Kansas City
10-13,4-4Summit League
Denver
13-10,4-4Summit League
High Scoring Roos Fly Past Pioneers
2/1/2024 10:53:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Tyler Andrews went for a career-high 25 points, Jamar Brown added 23
KANSAS CITY - Kansas City Men's Basketball (10-13, 4-4 Summit) held the nation's leading scorer to his season-low scoring output, taking down Denver (13-10, 4-4 Summit) in convincing fashion this evening, 85-71. The Roos held DU's Tommy Bruner 14 points below his season average, shooting just 3-of-13 from the field and 0-of-5 from three-point range, allowing just 12 points to the Summit League Player of the Year favorite.
The Roos took consistent advantage of the Pioneers' defense, shooting 48.3% from the field thanks in part to a career night from Tyler Andrews. He finished with a career-high 25 points, shooting 8-of-16 from the field and playing a career-high 35 minutes. Kansas City created havoc defensively, forcing the Pioneers into 18 turnovers.
Aside from Andrews, Jamar Brown gave the Roos an offensive burst, scoring 23 points on 7-of-11 shooting, adding four rebounds and a pair of steals. Jayson Petty followed up his breakout game with a 14-point night and Melvyn Ebonkoli pitched in 10 points of his own.
KEY MOMENTS | HIGHLIGHTS
- 1H - 15:47 / 6-8 | The teams traded buckets back-and-forth to begin the game, and when it seemed like Denver might have a chance to pull ahead, Brown jumped into the passing lane, coming up with his first steal of the night and driving the other way for an easy basket.
- 1H - 13:36 / 13-13 | As time ran down on the shot clock, Petty jabbed towards his defender, stepped back and buried a triple. That came in the midst of seven-straight points by Petty that allowed the Roos to take a lead.
- 1H - 7:18 / 26-23 | Khristion Courseault drew the attention of the defense, dishing to Petty on the right wing. He knocked down another three that allowed the Roos to reclaim the lead.
- 1H - 1:44 / 39-33 | Yulian Ramirez-Montero put a move on his defender, driving to the rim and finishing through contact to get an and-one and put Kansas City up by six. It was the Roos' largest lead of the game to that point, but a late technical on Denver allowed KC to enter the break with an eight-point advantage.
- 2H - 17:06 / 52-41 | Babacar Diallo sent a pass towards Brown, who let a three-pointer fly with his momentum carrying him out of bounds. The shot fell through, giving Kansas City a double-digit lead for the first time on the evening.
- 2H - 14:04 / 62-48 | Andrews began to take over, scoring nine-straight points by himself. A bucket by Ebonkoli would put Kansas City's lead at a game-high 16 points.
- 2H - 7:10 / 70-56 | Denver came back and drew within single digits for a brief time, but Andrews knocked down his lone three of the night to surpass the 20-point mark and extend the lead back to 14.
- 2H - 2:31 / 82-67 | The Roos got out in the fast break as Courseault found a wide-open Petty for the game-sealing dunk.
STATS TO NOTE
- Andrews' career-high 25 points surpasses his previous best of 20 points, reached against Omaha on Mar. 3, 2023 in the Summit League Championship First Round.
- With Brown and Andrews each passing the 20-point mark, it is the first time two Kansas City players have gone for 20-plus points in the same game this season. The last time two Roos reached that mark came against North Dakota State on Jan. 21, 2023, when Shemarri Allen went for 28 and RayQuawndis Mitchell went for 23.
- Kansas City held the lead for 32:47 of game time. An Ebonkoli bucket with 5:33 remaining in the first half put Kansas City ahead 28-27 and the Roos never trailed from there.
- The Roos finished the night with nine steals, led by three from Courseault. Kansas City has reached the nine-steal mark four times this season and is 3-1 in such games.
- After attempting at least 20 three-pointers in each of the last 14 games, the Roos did not have to rely on the three to get the win tonight, going 4-of-13 from long range.
POSTGAME INTERVIEWS
Coach Menzies | Andrews/Courseault/Brown
UP NEXT
The Roos remain at home this weekend, taking on St. Thomas in the Swinney Center on Saturday at 7 p.m. Kansas City will look to avenge its 77-56 loss to the Tommies from earlier this season.
