KCKingdom
Fansided

UMKC basketball teams remember the Titans

By Derek Helling

(Photo by Brian Babineau/NBAE via Getty Images)
(Photo by Brian Babineau/NBAE via Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit

Both the men’s and women’s basketball teams from UMKC found themselves trailing in their Western Athletic Conference openers Saturday night. The women were able to overcome their deficit, but the men weren’t able to get over the hump.

Kansas City sports fans were reminded of how quickly games can change in many ways on Saturday, Jan. 6. On the heels of the NFL’s Kansas City Chiefs pushing their drought of postseason home victories to the brink of a quarter century by blowing an 18-point halftime lead over the Tennessee Titans, the men’s and women’s basketball teams from UMKC found themselves in similar predicaments to that which the Titans overcame.

The men played host to UT Rio Grande Valley to open conference play and were down by as many as 17 points. Meanwhile, the women played visitors in their game between the same two schools and faced a seven-point deficit in the third quarter. While the women ultimately prevailed 54-52, the men weren’t able to complete what would have been their second consecutive comeback victory, taking the 73-61 loss. Men’s head coach Kareem Richardson spoke about what made the difference in the game.

"“In the first half I thought we got really good looks and shots weren’t dropping for us. It just felt like it was going to be one of those nights.”"

The Roo men’s defense kept them in the game despite early shooting troubles. UMKC shot just 23.1 percent from the field, including going just 2-for-12 from 3-point range, in the first half. On the other end, they limited UTRGV to just 27 percent shooting and held the Vaqueros’ senior guard and leading scorer Nick Dixon to a mere two points.

More from KC Kingdom

In the second half, the Roos made adjustments to improve their offensive efficiency and it worked. UMKC shot over 51 percent from the field in the final 20 minutes of play, including going 5-for-9 from downtown to cut the Vaqueros’ lead down to a mere six points.

Unfortunately for the Roos, Dixon adjusted as well. He poured on 22 in the second half, making all five of his 3-point shot attempts. Richardson commented on that factor.

"“To the guys’ credit they stuck with it and in the second half we did some different things in the lineup to free us up and we started shooting better…Dixon did what a senior is supposed to do. In the second half he got it going and once he gets it going like that, he’s hard to stop.”"

Down in Edinburgh, Texas, the UMKC women were having similar struggles finding the bottom of the net. The Roo women shot a mere 27.6 percent in the first two quarters of play, but were able to stay within striking distance thanks to similar struggles by the Vaqueros in the second quarter.

Halftime adjustments had a similar effect for the women as they did for the men, as UMKC shot over 46 percent in the third quarter and over 55 percent in the final quarter of play. With a two-point lead in the game’s closing seconds, it was this stop that sealed Roo head coach Jacie Hoyt’s first career conference victory.

https://twitter.com/UMKCWBB/status/950001339353968640

The UMKC men (5-12 overall, 0-1 WAC) and women (5-11 overall, 1-0 WAC) will flip the home-and-home status for games against Utah Valley on Thursday, Jan. 11. The women will tip at 7 p.m. CST while the men will start play an hour later.

Next: Mizzou Basketball: Best head coaches of all-time for Missouri

On Saturday the Titans and the Roos took part in reminding Kansas City fans that in sports, leads are blown nearly as often as they are built. Future opponents for both UMKC teams would be wise to take notice.

Home/UMKC Kangaroos