Kansas City
3-5,0-0Summit League
Florida Gulf Coast
5-2,0-0ASUN
Roos Fall to Eagles in Gulf Coast Showcase Championship
11/23/2022 9:44:00 PM | Men's Basketball
RayQuawndis Mitchell led all scorers with 29 points and was named to the All-Tournament Team
ESTERO, Fla. - RayQuawndis Mitchell did all he could to keep Kansas City Men's Basketball's chances alive in the Gulf Coast Showcase Championship against Florida Gulf Coast this evening, but the Eagles prevailed over the Roos, 73-59. Mitchell went 9-of-13 from the field, including 5-of-8 three-point shooting en route to scoring 29 points and breaking the Showcase tournament scoring record.
Without Anderson Kopp, out with an undisclosed injury, the rest of the Roos' squad struggled to score the ball. Shemarri Allen was the lone other Roo in double-digits, scoring 10 on 3-of-12 shooting. Not including Mitchell's numbers, Kansas City went 11-of-46 from the field, amounting to a 23.9% shooting percentage.Â
Mitchell scored 21 of his 29 points in the second half, willing the Roos within single digits multiple times. However, Kansas City could not string together enough of a run to make the comeback happen.
KEY MOMENTS
- 1H - 16:53 / 5-5 | Florida Gulf Coast opened up with the game's first five points before Mitchell got going with a three-pointer and a layup that tied the game up.
- 1H - 11:14 / 9-18 | An 11-point FGCU run put them in early control of the game, but Mitchell came through with his third bucket of the half to bring the run to a halt.
- 1H - 7:26 / 16-26 | The Eagles opened up a lead that got as large as 13 points, but Emmanouil Dimou found Allen David Mukeba Jr. for a soaring alley-oop that cut the deficit to 10. Just moments later, Dimou would hit a corner three and bring the Roos back within seven. However, that was as close as KC would come for the rest of the half as FGCU closed on a 10-4 run.
1H | Get ?? @dimou_manos ?? @h23_jr pic.twitter.com/mYlYz1Sg4i
— Kansas City Men's Basketball (@KCRoosMBB) November 24, 2022
- 2H - 17:00 / 30-41 | Kansas City's deficit grew as large as 18 points in the early moments of the second half, but Mitchell went on a seven-point run by himself to give the Roos life.
- 2H - 11:10 / 44-53 | Allen and Mitchell hit three-pointers on back-to-back possessions, bringing the Roos within single digits for the first time of the second half. An Allen layup moments later brought KC within eight, but that was as close as it would get for the rest of the game.
- 2H - 1:53 / 57-69 | Showing some late fight, Babacar Diallo knocked down a corner three, then Mukeba blocked a shot and Mitchell came the other way, banking home a triple to bring the Roos within 12 points. However, it was too little, too late and the Eagles would claim the championship trophy.
STATS TO NOTE
- With 29 points tonight, Mitchell finishes the showcase with 82 points across the three games, an average of 27.3 points per contest. That mark is the tournament record for the Gulf Coast Showcase, besting Mike Daum of South Dakota State's previous record of 80, set in 2018. For his performances, Mitchell was named to the All-Tournament team.
- The Roos held Florida Gulf Coast to 29% shooting from three-point range, their second-lowest three-point shooting percentage of the year. However, the Eagles shot 54.5% from inside the three-point arc.
- Mukeba pulled down 14 rebounds on the day, his best rebounding performance this year. It is the third time he's reached double-digits this year, and his current mark of 8.9 rebounds per game ranks first in the Summit League.
- After forcing an average of 13 turnovers per game in the first two games of the Showcase, the Roos forced FGCU into just three turnovers tonight. That is tied for the lowest number of turnovers by a KC opponent in program history, the previous coming when Green Bay turned the ball over just three times on Feb. 26, 1990.
UP NEXT
Kansas City will take a couple of days off for recovery over the holiday before returning to the Swinney Center for a matchup with SIUE at 7 p.m. on Saturday. The Cougars defeated the Roos, 60-56 in Edwardsville last year.
