Kansas City
South Dakota State
Jacks Run Past 'Roos in Road Contest, 81-61
12/6/2014 4:09:00 PM | Men's Basketball
(Brookings, S.D.) – UMKC men's basketball fell behind early and could never recover in an 81-61 loss at former Summit League foe South Dakota State on Saturday at Frost Arena.
“Our offensive execution wasn't where it needed to be early, and South Dakota State capitalized on some things.” Head Coach Kareem Richardson said. “They shot a high percentage, and we couldn't get enough stops to keep the game close in the first half, and that was just a tough lead to overcome.”
The lead to start the game for the Jackrabbits (4-3) was 17-4 in the opening 7:06. UMKC (3-6) tried to answer, but could only get open shots from the outside, as SDSU packed it in defensively and contested everything inside. The 'Roos hit some open threes, to get the margin back to 17-10, but after the teams battled back and forth for the next four minutes, the Jacks started another run to put the game out of reach.
They moved the lead from nine to 22 over the next six minutes (the largest deficit of the season for UMKC), and went into the break, up 44-25. They held UMKC to only 2-of-17 from shots inside the three-point line in the half, while the 'Roos shot 6-of-9 from three. Meanwhile, SDSU shot 57 percent from the floor, and went to the line 10 more times than UMKC. Making matters worse, UMKC's Shayok Shayok suffered an injury after 12 minutes of action, and did not return.
The second half saw the 'Roos show some heart, as they brought energy and started to execute a little better on offense. Unfortunately, the margin was just too big. UMKC went on a 15-4 run over a span of six-plus minutes to get the lead down to as little as 10 with 7:45 to play, but the Jacks just continued to get the ball inside, and to the foul line, pushing that lead back to as many as 24.
The home team was able to empty its bench with a little over a minute to play. The Jacks also were able to handle the Kangaroos pressure, committing only 11 turnovers, the fewest by a UMKC opponent this season (previous low was 17).
In the end, SDSU went 25-of-30 from the line, while UMKC was there only 18 times, hitting 14. Also, the Jacks shot 49 percent, while UMKC hit only 38 percent. The Jacks out-scored the 'Roos by only one in the second half though.
Martez Harrison led the 'Roos with 12 points, the 27th consecutive game in double figures, matching Michael Watson for the second longest streak in school history. He was only 4-of-13 from the floor though, and had seven of the 'Roos 16 turnovers in the game. Deshon Taylor matched his career-high with 10 points.
UMKC will finish its road trip on Tuesday night against No. 20 Iowa State at 6:00 p.m. The game will be nationally televised on ESPNU.
