Kansas City
6-6,1-1Summit League
South Dakota
7-6,0-2Summit League
Roos Back in Win Column Against South Dakota
12/22/2021 9:37:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Evan Gilyard II dropped a career-high 31 points, pushing the Roos past USD
VERMILLION, S.D. - A twisted ankle was not enough to stop Evan Gilyard II in Kansas City Men's Basketball's contest against South Dakota this evening. He battled through injury to drop a career-high 31 points, willing the Roos to a 68-57 victory.
KEY MOMENTS
- 1H / 6-0 | Gilyard and Anderson Kopp came out firing, knocking down back-to-back threes to start the game hot for KC.
- 1H / 13-5 | Arkel Lamar got in on the action as well, nailing a triple after the media timeout on the assist from Gilyard.
1H | Arkel joining in on the fun with a three of his own ??#ROOUP | @ArkelLamar33 pic.twitter.com/57wi6FokZg
— Kansas City Men's Basketball (@KCRoosMBB) December 23, 2021
- 1H / 22-19 | After the Coyotes came back and tied the game up, Gilyard fired for three once again to give the Roos the lead for good.
- 1H / 38-24 | Caden Boser cleaned up the offensive boards for a put-back to give the Roos their biggest lead of the half late in the first.
- 2H / 43-28 | After dropping 20 in the first half, Gilyard did not slow down in the second half, scoring the Roos' first five points.
2H | New half, same story. Evan Gilyard making things happen.#ROOUP | @EGillyy1 pic.twitter.com/ix62ihrHXu
— Kansas City Men's Basketball (@KCRoosMBB) December 23, 2021
- 2H / 49-33 | Lamar sent a soaring hook shot through the bottom of the net, extending the KC lead to 16, the largest of the game.
- 2H / 59-44 | The Roos defense held South Dakota on a scoreless drought over a period of five minutes to extend the lead back out.
- 2H / 68-57 | Kansas City knocked down seven free throws in the final two-plus minutes to ice the contest.
STATS TO NOTE
- Gilyard set his career-high for the second time this season, following his 30-point performance in the Roos' 74-58 win at Idaho State.Â
- Lamar saw 29 minutes off the bench in his second game since returning from injury, scoring 14 points and pulling down four rebounds.Â
- After allowing 50% shooting in the first half, the Roos held USD to just 41% shooting in the second frame.
- Kansas City forced South Dakota into 17 turnovers, creating 18 points off of giveaways. Every Coyote that entered the game committed at least one turnover.
COACH BILLY DONLON, QUOTED
- "Proud of our guys, we played tough together. South Dakota is very well-coached with good players. We needed our toughness to win a conference road game."
UP NEXT
The Roos will take the holiday week off before hosting a pair of games in the Swinney Center. Omaha comes to town on Dec. 30, followed by Denver on Jan. 1.
