Kansas City
Chicago State
Kangaroos Take Out Cougars in WAC Home Opener, 64-62
1/17/2015 5:47:00 PM | Men's Basketball
(Kansas City, Mo.) - UMKC overcame a slow start and choppy finish on Saturday afternoon in its WAC home opener, taking a 64-62 victory over Chicago State behind 24 points from Martez Harrison. The 'Roos led by as many as 17 in the second half, but allowed 16 points in the final 1:25 to make the game close at the end.
“We will take the win,” Head Coach Kareem Richardson said. “I thought we answered (Chicago State's) start, and we needed to close it out better. It wasn't pretty but we will take it.”
The Cougars (4-15, 0-2 WAC) jumped all over the 'Roos (6-13, 1-1 WAC) to open the game, scoring the contest's first 11 points. The 'Roos missed their first 11 shots, several of which were from close range. Harrison put UMKC on the board at the 15:04 mark though, hitting a three and sparking the offense. UMKC would turn that into a 21-4 run to take a 21-15 lead with 7:11 to play in the half.
After CSU cut it back down to three with 5:20 left, the 'Roos turned it up again, and closed the period on a 15-4 run, including three free throws with 0.3 on the clock from Harrison after he was fouled on a three-pointer. Those makes gave UMKC a 37-23 lead at the half.
Harrison had 14 points for the 'Roos at the break to lead all scorers. UMKC recovered to shoot 36 percent in the period, but caught fire from three, hitting 7-of-14 from beyond the arc. Both Harrison and Frank Williams hit three of them. The Cougars shot 33 percent, but UMKC supplemented that with a 22-16 advantage on the glass, including 10 offensive boards.
The 'Roos looked as if they would continue the offensive execution in the second half, jumping out to a 44-27 lead with 15:39 on the clock, but CSU upped its defensive intensity, and UMKC couldn't hit a shot after that. The 'Roos didn't hit a field goal for more than seven minutes, and the Cougars got the margin down to as little as six before Harrison hit a three with 8:24 on the clock to stop the rally.
UMKC got the lead back up to 11, then CSU cut it back to five with 4:51 left. The 'Roos got an old-fashioned three-point play from Deshon Taylor with 1:40 left to make it an 11 point game to virtually seal it, or so they thought.
The Cougars couldn't miss in the final 1:25, scoring 16 points, while UMKC hit 7-of-10 from the stripe. Outside of the first five minutes of the game and last minute and a half, the 'Roos held Chicago State to only 35 points.
Harrison was the only 'Roo in double figures with 24 points, with Williams going for nine. UMKC shot only 27 percent in the final stanza, and 32 percent in the game, but held on for the win. CSU tallied a 38 percent clip from the floor. Both teams were all over the offensive glass, with UMKC getting 20 and CSU picking up 18 rebounds.
UMKC will continue its home stand on Thursday when Bakersfield comes to town for a 7:05 p.m. tipoff at Municipal. The game will be televised on KSMO in Kansas City. School starts back up for UMKC on Tuesday.
