Late Recap: Roos Held Under 50 By North Dakota State

For the select few of you who visit KC Kingdom to get updates on the UMKC Roos, I apologize that it has taken me so long to get to this recap. Their last game was played on Saturday, its now Wednesday and the Roos play again tonight.

Korver, held without a basket on Saturday, is just one of many Roos that need to up their game. (Photo Credit: Scott Sewell-USA TODAY Sports)

Of course the way their game against the North Dakota State Bison unfolded, we may want to forget that it happened all together. UMKC’s 63-44 loss marked the fifth time they’ve been held under 50 points. We know they struggle to score, they’re ranked 303rd in the nation with a 60.9 per game scoring average after all. However, this is the first time that they failed to break 50 against a school that was on the same “mid-major” level that they are. It is also the first time it has happened at home.

If you’re curious, the four games that UMKC was held under 50 points prior to Saturday included:

• 75-36: a neutral site game against Seton Hall (12-3)
• 91-45: a road loss to #15 Ohio State (12-3)
• 99-47: a road loss to #3 Louisville (13-1)
• 52-44: a road loss to #18 Kansas State (12-2)

While scoring in the forties (or 36 in the case of their opener) is never a good thing, getting held down by those four opponents is certainly understandable. They are 49-9 collectively and are all excellent teams playing in power conferences (and yes the Big East still belongs in that category – at least for this season).

The Roos never led in Saturday’s game and only had the score tied at 0-0 and 2-2. They trailed the rest of the way while getting outscored 28-19 in the first half and 35-25 in the second. North Dakota State appears to be one of the top teams in the Summit League this season but for a Roos team that hung tough against K-State and SE Missouri State while showing a never give up spirit in other games, this loss is troubling. To be more precise, the nature of this loss is troubling.

Only one player, Estan Tyler, scored in double digits for UMKC and he barely got there with ten points on 4-8 shooting. Of course it’s tough to celebrate Tyler’s contribution when he had only two assists to offset his four turnovers in the game. Fred Chatmon had eight points to go along with his team leading five rebounds. As the team’s best interior player it’s stunning that he only took two shots in the game – though he made them both. It was a rough night all around as the Roos shot 32.5% from the floor, managed only five offensive rebounds (23 overall) and lost the turnover battle 14-7.

While North Dakota State won comfortably, they were hardly at the top of their game themselves. They shot 43.6% from the floor and were just 4-18 from beyond the arc. Junior TrayVonn Wright was the star with 17 points and ten rebounds, both of which game highs. Considering he doubled up his season averages in both categories it’s safe to say that his performance was a bit unexpected. Taylor Braun and Marshall Bjorklund, the teams two leading scorers, were also in double digits with 14 and eleven points respectively. With twelve points in 41 minutes of court time, the Bison got very little contribution from their bench, but they didn’t need it.

What’s Next:

The Bison (13-3, 4-0) have a home game tomorrow against the IPFW Mastodons (8-9, 1-2).

UMKC (4-12, 1-4) will look to break their eight game losing streak tonight at home. It will be a non-conference game against the Great West’s Utah Valley Wolverines (7-10).