'Roos Look For Season Sweep Of Mastodons Thursday

The 'Roos have a big contest in terms of seeding for the Summit League Tournament on Thursday when IPFW comes to town. The 'Roos would be the fifth seed if the tournament started today, while IPFW would be seeded seventh, but only a game separates the two. It will be the 13th meeting between the 'Roos and Mastodons, with the series tied 6-6. The two squads split last season with each winning on the other's home floor. The 'Roos continued that trend earlier this year when it took a 63-59 win on January 19.
Fort Wayne enters the game after a dropping three in a row, including two against two of the top three teams in the league. The 'Roos handed IPFW its first home loss of the year on January 19.
The 'Dons are led by senior Frank Gaines, who is third in the Summit League at 19.3 points per game. The only other player in double figures is Luis Jacobo at 11.1 per contest. Mario Hines leads the 'Dons in rebounding at 5.6 a game.
As a team the Mastodons lead the league in offensive rebounding at 11.4 per game, while ranking second in rebound margin (+3.5). They score 65.3 and allow 65.6 points per contest. They are last in the league in free throw percentage however, at 64.7.
UMKC had several high points in the win over South Dakota on Saturday. Kansas City had 18 assists, the most since the second game of the season against Lincoln (Mo.), when they posted 20. The team also got 28 points out of the post position, with Fred Chatmon and Brad Reid combining to shoot 11-of-14 from the floor. Chatmon's 20 points matched a career-best, and he did it in his first game back from injury, sitting out the three games prior.
Kansas City got a career-high 17 points and career-best five threes from guard Nate Rogers on Saturday.
Junior Forward Kirk Korver also tallied 15 points against South Dakota, the second time he did that against USD this year. The 'Roos are now 6-1 (7-19 overall) on the season when he scores in double-figures, with the only loss coming by three to Albany.
With a victory the 'Roos will accomplish three important achievements. They will have won two games in a row for the first time this season, be two games up on the 'Dons with three to play in the conference and have swept IPFW for the first time ever in a season (and won two in a row in the series for the first time since 2008).
The game will be broadcast on WHB 810 AM and KSMO-TV channel 62.
Kansas City continues its home swing with its final home game of the year, Senior Night on Saturday against Oakland. The game will be nationally televised on Fox College Sports, as well as locally on KSMO.