UMKC men’s basketball got its first win over a BCS conference team since 2003 on Monday, in Kareem Richardson’s second season, taking out the Missouri Tigers 69-61 behind 26 points from Martez Harrison.
“I’m not going to sit here and fool anybody,” Head Coach Kareem Richardson said. “It’s big for our program. But it can’t be the biggest one for us this year. We have to build on it and look forward to the next challenge.”
The ‘Roos (1-0) took a 7-5 lead on a Darius Austin jumper with 14:13 on the clock, marking the last lead change of the night. UMKC would lead the rest of the game, and used that bucket to spark a 14-4 run to go up by a 19-9 margin.
The ‘Roos tallied five threes in the opening half, including a pair from freshman Collin Jennings to extend its advantage into the break. The Tigers were bothered by the UMKC zone defense, and were unable to put together long enough runs to get a lead. Its closest margin the rest of the opening half was four with 5:34 left. The ‘Roos answered that with another run though, and went into the break with a 33-24 lead.
UMKC’s defense proved to be the difference, holding MU to 33 percent in the opening half, while also holding a 23-17 rebound edge agains the bigger Tigers. Martez Harrison led the ‘Roos with seven at the half, while offensively the team shot 41 percent.
The second stanza was just a matter of answering every MU run for the ‘Roos. Harrison was the answer for much of it, scoring 19 of his 26 in the period. Each time the Tigers cut the lead to a single possession, UMKC reacted well.
With just more than 10 minutes left, MU cut the margin to three, but junior Shayok Shayok hit a jumper in the paint to get it back to five. UMKC would get that advantage back up to nine with 6:18 left on a three by freshman Deshon Taylor. The Tigers could only get the margin to within four the rest of the way, and UMKC hit its free throws down the stretch to seal it.
The victory was the first over a BCS school since 2003 against Kansas State, and marked the eight time that UMKC has defeated a BCS team. The win was also the first ever over Missouri in four tries.
Harrison hit 15-of-16 from the line, while as a team the ‘Roos were 23-of-29 for 79.3 percent. It was the highest free throw percentage in a game for UMKC in the Richardson era. Harrison’s 15 makes were the highest for a ‘Roo from the line since 1994 when Tony Dumas hit 18.
The ‘Roos, who won their season opener for the first time since 2010, handed the Tigers their first season debut loss since 2005.
UMKC will head to Kansas State on Monday night for a 7 p.m. contest at Bramlage Coliseum. The game will also be a part of the EA Sports Maui Invitational Opening Round.