Back in the day, Roy Williams hoisted his share of shots at T.C. Roberson High School in Asheville, N.C.

But the two-time all-conference point guard, who was named all-Western North Carolina in 1968, never came close to launching as many bombs as UMKC’s Michael Watson.

The country’s leading scorer has averaged 23.1 shots per game entering today’s clash against Kansas.

Tipoff for the nonconference game is 2 p.m. at Kemper Arena in Kansas City, Mo. It’ll be shown live on channels 13 and 38 (cable channel 15).

“He’s taken probably more (shots) in one game than I took in 10,” KU coach Williams quipped of Watson, a 6-foot-1 junior who has made 92 of 255 shots overall, including 44 of 128 three-pointers.

“I am pretty good with numbers and can remember most things with numbers even 100 years ago when I played … I don’t ever remember shooting more than 15, 16 times a game,” Williams added. “I shot a lot more in college when I played intramurals (because) none of those guys could guard. Michael shoots it up there, but I think they decided for their team to be successful, he’s got to score.”

The former Kansas City Central High standout averages 25.6 points a game for the 1-10 Kangaroos, who average just 64.1 points per game while allowing 72.3.

Last year, Watson hit 12 of 26 shots en route to 29 points in UMKC’s 79-68 loss to Kansas at Allen Fieldhouse.

“If I shot 28 times a game I better score 40 or 50 or I’d be mad at myself,” said KU sophomore Keith Langford, who averages 11.7 shots a game.

“If anybody shoots 28 times on our team, we better have two or three starters not playing. If somebody is scoring 28 points on 28 shots, that’s putting it up there. I welcome him to shoot 28 shots against us if they are contested.”

Nick Collison is KU’s team leader at 12.1 shots per contest.

KU senior Kirk Hinrich may be the Jayhawk assigned to guard Watson, who averaged 21.9 points a game last year for the Roos, 18-11 in Rich Zvosec’s first season as head coach.

“He’s a talented player. Last year I was amazed at all the tough shots he hit,” Hinrich said. “I know he will probably get his shots. He’ll probably get his points. Hopefully we’ll try to make it hard for him to score. We have to make sure our team goes out and takes care of business.”

The Roos lost three starters off last year’s team, but nobody expected a 1-10 beginning.

“They have had a tough go and it was even tougher the other night because I heard that Michael Watson was sick and didn’t start,” Williams said of Tuesday’s 64-61 home loss to Monmouth. “But, then I saw he played 34 minutes so it didn’t make a lot of difference. They’ve had a tough year so far and our job is to make sure that it stays tough for at least one more game.”

KU will travel to Iowa State on Monday night for the Big 12 opener for both teams.

“I’m not trying to belittle UMKC, but they’re not ranked like Arizona and Wyoming,” Williams said of upcoming nonconference foes. “Once this one’s over Saturday, every game we play is a heck of a challenge and as far as fine tuning, every part of our game, we’ve got to improve.”