Kansas City
Chicago State
Cougars Fend Off 'Roos, Take Season Series, 81-74
2/8/2014 7:59:00 PM | Men's Basketball
(Chicago, Ill.) - Chicago State answered a Kansas City run to tie it with eight minutes left, and then held off the 'Roos for an 81-74 win and a season sweep Saturday at the Jones Center.
CSU's Quinton Pippen was the answer for much of the night, hitting big shots after each UMKC run, and finished with 28 points for the Cougars, missing only three shots.
The 'Roos (7-15, 4-5 WAC) played one of their sloppiest halves of the season, turning it over 13 times and going 7-of-14 from the line in the opening period. The half was riddled with fouls as well, with UMKC getting whistled for 12, and Chicago State (10-12, 5-3 WAC) getting 13 called against them. The Cougars took nine more shots and hit 11-of-13 from the line though, making the difference.
Chicago State pushed its lead to as many as 10 with 1:29 before the half, after taking the advantage for good at the 12:57 mark. The Cougars took a 34-26 lead into the half, scoring a 12-3 margin in points off turnovers.
The second half started even better for CSU, pushing its lead to 15 in the opening five minutes, but that's when the 'Roos woke up. They used a 15-2 rally over a span of five minutes, pressing and forcing turnovers, to get the margin down to just two with 9:39 to play. After the Cougars moved it back to four, UMKC scored the next two buckets, capped by a Martez Harrison jumper in the paint to knot it at 52 with 8:06 on the clock.
Pippen answered it though, coming into the game and hitting a long three-pointer, followed by an old fashioned three-point play on the next possession to snag the lead back for good. He sparked an 11-2 spurt to get it back to double-digits with 3:13 to play.
UMKC would press the rest of the way, but could only get as close as five with 29 seconds left. Harrison and Frank Williams led the offensive push in the final half for UMKC, with 18 and 11 points, respectively.
For the game, UMKC shot 48 percent, while CSU was at 44 percent. The 'Roos also had a 38-31 advantage on the boards, but 19 turnovers that led to 23 CSU points proved to be the difference, as Kansas City had 14 points off turnovers. UMKC also hit 16-of-27 from the line, while CSU was 27-of-32.
Harrison was one point shy of his career-high with 27 points in the game, while Williams had 11 (all in second half). Pippen's 28 points was a career-high, while Clarke Rosenberg had 19 (11 from the line).
Kansas City will head to New Mexico State on Thursday, before facing Texas-Pan American on Saturday afternoon.
