Kansas City Drops Home Contest to UTRGV

Thursday, February 6

Kansas City, MO

7:00 PM

Kansas City

12-12,4-5WAC

UT Rio Grande Valley

8-14,4-5WAC

UTRGV

Kansas City

Kansas City Drops Home Contest to UTRGV

2/6/2020 9:16:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score Final Box

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – UT Rio Grande Valley (8-14, 4-5) shot 53 percent from the field to take a 73-60 victory against Kansas City Men's Basketball (12-12, 4-5) tonight at Swinney Center. Senior Rob Whitfield led the way for the Roos with 13 points on a trio of three-pointers. Senior Javan White and freshman Josiah Allick each finished with 10 points.

The Roos look ahead to hosting first-place New Mexico State Saturday at 7 p.m. in the "White-Out" themed-game. The first 1,000 fans will receive a Roo White-Out shirt.

The game started slow offensively for both teams, with a combined two field goals in the first three-plus minutes. Senior Jahshire Hardnett's lay-up gave the Roos a 5-3 lead with 16:38 remaining. But from there, UTRGV went on a 12-0 run to go up 15-5 at the 10-minute mark.

Whitfield's long-range shot got the deficit down to seven points at 29-22 right before the half. The Vaqueros scored the final four points to lead 33-22 at the break.

Four-straight free throws from Connor Raines pushed the UTRGV lead to 55-32 at 8:56 of the second half. That was the biggest lead for the Vaqueros and Kansas City could never fully recover.

The Roos shot 39.6 percent (21-of-53) overall and 80 percent (12-of-15) from the free throw line.

In addition to his scoring, White also gathered a team-high seven rebounds and career-high tying three blocks. Sophomore Franck Kamgain contributed a team-high six assists.

The Vaqueros shot 26-of-36 (.722) from the free throw stripe. Lesley Varner II was the top scorer with 23 points.

Quick Hitters

As a team, the Roos held a slight 28-27 rebounding advantage and now has been on the plus-side of rebounding in four-straight games.
Senior Rob Whitfield notched his team-leading 12th double-digit scoring effort.
Whitfield now stands with 142 all-time three-pointers, which is good for ninth in Kansas City history.
Senior Javan White got back to his scoring form as he notched his first double-digit game since Jan. 4 against Utah Valley.
Freshman Josiah Allick recorded his third-straight 10-plus point game and fifth in his last six contests.
Junior Brandon McKissic was held out of the game due to a head injury.