Kansas City
UT-Martin
'Roos Snag First Win, 79-67 at UT-Martin Behind Chatmon Double-Double
11/20/2013 10:44:00 PM | Men's Basketball
(Martin, Tenn.) - Kansas City men's basketball got its first win in the tenure of Kareem Richardson by a 79-67 margin at UT-Martin behind a double-double by senior Fred Chatmon.
“We really challenged him the last few games, and he answered the bell,” Richardson said of Chatmon. “We need him to have double-doubles for us, and we feel he can be that type of player.”
The Skyhawks (1-5) jumped out to a quick 15-9 lead in the first seven-plus minutes, but the 'Roos (1-3) used defense and got the ball inside to answer, going on a 9-2 run to take their first lead with 10:21 on the clock on a Chatmon layup.
The Skyhawks briefly regained the advantage at 20-19 a couple minutes later, but a Chatmon dunk at the 9:22 mark gave the lead to UMKC for good. Kansas City got UT-Martin into foul trouble, and used the advantage to make a run at the 6:36 mark. A 16-1 run over the next four minutes, led by eight points from freshman Martez Harrison gave the 'Roos a 40-24 lead. They took a 42-30 advantage into the half, though.
Harrison led UMKC with 10 points, while Chatmon piled up 10. Senior Trinity Hall led the 'Roos on the glass with eight boards. Kansas City shot 57 percent, while holding UTM to only 33 percent shooting. The 'Roos also had 12 assists and 13 points off 10 UTM turnovers.
As expected, UTM stormed out of the locker room on a 13-5 run, cutting the margin to only four points with 15:28 on the clock. Kansas City didn't panic though, and got a three-pointer from junior Frank Williams to put it back to seven. The UTM second half push was mostly due to its offensive rebounding, as they pulled down 10 for 11 second-chance points.
The Skyhawks made another short run, and clipped the lead down to one with 10:49 on the clock at 55-54. The 'Roos rallied again to keep the lead, and went on a 10-2 spurt capped by a Harrison fastbreak layup to make it 67-58 with 6:12 left. UTM got it back to only two with 3:59 left, but the Kansas City defense held the Skyhawks scoreless the rest of the way and sealed the 12-point victory.
“I was really proud of our defensive improvement tonight.” Richardson said when asked about the game's biggest factor.
Kansas City was led by Chatmon's fifth career double-double, while Harrison matched his 20 point effort as well as snagging three steals, despite eight turnovers. Williams finished with 12 points, while Nelson Kirksey put up 11 on the night. Also tallying a career-high was Hall, who had 11 rebounds in a stellar defensive effort.
“He is demanding (hard play) from the guys,” Richardson said of Hall. “He has been our vocal leader, and the work that he did on the glass was tremendous, I mean he got some tough rebounds on the defensive end.”
Kansas City will head to Iowa State on Monday night to finish off the four-game road swing. It will be the second contest against the Cyclones all-time, and first at Hilton Coliseum.
