Saturday, January 11
Las Cruces, N.M.
5:00 PM
Kansas City
9-9,2-2WAC
71
at
74
New Mexico State
12-6,3-0WAC
1
2
F
Kansas City
33
38
71
New Mexico St.
42
32
74
Kansas City Men's Basketball Hangs Tough With First-Place New Mexico State
1/11/2020 7:28:00 PM | Men's Basketball
LAS CRUCES, N.M. -- Kansas City Men's Basketball (9-9, 2-2) and New Mexico State (12-6, 3-0) played like two teams in the top tier of the Western Athletic Conference (WAC). The Roos, under first-year head coach Billy Donlon, battled and showed grit in a 74-71 loss tonight at the Pan American Center. Kansas City hung tough in spite of being without leading scorer and rebounder Javan White, who was injured in Thursday's loss at UT Rio Grande Valley. History was not on the Roos side either, losing 13-straight games in the overall series entering the conference match-up.
But the Roos nailed a season-high 13 three-pointers and forced 18 New Mexico State turnovers as they seemingly put all of the other eight WAC teams on watch this year. One thing is for sure after tonight's effort... Kansas City is a team to watch out for.
Seniors Jordan Giles (16 points) and Rob Whitfield (14 points) led the three-point barrage with four long-range shots each. Senior Jahshire Hardnett and junior Marvin Nesbitt Jr., each finished with 13 points.
"Our end of each half really hurt us tonight," said Donlon. "Our guys improved on defending our backboard and we did a better job of sharing the ball. We need to continue to have a growth mindset. Excited to be back home in front of our fans this week."
Kansas City battled through the entire game, in spite of allowing the Aggies to shoot 62 percent from floor. New Mexico State never trailed, but the Roos answered almost every punch that the hosts threw at them.
New Mexico State led by as many as 11 in the first half after a three-pointer at the 9:55 mark. A Giles three-pointer with 3:54 left capped a 16-7 run to bring the Roos back to a two-point deficit. But the Aggies went on a 10-3 run to end the half and lead 42-33 at intermission.
The Roos stayed within striking distance in the second half. Whitfield swished in one of his three-pointers, followed by a Giles jumper to tie the score at 54-54 with 7:09 remaining. But the defending WAC champions answered back starting with a lay-up from Ivan Aurrecoechea ignited a 15-3 run to give New Mexico State its largest lead of the game at 69-57.
Kansas City wasn't done though. The Roos scored 14 points in the final two-and-a-half minutes and put a scare in the Aggies.
Nesbitt grabbed a team-high seven rebounds for Kansas City. Junior Brandon McKissic dished out five assists and added six points.
Terrell Brown recorded 18 points to lead all scorers for the Aggies. Jabari Rice posted 13 points and 10 rebounds.
The Roos come back to Swinney Center to host CSU Bakersfield next Thursday at 7 p.m.
Quick Hitters
But the Roos nailed a season-high 13 three-pointers and forced 18 New Mexico State turnovers as they seemingly put all of the other eight WAC teams on watch this year. One thing is for sure after tonight's effort... Kansas City is a team to watch out for.
Seniors Jordan Giles (16 points) and Rob Whitfield (14 points) led the three-point barrage with four long-range shots each. Senior Jahshire Hardnett and junior Marvin Nesbitt Jr., each finished with 13 points.
"Our end of each half really hurt us tonight," said Donlon. "Our guys improved on defending our backboard and we did a better job of sharing the ball. We need to continue to have a growth mindset. Excited to be back home in front of our fans this week."
Kansas City battled through the entire game, in spite of allowing the Aggies to shoot 62 percent from floor. New Mexico State never trailed, but the Roos answered almost every punch that the hosts threw at them.
New Mexico State led by as many as 11 in the first half after a three-pointer at the 9:55 mark. A Giles three-pointer with 3:54 left capped a 16-7 run to bring the Roos back to a two-point deficit. But the Aggies went on a 10-3 run to end the half and lead 42-33 at intermission.
The Roos stayed within striking distance in the second half. Whitfield swished in one of his three-pointers, followed by a Giles jumper to tie the score at 54-54 with 7:09 remaining. But the defending WAC champions answered back starting with a lay-up from Ivan Aurrecoechea ignited a 15-3 run to give New Mexico State its largest lead of the game at 69-57.
Kansas City wasn't done though. The Roos scored 14 points in the final two-and-a-half minutes and put a scare in the Aggies.
Nesbitt grabbed a team-high seven rebounds for Kansas City. Junior Brandon McKissic dished out five assists and added six points.
Terrell Brown recorded 18 points to lead all scorers for the Aggies. Jabari Rice posted 13 points and 10 rebounds.
The Roos come back to Swinney Center to host CSU Bakersfield next Thursday at 7 p.m.
Quick Hitters
- Kansas City held their own against a very hot Aggies team on their home court. Entering today, New Mexico State was 6-1 at home and won by an average of 34 points.
- New Mexico State held on to the first-place position in the WAC standings moving to a 3-0 record. The Roos were tied for second-place entering tonight and now stand 2-2 in the WAC.
- The 13 three-pointers is a season-high for the Roos and the most since hitting 16 on Dec. 22, 2018 against Elon.
- Jahshire Hardnett posted his fourth-straight game of 10-plus points, boosting his season average to 10.4 points.
- The Roos fall to 1-14 in the all-time series with New Mexico State.
Team Stats
KC
NMSU
FG%
.456
.617
3FG%
.542
.444
FT%
.429
.571
RB
26
33
TO
11
18
STL
9
4
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
16
FGM
5
3FGM
4
FTM
2
Pts
14
FGM
5
3FGM
4
FTM
0
Pts
13
FGM
5
3FGM
1
FTM
2
Pts
13
FGM
5
3FGM
3
FTM
0
Players Mentioned
F
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