Men's Basketball Shoots Well, But Can't Hold Down UTRGV in Loss

Thursday, January 9

Edinburg, Texas

7:00 PM

Kansas City

9-8,2-1WAC

UT Rio Grande Valley

5-10,1-1WAC

Kansas City

UTRGV

Men's Basketball Shoots Well, But Can't Hold Down UTRGV in Loss

1/9/2020 6:34:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score Final Box

EDINBURG, Texas - Kansas City Men's Basketball (9-8, 2-1) shot 51 percent tonight, but UT Rio Grande Valley (5-10, 1-1) overcame that with a 21-9 scoring advantage from three-point range to take a 76-64 victory at the UTRGV Fieldhouse. The Vaqueros ended the game on a 21-13 run in the final eight-plus minutes to snap the Roos season-long four-game win streak.

Senior guard Jahshire Hardnett, the WAC Player of the Week, led the club with 17 points for his third-straight 10-plus point contest. He added three assists. Freshman forward Josiah Allick contributed 10 points, three shy of his career-high, on 3-of-3 shooting from the field and four free throws. Junior Brandon McKissic had a team-high five rebounds and added six points.

"We didn't play well tonight," said head coach Billy Donlon. "Congratulate UTRGV for having a great impact on that. Our toughness has to improve."

Kansas City, off to its best start prior to tonight since the 2010-11 season, had things rolling early on. A three-pointer from senior Rob Whitfield had the Roos up 15-4 and eventually the lead expanded to a 22-9 at the 10-minute mark. That was the high point for the Roos and their largest lead. Then, Lesley Varner II helped UTRGV helped make it a close game going into the half.

Varner's 12 first-half points cut the Kansas City lead to 35-33 at the half.

The team's traded points until Quinton Johnson's lay-up put the home team up by a 42-38 edge in the early part of the second half. Javan White's lay-up at the 8:23 mark kept the Roos in it trailing 56-54. But from there, UTRGV scored six-straight points and went back up by eight points.

There was a last push by Kansas City, steered by Hardnett. His jumper had the Roos down by just four (64-60) at the 3:29 mark. But Varner was at it again, nailing a trey on the next UTRGV possession and the Vaqueros would go on to snap a five-game losing streak.

Kansas City came into the game tops in the conference in three-point shooting, but tonight it was a different story. The Roos shot just 20 percent (3-of-15) from distance.

For the Vaqueros, Varner and Jordan Jackson led the way with 17 points each. Javon Levi had a double-double with 15 points and 12 assists.

The Roos head to New Mexico State on Saturday at 5 p.m. CT. The game is broadcast nationally on ESPN+.

Quick Hitters:

The 51-percent shooting effort tonight marks the fourth-time this year the Roos went over 50 percent shooting the ball. Kansas City entered tonight ranked No. 1 in the conference in shooting (45.8%).
Kansas City had 17 assists on 24 made field goals.
The 17 assists tonight is the sixth-straight game the Roos went over 10 assists and the 12th time in 17 games.
Josiah Allick scored more points tonight (10) than he did in his last four games combined.
Kansas City falls to 12-15 in the all-time series with UTRGV and 3-9 at the UTRGV Fieldhouse.
The Roos lose for the first time this year when shooting for a better percentage than their opponent. They were 8-0 entering tonight.