Kansas City
South Dakota
Coyotes Hot-Shooting Beats Kangaroos, 79-70
12/8/2015 10:08:00 PM | Men's Basketball
(Vermillion S.D.) - The South Dakota Coyotes shot 52 percent on Tuesday night at the DakotaDome, and UMKC couldn't find an answer, falling on the road by a 79-70 margin.
UMKC (5-4) came out strong in the contest, playing with energy, and in the opening 10 minutes, it led by a 21-11 margin after a Shayok Shayok dunk. That is when the Coyotes (6-3) started to get out in transition and cut the UMKC margin down, going on a 16-2 rally to take the lead over the next five minutes, making it 27-23.
The next swing of momentum came from the 'Roos though, as it scored the game's next seven points to go back up by three, sparked by junior Dashawn King, who had two assists and a bucket during the rally. The teams were nearly even to end the half, but Dan Jech got a transition layup and the foul with 33 seconds left to put the Coyotes up by three at the break, 37-34.
The second stanza saw USD move its lead to as many as 11 in the first five minutes, capped by a Trey Norris three-pointer. He proved to be the catalyst in the second-half for the Coyotes, scoring 17 of his team-high 19 points in the stanza. A Norris layup with 7:13 on the clock made it a 15-point USD lead, but UMKC didn't give up.
LaVell Boyd caught fire from three for the 'Roos, who were facing a South Dakota zone defense most of the second half. He connected on three, three-pointers in just more than two minutes, and got the 'Roos within five with 3:56 to play. That is when Norris took over, hitting a three with 2:18 left as the shot clock expired, and another with 1:28 on the clock to virtually seal it.
“You have to give them credit, especially Norris. He made some big shots down the stretch there, that were huge threes when we had cut it down to five,” UMKC Head Coach Kareem Richardson said. “I thought we competed for the most part, but they made some tough shots and the big plays down the stretch. Our transition defense hurt us, they came on top in transition the whole game.”
The 'Roos committed 19 turnovers in the game as well, giving up 19 points off those miscues. UMKC did a good job defensively on USD leading scorer Casey Kasperbauer, holding him to only three points, but USD bottled up Martez Harrison, the 'Roos leading scorer, keeping him to only five points.
UMKC was paced by Boyd, who matched his career-high with 25 points, 15 in the second half, while Broderick Newbill set a season-high with 13 points and seven rebounds off the bench. As a team the 'Roos shot 43 percent, while USD hit for 52 percent with five threes in the second half. UMKC also had a 39-33 rebound advantage.
The 'Roos return home for a big matchup on Saturday at 4:05 p.m. against Mississippi State, in a game that will be nationally televised on the American Sports Network. The game will be a doubleheader, with the UMKC women playing Denver at 1 p.m.
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