Missouri-Kansas City to Play USD Tonight

The University of Missouri-Kansas City men’s basketball team comes into tonight’s game against the University of San Diego at the USD Sports Center with a 1-3 record.

Missouri-Kansas City, playing in NCAA Division I for the first year, has beaten only Prairie View A&M;, 77-62. But the Kangaroos lost by just two, 62-60, to Rice, which beat USD, 97-90, in overtime. They also have lost to Kansas State, 81-54, and Louisiana Tech, 70-58.

Baxter Russell, 6-feet 5-inches, leads the Kangaroos with a 12.8-point average.

USD has played better lately after a slow start and Monday night defeated Brown, 74-54, to even its record at 4-4. Marty Munn, the team’s leading scorer, had 22 points.

USD Coach Hank Egan also may have found a regular point guard after a long search. Efrem Leonard scored 10 points against Brown and has played well in his past three starts after sitting on the bench for most of the first five games. Egan said Leonard is the starter “for now.”