Foul trouble, rebounding, and a lack of efficient shooting doomed the Kansas City men’s basketball team on their first road trip of the season, as the Roos fell in all three contests.
Kansas City vs Oklahoma State
The Roos lost their first game of the year to Big 12 Oklahoma State 69-51 Saturday, Nov. 9. Although Kansas City struggled to shoot the ball well (finishing 17-48 overall), senior forward Javan White put up a game-high 20 points ls. The Roos were outrebounded 24-40 by the Cowboys and turned the ball over 13 times. Junior guard Marvin Nesbitt Jr. ended with seven points and senior guard Jahshire Hardnett and freshman forward Josiah Allick finished with six points apiece.
Kansas City vs Drake University
The Roos struggles continued against Drake University, falling 76-58 in Des Moines last week. Kansas City was led by senior forward Jordan Giles with 15 points and six rebounds, while White added 11 points of his own to notch his second straight double-digit game.
Kansas City’s aggressive style of defense proved costly, as Drake converted on 16 of 20 free-throws.
“We played really poorly the last eight minutes of the first half, and certainly credit Drake, but that’s where we lost the game,” said Head Coach Billy Donlon to Kansas City Athletics. “Our resiliency will be tested on Friday with another good Milwaukee team.”
Kansas City vs the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
Unfortunately, Kansas City was unable to get back on track against Milwaukee, losing 61-52. The Roos didn’t go down without a fight, however, as the veterans of the team lead a comeback in the last 11 mins of the game.
The Panthers lead 26-22 entering the second half, but quickly pulled away to take a 20 point lead. Senior guards Giles and Rob Whitfield lead the comeback effort for the Roos with 11 minutes left, combining for 10 quick points.
Feeding off this energy, junior guard Brandon McKissic came in and took charge, scoring nine points of his own in the last seven minutes of the game.
A scoreless six minutes for the Panthers helped Kansas City bring the game to 43-49, but McKissic fouled out and Milwaukee converted on both free throws to put the game at 43-51. From there, nine of the last 12 points were free throws from Milwaukee, giving them the cushion they needed to secure the victory.
The last 24 points for the Roos came from veterans Whitfield, Giles and McKissic.
Whitfield and McKissic had a game-high 10 points; Nesbitt finished with eight and Giles scored seven.
“We need to play tougher, and again, have more resiliency when shots are not falling,” Donlon said “Our team will grow from this and be excited to be back home Monday.”
The Roos take on Bacone College Monday, Nov. 18 at 7 p.m. in the Swinney Center.
