UMKC men and women gain momentum by upending Chicago State

The men’s and women’s basketball teams from UMKC both pressed their advantages over their counterparts from Western Athletic Conference opponent Chicago State recently.

The men’s basketball team from UMKC was looking to build a three-game winning streak in its home finale for the 2017-18 season. The UMKC women’s team wanted to relieve some frustrations of losing back-to-back games by razor-thin margins. Fortunately for the Roos, the Chicago State Cougars were accommodating on both accounts.

The men (9-19 overall, 4-7 WAC) hosted Chicago State on Thursday, Feb. 15 with a stellar opportunity to build momentum before finishing off the regular season with a three-game road trip. On Senior Night for guards Broderick Robinson and Robert Knar, the Roos got a 76-67 win over the Cougars.

Although Chicago State came into the game without a win in WAC play and UMKC built up a 16-point halftime lead, the Cougars would not be easily dismissed. A fury of hot shooting to open up the second half helped turn that deficit into a slim lead for Chicago State. As the second half wore on, however, the Cougars cooled off and the Roos regained control.

"“I’m definitely happy to get the win,” Knar said about playing his last game at Municipal Auditorium. “I think that this game showed our character. We’re trying to get on a win streak at the end of the year, trying to go into the tournament the right way.”"

The three-game winning streak is not only timely as UMKC looks to continue its push toward improved seeding in the upcoming WAC tournament, but a great confidence booster for a team that is struggling with injuries. Freshman guard Marvin Nesbitt Jr. and junior center Mo Ahmed appear to be done for the season. Freshman guard Tony Jackson is also currently limited in his minutes.

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"“It’s just about us improving defensively,” stated UMKC men’s head coach Kareem Richardson. “Even in the first half we had a lot of mistakes defensively. I tried to warn the guys at halftime, that was fools gold us being up 18. We have to get much sharper on the road defensively.”"

A couple of days after the men prevailed over Chicago State, the Roo women did the same in even more convincing fashion.

By dominating the final three quarters of play, UMKC’s women (9-17 overall, 5-6 WAC) rolled to a 106-47 win. It’s the fourth time this season that the Roos have won a game by at least 50 points but the first such game in WAC play. It was a much needed victory for a team that had lost consecutive road games by a total of seven points.

Both the UMKC men and women now have just three games left on their regular season schedules. The women will be home for two of those contests, facing UT Rio Grande Valley and New Mexico State this week before trying to sweep the Cougars on their home court to end the season. The men will face their counterparts at the same three schools but all on the road.

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If both teams can replicate their performances against Chicago State over their final three games, they could go into their conference tournaments as the teams that no one else in the WAC wants to play.

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