Kansas City
William Jewell
'Roos Set Steals Record, Coast Past Cardinals, 84-44
11/29/2014 10:43:00 PM | Men's Basketball
(Kansas City, Mo.) - The 'Roos jumped out early and never looked back on Saturday night at Municipal Auditorium, nabbing a school record 22 steals on the way to an 84-44 victory over William Jewell in men's basketball action.
“We got after them defensively from the first play of the game with Noah (Knight) setting the tone,” Head Coach Kareem Richardson said. “I have never been a part of a game with 22 steals so that was fun to see.”
The 'Roos (3-4) jumped on the Cardinals from the start, pressing full court and creating turnovers. After the first four minutes of play, UMKC had a 13-2 lead, and never looked back. It pushed the advantage to as many as 16-2 before the Cardinals (0-3) made their only run of the half to cut it to six. The 'Roos answered with another long run, and 15 by the 7:42 mark, and 20 with 5:32 to play.
It went into the break up 26 points, with a 51-25 lead, matching the largest advantage of the half. UMKC forced the Cardinals into 19 turnovers and turned those into 31 points. They also had a school record with 13 steals in a half, including a career-best four from freshman Noah Knight.
UMKC shot 58 percent in the period and were led in scoring by Martez Harrison with 14 points, while Frank Williams put up 10. WJC was held to 33 percent shooting, and were led by Austin Regier with six points.
The second stanza got off to a bit of a slow start, but picked up by the first media timeout. A pair of free throws by Knight with 7:17 to play pushed the margin to 31, and Richardson sent the bench in after that.
The 'Roos would finish the night forcing 33 turnovers from the guests, matching a school record set in 2003 against Norfolk State. The steal record was also previously held by the 2003 team with 18 against Oklahoma State.
The 'Roos got 12 players in the game, and did not play with Shayok Shayok, who was out due to injury. Eleven of those players scored, and all of them played at least 11 minutes.
UMKC finished shooting 49.2 percent, while holding the Cardinals to 34.7 percent in the game. The 'Roos also took a 38-31 rebound advantage, and outscored the guests 44-6 in points off turnovers and 18-0 in fast-break points.
Harrison finished with 16 points to lead the way, while also adding five assists and a career-best five steals. Broderick Newbill tallied 13 points as well (11 in second half), while Williams finished with 10.
UMKC will head back out on the road for three more games, with UW-Milwaukee being the first opponent on Wednesday night at 7 p.m.
