMKCKangaroos.com)
Live Stats:  www.UMKCKangaroos.com

LAST TIME OUT
After leading by five points at the half, the UMKC men’s basketball team dominated the second 20 minutes to run out 78-52 winners over Lincoln University on Tuesday night.  Four ‘Roo players finished the contest in double digits with sophomore LaTreze Mushatt leading the way with 20 points on 9-of-12 shooting. 

THE COACHES
Head Coach Matt Brown is in his third season with the UMKC men’s basketball program, where he has compiled an 20-45 overall record and has coached three players to all-Summit League recognition.  Former forward Dane Brumagin was a second team all-league honoree and Reggie Hamilton was an all-newcomer team selection in 2007-08, while Brumagin earned an honorable mention all-league nod in 2008-09.  Last season, Brown guided the ‘Roos to a pair of wins over Missouri Valley Conference foes Wichita State and Bradley.  It was just the third time in school history for the team to beat two MVC teams in the same season.   
    North Dakota is led by fourth year head coach Brian Jones, who has compiled a 42-47 record in Grand Forks.  Jones led the Sioux to an improvement on their previous season’s win total in each of the last three seasons.
   
SCOUTING NORTH DAKOTA
The Fighting Sioux bring an 0-3 record into Saturday’s match-up with UMKC after dropping all three games at the Grizzly Basketball Tournament last weekend in Missoula, Mont.  UND opened the season with a 61-37 loss to host Montana before dropping decisions to Loyola Marymount (83-60) and Boise State (75-60) to round out the tournament.
    Forward Patrick Mitchell is the only Sioux player that is averaging in double digits on the year, as the sophomore averages 12.0 points per game.  Travis Mertens, meanwhile, is second on the squad with 8.3 points to go along with a team-best 7.7 rebounds.  Leading returning scorer Travis Bledsoe (10.7 ppg.) has played in just one game this season and is day-to-day.
    North Dakota has been out scored 219-157 in three games, as the squad has shot just .409 (54-132) from the floor, .304 (17-56) from long range and .542 (32-59) from the charity stripe.  The Fighting Sioux have also averaged nearly 20 turnovers a game, while being out rebounded 35.3-27.7.

UND GAME NOTES
• Saturday’s game will be UND’s home opener at the Betty Engelstad Sioux Center. 
• The Fighting Sioux are an extremely young team with 10 underclassmen on its roster, featuring two true freshman, six redshirt freshman and two sophomores.
• UND is in its second full season of transition into Division I basketball.  The Sioux will play 27-of-30 games against DI competition after playing 15 against DI teams last season.
• The Sioux will be a part of the inaugural Great West Conference in 2009-10, where the squad was picked to finish fourth in the preseason poll.

THE SERIES
The Sioux lead the all-time series over UMKC, 1-0, after winning the first meeting last November.  UND opened Division I play with a 61-56 victory over the ‘Roos at the Swinney Recreation Center in Kansas City.

QUICK HITTERS
• UMKC won its regular season opener for the first time since the 2006-07 season and for the first time during the Matt Brown era on Nov. 14 in the 80-33 win over Truman State.
• The program is 2-0 for the first time since 2006-07 and will be looking for its first 3-0 start since 2001-02.
• UMKC’s margin of victory in the two wins is 36.5 points.
• The ‘Roos have forced 51 turnovers in two games, while committing just 21 TOs.
• Sophomore Trey McKinney-Jones finished with career-highs in steals (4) and assists (5) against Truman State.  He has a team-high eight assists to just one turnover on the season.
• Freshman Alex Bazzell has a 6-to-0 assist-to-turnover ratio in his first two collegiate games.  He finished with five assists in the win over Lincoln.
• Sophomore walk-on Patrick Inyard scored his first career-point on a free throw in the win over LU.
• UMKC went 3-13 on the road last season and is 5-26 away from KC the last two seasons.

SHARING THE ROCK
UMKC is averaging 18.5 assists per game through two games as it is recorded an assist on 73 percent of its field goals.  The squad finished with a season-high 20 assists on 29 field goals in the season-opening win over Truman State, which matched the high for the program during the Matt Brown era.

MAN ON FIRE
Sophomore LaTreze Mushatt has been UMKC’s hottest and most efficient player to start the season.  The forward is averaging a team-high 16.0 points on .737 (14-19) shooting from the floor and .667 (2-3) from long range to go along with a team-best 7.0 rebounds per contest.
    The Michigan native’s breakout game came in the win over Lincoln on Nov. 17 when he made a career-best 9-of-12 field goals en route to a career-high 20 points.  He also grabbed nine boards to finish just shy of his first career double-double.

TMJ EMERGES ON PERIMETER
Sophomore Trey McKinney-Jones finished with a career-high 16 points on 4-of-7 shooting in the win over Lincoln University.  The guard was aggressive with the ball in his hands, which led to him making a career-high 8-of-10 free throw attempts. 

DEFENSIVE INTENSITY
UMKC stepped up its defensive intensity in the win over Truman State on Nov. 14.  Using an aggressive man-to-man defense, the ‘Roos limited the Bulldogs to 33 points, which is the second fewest points allowed in a single game in school history to William Jewell’s 29 points on Nov. 21, 1999. 
    Through two games, the squad is giving up just 42.5 points per game, while limiting its opposition to a .333 field goal percentage and a .200 mark from long range.

A ROUT
UMKC’s 47-point win over Truman State is the fifth largest margin of victory in school history and the biggest win for a Matt Brown coached team. 
   
COUISNARD NETS CAREER-HIGH
Junior Jay Couisnard made the most of his UMKC debut, as the forward scored a career-high 17 points on 7-of-11 shooting in the win over Truman State on Nov. 14.  The forward followed it up with an 11-point performance in the victory over Lincoln three days later. 

A KORVER DEBUT
Freshman Kirk Korver opened his UMKC career in grand fashion by finishing with 12 points on 5-of-7 shooting in the win over Truman State.  In the first half alone, the center was a perfect 4-of-4 from the floor en route to 10 points in his first 20 minutes of collegiate basketball.
    Kirk’s performance is the top single game output among the Korver brothers in their collegiate debuts.  Kyle and Kaleb, both of whom played at Creighton, scored two points apiece in wins over Mississippi Valley State and DePaul, respectively, while Klayton (Drake) netted three points in a victory over Simpson in 2003.

TEAM CAPTAINS
The Kangaroos have a trio of captains for the 2009-10 season.  Juniors Spencer Johnson and Jay Couisnard and sophomore LaTreze Mushatt will don the captain titles this season.  Couisnard assumes the leadership role despite not having played a single minute in UMKC Blue and Gold.

YOUNG SQUAD
UMKC’s roster of 15 players includes five freshmen, five sophomores and five juniors.  The freshmen are Alex Bazzell, Fred Chatmon, Kirk Korver, Max Rockmann and Aaron Young.  The sophomores are Dustin Dibble, Michael Gholston, Jr., Patrick Inyard, Trey McKinney-Jones and LaTreze Mushatt.
    Gholston, Jr. is in his first year at UMKC after attending State Fair Community College in Sedalia, Mo., last season.