Kansas City
7-12,1-3Summit League
North Dakota
9-10,1-3Summit League
Roos Hurt by Second Half Struggles, Fall to Fighting Hawks
1/13/2024 4:49:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Babacar Diallo led Kansas City with a team-high 14 points in the loss
KANSAS CITY - The first half showed promise for Kansas City Men's Basketball (7-12, 1-3) against North Dakota (8-10, 0-3) this afternoon, but untimely KC turnovers and potent second half shooting led the Fighting Hawks to a win over the Roos, 82-69. Kansas City played the first half to a 34-34 tie, but allowed North Dakota to shoot at a 54.8% clip in the second half and were outscored by 13 points.
The Roos were able to shoot 48.4% from the field in the second half, but could not connect from long range. Kansas City shot 1-of-10 from deep, with the lone make coming in the game's final minute. KC was 7-of-26 from three on the game, good for a 26.9% rate.
Four Kansas City players reached double-digit scoring, led by Babacar Diallo with a team-high 14 points. Diallo shot 7-of-11 from the field, adding a career-high tying seven assists and three steals. UND's B.J Omot and Tyree Ihenacho lit up the scoring column, going for 30 and 20 points, respectively.
KEY MOMENTS | HIGHLIGHTS
- 1H - 15:52 / 8-2 | Back-to-back three-pointers by the Roos, first by Cameron Faas, then by Jamar Brown, opened up a six-point lead for Kansas City. It capped an eight-point scoring run, the Roos' best of the game, and the Fighting Hawks knocked down a three on the next trip down the court.
- 1H - 9:00 / 16-16 | The Fighting Hawks used a seven-point run to take a lead, but Diallo was there to quickly tie the game back up. He missed a floater with time running down on the shot clock, but was there got grab his own rebound and make the put-back.
- 1H - 4:52 / 25-23 | Following a pair of offensive rebounds, Faas dished to Khristion Courseault on the right wing, burying a three and reclaiming a lead for the Roos. On the next trip down the court, Brown knocked down his second triple of the day.
- 1H - 0:33 / 34-34 | Promise C. Idiaru missed a shot from downtown, but the rebound bounced out to Courseault, who promptly connected on a three to tie the game up. Smothering defense by Brown on the other end forced a miss, and the game was all square going into the half.
- 2H - 18:54 / 38-34 | The Roos scored the first two buckets of the second half, capped when Tyler Andrews blocked a three by UND's Treysen Eaglestaff and took it all the way to the other end for a one-handed jam.
- 2H - 13:11 / 45-50 | North Dakota went on a 12-1 run to take the lead, which was put to an end by Diallo, driving to the lane and knocking down a floater.
- 2H - 6:50 / 59-65 | Diallo scored eight points in the span of seven minutes, keeping Kansas City in the game through the midway point of the second half. His stellar play continued as he grabbed a steal, going to the other end for a dunk that brought KC within six. However, North Dakota would go on a 10-2 run and ice the game.
- 2H - 0:25 / 69-82 | Faas and Andrews knocked down back-to-back shots in the final minute, ending a stretch of two minutes without a field goal for the Roos. It was too little, too late, and North Dakota would take the win.
STATS TO NOTE
- Kansas City attempted zero free throws in the first half as UND was called for just two fouls. Courseault attempted KC's first charity shots of the game at the 14:30 mark of the second half, and the Roos finished the game 4-of-5 from the line.
- Diallo's 14-point performance came within one point of his career-high, reached at Western Illinois on Feb. 9 of last season. His seven made field goals marked a new career-high and his seven assists tied his mark from the Jan. 6 game against Portland State.
- Kansas City committed 13 turnovers on the game, the most since Dec. 31. Those turnovers translated into 15 points for the Fighting Hawks.
- Melvyn Ebonkoli finished the day with a pair of blocked shots, his second-straight game with multiple blocks. He has five blocks in the last two games after notching just seven in the first 17 games of the year.
- A back-and-forth first 25 minutes of the game saw 10 lead changes and eight ties. The Fighting Hawks took over for good at the 14:54 mark of the second half, leading the rest of the way.
POSTGAME INTERVIEW
Coach Marvin Menzies
UP NEXT
The Roos are on the road for one game next week, traveling to Omaha for a meeting with the Mavericks on Saturday.
