South Dakota visits UMKC after Contreras’ 32-point game

By Canadian Press on January 30, 2025.

South Dakota Coyotes (9-12, 3-4 Summit) at UMKC Kangaroos (8-14, 4-3 Summit)

Kansas City, Missouri; Thursday, 8 p.m. EST

BOTTOM LINE: UMKC faces South Dakota after Alayna Contreras scored 32 points in UMKC’s 66-65 win over the Omaha Mavericks.

The Kangaroos are 5-4 on their home court. UMKC has a 2-1 record in one-possession games.

The Coyotes have gone 3-4 against Summit opponents. South Dakota is sixth in the Summit scoring 30.4 points per game in the paint led by Grace Larkins averaging 16.0.

UMKC is shooting 39.3% from the field this season, 3.1 percentage points lower than the 42.4% South Dakota allows to opponents. South Dakota averages 68.4 points per game, 1.6 more than the 66.8 UMKC allows to opponents.

The matchup Thursday is the first meeting of the season between the two teams in conference play.

TOP PERFORMERS: Contreras is averaging 16.1 points for the Kangaroos. Emani Bennett is averaging 17.9 points over the past 10 games.

Alexi Hempe is shooting 37.4% from beyond the arc with 2.5 made 3-pointers per game for the Coyotes, while averaging 11.5 points. Larkins is shooting 52.4% and averaging 25.8 points over the past 10 games.

LAST 10 GAMES: Kangaroos: 5-5, averaging 66.9 points, 31.4 rebounds, 12.6 assists, 10.6 steals and 2.8 blocks per game while shooting 40.5% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 65.0 points per game.

Coyotes: 5-5, averaging 65.9 points, 27.1 rebounds, 10.0 assists, 4.5 steals and 1.5 blocks per game while shooting 41.3% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 69.2 points.

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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.

The Associated Press