Roos Defeat Tommies for Donlon's 150th Win

Thursday, February 3

Kansas City, Mo.

7:00 PM

Kansas City

14-9,7-4Summit League

St. Thomas

8-13,2-7Summit League

St. Thomas (MN)

Kansas City

Photo by: Kansas City Athletics

Roos Defeat Tommies for Donlon's 150th Win

2/3/2022 10:02:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score Final Box Final Box (PDF)Postgame Interview

Evan Gilyard II dropped 23 and Marvin Nesbitt Jr. posted a double-double in the win

KANSAS CITY, Mo. - Kansas City Men's Basketball (14-9, 7-4) used high-level play from its three super seniors to defeat St. Thomas, 81-72 in the first-ever meeting between the two squads. Evan Gilyard II dropped 23 points and six assists to lead the Roos to their sixth win in seven games. Marvin Nesbitt Jr. and Arkel Lamar added 19 and 18 points, respectively.

KEY MOMENTS

1H / 3-2 | Lamar got going from long range for the Roos' first points of the night.
1H / 16-18 | Gilyard penetrated and found a wide-open Caden Boser for three to cap a 10-4 Kansas City run.
1H / 25-22 | After a missed shot by the Tommies, Gilyard came down in transition, stepping back for the three-pointer.
1H / 33-28 | Right after a Lamar dunk, Tim Barnes found Nesbitt for a posterizing dunk.

Marvin Nesbitt Jr. does not care if your family and friends are watching.#ROOUP | @marvin_nesbitt pic.twitter.com/d0SuLRa5fk
— Kansas City Men's Basketball (@KCRoosMBB) February 4, 2022

1H / 42-41 | Lamar nabbed an and-one in the final seconds of the first half to give the Roos an edge at the break.
2H / 46-43 | Barnes drove the lane, pulling the rebound from his own miss and putting it back for the bucket.
2H / 66-64 | Nesbitt rose up through three Tommie defenders for an and-one, giving the Roos a lead that they would not relinquish.

2H | Send as many guys as you want, there's no stopping Marv. Roos with the lead at the under-eight TO.#ROOUP | @marvin_nesbitt pic.twitter.com/Ri9moB4fVy
— Kansas City Men's Basketball (@KCRoosMBB) February 4, 2022

2H / 70-64 | Gilyard sent a pass through the St. Thomas defense, finding Shemarri Allen for a throw-down.
2H / 81-72 | After the Tommies pulled within two in the final minute, Kansas City ended the game on a 7-0 run to secure the victory.

2H | Dagger. Who else?#ROOUP | @EGillyy1 pic.twitter.com/BwlvEz3kmZ
— Kansas City Men's Basketball (@KCRoosMBB) February 4, 2022

STATS TO NOTE

With the victory, Billy Donlon has 150 wins in his nine-year head coaching career.
The Roos committed less turnovers than their opponent for the 13^th consecutive game.
Gilyard led Kansas City with 23 points and six assists on efficient 7-for-12 shooting. He has now scored at least 17 points in four consecutive games.
Kansas City held the normally sharp-shooting Tommies to just 3-for-12 from three-point range.
Nesbitt recorded his second consecutive double-double, with 19 points and 10 rebounds. He now has three double-doubles on the season.
The Roos out-rebounded the Tommies 34-to-24, and capitalized on 12 offensive rebounds to record an 11-to-2 advantage in second-chance points.
Freshman Timothy Barnes produced 9 points, 3 rebounds, and a steal, and set his career high for minutes in a conference game with 23.

THE ROOS, QUOTED

Coach Billy Donlon

On Gilyard's recent play
- "Tonight, Evan was the best player on the floor. It's been that way a lot of nights. He's growing in other aspects of his game. Six assists is so critical to our team, with the way they guarded him. He's seeing that part of it, and that's really hard to do. It's hard to be an elite-level scorer like he is and also see assists. Not many guys do both."
On his 150th win
- "Truthfully, I thank all of the guys I've been blessed to coach and the coaches I've coached with. I'm competitive, but at the end of the day the relationships with the players."

Evan Gilyard II

On his game-sealing three-pointer
- "I saw the time going down, and we didn't really have anything going, so I just went to create my shot and get the best shot that we could … Those are the shots that I work on every day, so I believed in it."

UP NEXT
The Roos finish the week at home with another meeting against Western Illinois on Saturday at 7 p.m. The Roos defeated the Leathernecks 83-75 on Monday evening.