Kansas City
Utah Valley
Roos Fall at UVU Despite Fast Start, 79-70
2/20/2016 11:11:00 PM | Men's Basketball
(Orem, Utah) - UMKC jumped out to a quick lead in the first half, but couldn't sustain it as Utah Valley came back and took a 79-70 win at the UCCU Center on Saturday night.
“We started off strong and our defense was really good for 14 minutes of the first half,” Head Coach Kareem Richardson said. “In the second half we allowed our missed opportunities on offense to affect our defense and had a lot of blown assignments. Give (UVU) credit, they were aggressive going to the bucket, and they got to the line 31 times.”
UMKC (10-17, 3-9 WAC) had its best start of the season, jumping out to a 20-9 lead in the first 10 minutes, thanks to some defensive intensity. They extended that lead to 30-10, matching their largest of the season with 8:07 on the clock after a Darnell Tillman bucket and free throw.
That's when the Wolverines (12-15, 6-6 WAC) woke up though, scoring the game's next 10 points, getting in transition for some easy buckets to make it a 10-point game with 5:45 on the clock. By the 2:31 mark, the lead was down to as little as six points, and UMKC took a 38-32 advantage into the break. The Roos got into some foul trouble during the rally, causing the bench to shorten up and tire them out, also in part due to the altitude.
At the half, Dashawn King and Tillman each had seven points to lead the Roos, while Thaddeus Smith put up a season-best six points against the smaller Wolverines. UMKC held UVU to only 30 percent shooting, but they went 10-11 from the foul line to stay within striking distance. The Roos shot 42 percent and had a 26-18 rebound edge.
The second stanza saw UMKC hold UVU off for the first eight minutes, but then the Wolverines started to take control. They turned an eight-point UMKC advantage after a LaVell Boyd three, into a 55-55 tie with 9:19 to play.
Utah Valley took its first lead of the night with 7:33 on the clock at 58-57, and didn't let up from there, getting up by as many as 12 with 2:31 left. The Roos dominated the first 10 minutes of each half, but the second 10 minutes in each belonged to the Wolverines. The foul trouble and injuries looked to play a role in each half, as UMKC played without Shayok Shayok, who tallied 21 points against UVU last time they met.
The Roos kept fighting though, and got the lead down to six with 41 seconds left. The Wolverines hit their free throws and got stops on the Roos to close it out though.
For the game UMKC was paced by King, who matched his career-high with 18 points, while Tillman set his career-best with 12 points in the game. Boyd also tallied 12 points. Martez Harrison had a rough night on offense, but led the Roos with nine rebounds, a season-best.
UMKC had a 46-39 edge in rebounds, and held UVU to only 39 percent shooting, but the Wolverines hit 25-of-31 free throws and scored 19 points off 16 UMKC turnovers. It was the largest lead in a loss this season for the Roos at 20 points.
Missouri-Kansas City will host league-leading New Mexico State next Saturday for senior day. Tip-off is scheduled for 2:05 p.m.
