Kansas City
UW-Milwaukee
'Roos Come From 17 Back, But Run Out of Gas In Loss to Panthers, 84-79
11/30/2013 11:48:00 PM | Men's Basketball
(Kansas City, Mo.) - UMKC men's basketball found something on Saturday night, coming from 17 points back late in the first half to take a lead early in the second period, but in the end UW-Milwaukee pulled out an 84-79 win.
“I was really proud of our effort today,” Head Coach Kareem Richardson said. “We played hard, but we have to learn to play with that energy in longer spurts.”
The 'Roos (1-5) trailed the Panthers (7-2) 41-24 with 1:15 left in the first period, but used a 5-0 spurt to close the stanza, including a half-court buzzer-beater by freshman Martez Harrison going into the break. They came out in the second right where they left off, expanding the run to 27-9 over a span of 5:12 to take a 51-50 lead with 15:10 to play. The 'Roos forced four turnovers during that rally, and 25 of the points came from the trio of Trinity Hall, Nelson Kirksey, and Harrison.
UWM quickly took the lead back and moved it as many as six, but Kansas City had another answer at the 8:58 mark when Harrison got back-to-back layups plus the foul in a span of 10 seconds. He cut it to one, but the 'Roos got the lead with 8:04 to play on a Caleb Johnson dunk after a scramble at 65-64.
The lead changed hands once more before Kansas City grabbed its largest lead of the game at 70-66 with 5:08 to play. The 'Roos held on to the advantage until the 2:45 mark when UWM's Matt Tiby hit two free throws to get the lead back for good. The Panthers hit 8-of-10 from the line in the final 1:04 to seal it.
Milwaukee built its first half lead due to the play of guard Jordan Aaron, who went off for 20 points in the period on 5-of-6 shooting from beyond the arc. Harrison led the 'Roos with 12 at the break. The Panthers were unconscious shooting in the half, hitting 71.4 percent, while UMKC hit 52.2 percent.
The Panthers built their 17-point lead due to an 18-4 run that took only four minutes late in the first half. With 5:36 to play in the period, UMKC trailed by only three.
The difference in the second stanza for UMKC was the offensive outburst in the paint, scoring 34 of its 50 points inside. UWM still shot 58 percent in the half and 65 for the game, including 53 percent from beyond the arc and 24 free throws that all contributed to the win.
Kansas City hit 56.4 percent in the game, but only 59 percent from the line and 1-of-10 from three (the half-court shot). Harrison finished with a career-high 28 points, the most for a 'Roo since Reggie Chamberlain had 30 on December 3, 2011 at Oakland. Hall tallied 19 points, while Kirksey had a season-high 17, 13 of which came in the second half.
The 'Roos will head to play at defending national champion and former home of Richardson, Louisville, on Wednesday night at 6:00 p.m. CT.
