Kansas City
Grand Canyon
Harrison's 31 Leads 'Roos to Gritty 85-80 Win at Grand Canyon
2/27/2014 11:31:00 PM | Men's Basketball
(Phoenix, Ariz.) - Freshman Martez Harrison scored a career-high 31 points and the Kansas City men's basketball squad battled out a tough 85-80 road win in front of a packed house at Grand Canyon on Thursday night.
With the 'Roos leading 82-80, Harrison hit a three-pointer as the shot clock expired and 10.5 seconds remaining, clinching the victory. He became the first 'Roo to score 31 points since Jay Cousinard did it on February 17, 2011. It was the most for a freshman at UMKC since Tony Dumas scored 40 on March 3, 1991. He is only the third UMKC freshman to score 30+ in a game (Dumas and Ronnie Schmitz).
“I wanted to get to the basket, but it was cut off,” Harrison said of the last UMKC possession. “I knew the clock was running down, but I thought I got a good shot.”
The 'Roos (9-18, 6-8 WAC) put on an offensive clinic, shooting 55.4 percent and committing a season-low four turnovers, while Grand Canyon (13-13, 8-5 WAC) was almost as impressive, hitting 52.1 percent. Kansas City made the 'Lopes pay for their mistakes though, scoring 22 points off 12 turnovers.
The contest started off at a frantic pace, and remained that way for much of the opening half. The two teams battled back and forth with runs and hot three-point shooting, especially from GCU guard Jerome Garrison, who hit his first six from beyond the arc on his way to 21 first period points. He helped the Lopes get up by as many as 10 with 6:45 to play, but Kansas City answered with a flurry of threes of its own, two of which came from senior Nelson Kirksey.
The 'Roos tied it at 36 with 2:38 on the clock, but GCU scored the final six points of the half to go in to the break, up 46-40.
“They shot 62 percent and we were only down six at the half, and I told our guys with our style of play those same shots wouldn't fall in the second half, and they didn't,” UMKC Head Coach Kareem Richardson said. “I thought they got fatigued, and our play really wore them down.”
The second stanza saw the Kangaroos tie it up quickly before Grand Canyon would take advantage again with 14:20 to play, up by six. The lead got to seven with 8:53 remaining, but that's when Harrison took over, and the 'Roos got some stops. Just two minutes later, the game was tied at 68 after a 7-0 run by UMKC. It took its first lead since the 11:37 mark of the opening half when Harrison drilled a three with 5:58 left, making it 71-70.
The 'Roos went up by three on multiple occasions, but extended it to a two-possession game when senior Kirk Korver drilled a three with 2:35 on the clock, the 100th of his career. The next two times GCU got within two, Harrison had the answer.
The 'Lopes were held to only 41 percent in the second half, while no player had more than 10 points. The 'Roos also had a 9-0 advantage in points off turnovers.
Kansas City has now defeated all three of the teams at the top of the WAC standings this season. The four league road wins are also the most since the 2010-11 season.
Harrison had 22 of his 31 in the final half, while Trinity Hall was a major factor with nine of his 13 in the second. Kirksey added 12 points, while Frank Williams tallied 10. As a team, the 'Roos had a 15-4 assist-to-turnover ratio. GCU controlled the glass with a 33-21 rebounding edge.
UMKC will play its final two regular season games next Thursday and Saturday at home, although they will be played at the Independence Events Center against Seattle and Idaho, respectively.
