Kansas City
7-10,1-1Summit League
Portland State
10-5,1-1Big Sky
Roos Run Rampant in Blowout of Portland State
1/6/2024 10:33:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Allen Mukeba scored a career-high 18 points to lead the Roos to a Big Sky-Summit Challenge victory
KANSAS CITY - Kansas City Men's Basketball (7-10, 1-1 Summit) made shots early and often this evening, knocking down 20 first half field goals en route to an 83-67 victory over Portland State (10-5, 1-1 Big Sky). The win keeps Kansas City undefeated at home, their sixth-straight victory in the Swinney Center to start the season. It also gave the Summit League a much-needed victory on the final evening of the inaugural Big Sky-Summit Challenge.
The Roos never trailed by more than a point, using an 11-point run midway through the first half to jump out to a double-digit lead. There was no drop off from the starting five to the bench, as Kansas City's reserves scored 46 points, compared to just 18 for the Vikings. Allen David Mukeba Jr. led the charge, finishing with a career-high 18 points on 8-of-11 shooting.
In his first start of the season, Babacar Diallo gave the Roos a spark at the point guard position, finishing with a career-high seven assists and pulling down five rebounds. He and fellow point guard Khristion Courseault finished with a combined 13 assists and just two turnovers. In addition, Jamar Brown dropped his second-straight double-double, going for 11 points and a team-high 10 rebounds.
KEY MOMENTS | HIGHLIGHTS
- 1H - 17:06 / 7-2 | Melvyn Ebonkoli pulled down a defensive rebound and ran the court, getting rewarded by Diallo for an easy bucket inside. Diallo assisted on each of the Roos' first three buckets, setting the tone early.
- 1H - 13:08 / 16-12 | Tyler Andrews found Yulian Ramirez-Montero on the wing, knocking down his second three-pointer of the night. Mukeba, Brown and Andrews all contributed buckets in the coming minutes as the Roos went on an 11-point run to take control of the game.
- 1H - 6:13 / 35-18 | Mukeba went for back-to-back buckets inside, and then Diallo picked a PSU player's pocket for a steal and went the other way. He missed the transition bucket, but Brown was there to clean up the offensive rebound and put it back to cap a six-point run.
- 1H - 0:52 / 46-25 | Diallo dished his sixth assist of the half, finding a wide-open Andrews in the corner to extend Kansas City's lead out to 21. The Roos would enter the half with a 20-point advantage.
- 2H - 15:58 / 52-36 | The Vikings' KJ Allen missed a shot, with Brown going up for the board. Courseault proceeded to find Promise C. Idiaru streaking up the court for an easy layup, making the lead 16. Portland State answered with a seven-point run, cutting the deficit to single digits.
- 2H - 8:35 / 69-50 | Cameron Faas went for back-to-back buckets, first a three-pointer and then a second-chance layup. This capped a seven-point Roos' run and put the lead back at 19 points.
- 2H - 4:18 / 76-58 | Following a mad scramble near the Kansas City free throw line, Brown came out with the ball, passing out to Andrews at the top of the key. Andrews quickly dished to a wide-open Mukeba down low for the exclamation point dunk.
STATS TO NOTEÂ
- This marked the third game of the season that Kansas City has entered the half with a lead of 20 points or more. All three of those games have come at home: Saint Mary on Nov. 11, Southeast Missouri State on Nov. 30 and tonight.
- Mukeba's 18-point night eclipsed his previous career-high of 16, reached at Bowling Green on Dec. 16.
- Brown finished with his fifth double-double of the year, matching the most by a Kansas City player in a single season since 2011-12. He becomes the first Roo to notch two-straight double-doubles since Jeff Ngandu in January of last season.
- The Roos shot 9-of-22 from three-point range, good for a 40.9% clip. Kansas City has now shot above 40% from three in three games, all wins.
- Kansas City blocked eight Portland State shots this evening, a season-high. Portland State had zero blocks, marking the first time Kansas City has notched eight-plus blocks while allowing none since the start of the 2010-11 season, according to Sports Reference.
POSTGAME INTERVIEWS
Coach Menzies | Babacar Diallo/Allen Mukeba
UP NEXT
The Roos now enter the conference gauntlet, beginning by hosting North Dakota State at 7 p.m. on Thursday evening.
