Saturday, February 8
Kansas City, MO
7:00 PM
Kansas City
61
vs
67
New Mexico State
Kansas City MBB Falls Short in Front of Sell-Out Crowd
2/8/2020 9:37:00 PM | Men's Basketball
KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Behind a sell-out crowd of 1,513, Kansas City Men's Basketball (12-13, 4-6) couldn't complete a furious comeback and New Mexico State (19-6, 10-0) won a 67-61 contest tonight in Western Athletic Conference (WAC) play. Trailing 62-46 with 3:27 left, Kansas City put the offense in high-gear rattling off 11-straight points to get the energetic Swinney Center crowd on its feet. From that point forward, the first-place Aggies connected on 3-of-4 free throws in the final 30 seconds to ice the road victory.
Senior Jordan Giles collected a team-high 20 points, seven rebounds and career-tying three blocks for the Roos. Another pair of seniors, Jahshire Hardnett and Rob Whitfield, finished with nine points apiece.
Giles went to work in the game's opening minutes scoring the Roos' first two-baskets. His play, coupled with the Kansas City defense, staked the hosts to an 18-10 lead at the 8:05 mark of the first half. In fact, the Aggies missed their first four shots and didn't score until 16:05 on the clock.
Six different Kansas City players scored during that first stretch, putting the pressure on the New Mexico State defense.
Giles, who slipped past Nick Richmond for No. 18 on the career scoring chart with 876 points, thought his team's effort tonight is heading in the right direction.
"I think we grew as a team and coach Donlon thought the same," said Giles. "We can't have any moral victories, but we played better than what we did Thursday (loss to UTRGV). We just have to keep growing, practicing hard and will try to get two wins next week."
The last three-plus minutes of the first half was a pivotal stretch. The Roos held a lead all half until Terrell Brown's three-pointer tied the score at 27-27. That bucket capped a 7-0 surge. Giles then beat the buzzer with a 25-footer and the Roos gained back a 30-27 edge at intermission.
The second half was back-and-forth between the two clubs until Ivan Aurrecoechea sparked a scoring spree for New Mexico State. After Whitfield knocked down one of his two three-pointers at the 15:52 mark putting Kansas City up 37-36, the Aggies got the ball inside to Aurrecoechea. His six-straight points were part of a 24-7 New Mexico State run that flipped the momentum.
However, the grit and toughness of the Roos under first-year head coach Billy Donlon was on display in the final four minutes. Down by 16, a Giles lay-up and 3-pointers by Whitfield and Hardnett sliced the deficit to single digits in less than two minutes.
After a New Mexico State turnover, Whitfield converted on a lay-up and made things interesting with the Roos down just 62-57 with 51 seconds remaining.
However, Kansas City just couldn't get a stop in the final moments.
With just six regular-season games remaining, the Roos are still fighting for a top-four finish in the conference standings and momentum heading into the WAC postseason tournament in Las Vegas.
Entering tonight, the teams ranked No. 1 and 2 in the conference in shooting accuracy and it showed. Both finished the contest at an even 50 percent and exact same shooting stats at 24-for-48.
Aurrecoechea led all scorers with 23 points on 9-of-15 shooting. Jabari Rice chipped in 13, while Brown added 10.
Kansas City travels to Grand Canyon next Thursday at 8 p.m. CT and CSU Bakersfield next Saturday at 9 p.m. CT.
Quick Hitters
• Rob Whitfield, who ranks No. 1 in the conference in 3-point shooting, has now connected on at least two treys in 12 of his last 13 games.
• Marvin Nesbitt Jr. saw his first action in five games after sitting out with an injury. He finished with five points in 14 minutes.
• Jordan Giles had his 12th double-digit game tonight, which ties for the team lead.
• All eight players that saw the court tonight scored at least four points.
• As a team, the Roos out-scored the Aggies by a 14-6 margin in bench points.
• New Mexico State extended its win streak to 13-straight games on the year.
Senior Jordan Giles collected a team-high 20 points, seven rebounds and career-tying three blocks for the Roos. Another pair of seniors, Jahshire Hardnett and Rob Whitfield, finished with nine points apiece.
Giles went to work in the game's opening minutes scoring the Roos' first two-baskets. His play, coupled with the Kansas City defense, staked the hosts to an 18-10 lead at the 8:05 mark of the first half. In fact, the Aggies missed their first four shots and didn't score until 16:05 on the clock.
Six different Kansas City players scored during that first stretch, putting the pressure on the New Mexico State defense.
Giles, who slipped past Nick Richmond for No. 18 on the career scoring chart with 876 points, thought his team's effort tonight is heading in the right direction.
"I think we grew as a team and coach Donlon thought the same," said Giles. "We can't have any moral victories, but we played better than what we did Thursday (loss to UTRGV). We just have to keep growing, practicing hard and will try to get two wins next week."
The last three-plus minutes of the first half was a pivotal stretch. The Roos held a lead all half until Terrell Brown's three-pointer tied the score at 27-27. That bucket capped a 7-0 surge. Giles then beat the buzzer with a 25-footer and the Roos gained back a 30-27 edge at intermission.
The second half was back-and-forth between the two clubs until Ivan Aurrecoechea sparked a scoring spree for New Mexico State. After Whitfield knocked down one of his two three-pointers at the 15:52 mark putting Kansas City up 37-36, the Aggies got the ball inside to Aurrecoechea. His six-straight points were part of a 24-7 New Mexico State run that flipped the momentum.
However, the grit and toughness of the Roos under first-year head coach Billy Donlon was on display in the final four minutes. Down by 16, a Giles lay-up and 3-pointers by Whitfield and Hardnett sliced the deficit to single digits in less than two minutes.
After a New Mexico State turnover, Whitfield converted on a lay-up and made things interesting with the Roos down just 62-57 with 51 seconds remaining.
However, Kansas City just couldn't get a stop in the final moments.
With just six regular-season games remaining, the Roos are still fighting for a top-four finish in the conference standings and momentum heading into the WAC postseason tournament in Las Vegas.
Entering tonight, the teams ranked No. 1 and 2 in the conference in shooting accuracy and it showed. Both finished the contest at an even 50 percent and exact same shooting stats at 24-for-48.
Aurrecoechea led all scorers with 23 points on 9-of-15 shooting. Jabari Rice chipped in 13, while Brown added 10.
Kansas City travels to Grand Canyon next Thursday at 8 p.m. CT and CSU Bakersfield next Saturday at 9 p.m. CT.
Quick Hitters
• Rob Whitfield, who ranks No. 1 in the conference in 3-point shooting, has now connected on at least two treys in 12 of his last 13 games.
• Marvin Nesbitt Jr. saw his first action in five games after sitting out with an injury. He finished with five points in 14 minutes.
• Jordan Giles had his 12th double-digit game tonight, which ties for the team lead.
• All eight players that saw the court tonight scored at least four points.
• As a team, the Roos out-scored the Aggies by a 14-6 margin in bench points.
• New Mexico State extended its win streak to 13-straight games on the year.
Players Mentioned
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