UMKC made it four straight wins on Tuesday night at Municipal Auditorium, and did it with defense down the stretch, getting two huge stops with under a minute to play to take a 74-70 victory.
Junior Martez Harrison hit a huge step-back 18-foot jumper with 13.8 seconds left to make it a three-point game, then junior Kyle Steward hit a free throw after a UTM turnover with 5 seconds left to clinch it.
The two teams battled back and forth all night, with 15 lead changes. The first half saw UT-Martin (2-6) take the first two possession lead of the night at 13-8 with 13:52 on the clock, but UMKC (5-2) scored on three straight possessions to take the lead. The largest lead came at the 7:07 mark when the Skyhawks went up by seven, but UMKC again made a run, this time of the 11-2 variety, capped by a Broderick Newbill three point play to make it a 34-32 lead.
UTM scored eight of the final 11 points thanks to a pair of threes though, and took a 43-40 lead into the locker room. The three-pointers were the story for the Skyhawks, as they hit seven in the opening half. UMKC shot 58 percent in the period to keep pace, but 10 turnovers and 16 points off them for UTM gave the guests the edge at the break.
“We did a much better job in the second half, in particular taking care of the three-point line,” Head Coach Kareem Richardson said. “They have 3-4 tremendous shooters and we knew that coming in. I thought their threes in the first half kept them in, and we held them to 1-for-9 in the second half.”
The ‘Roos defense proved to be the difference in the final stanza, holding UTM to only 38 percent shooting.
UMKC also had a size advantage, and grabbed a 34-28 rebound edge in the game, while sending it inside to Darnell Tillman, who set a career-high with 11 points and seven rebounds.
“(Darnell) looked very comfortable in there. That was a big emphasis for us, we thought we could take advantage of our size because we had more depth inside than they did. We certainly need his presence as the year goes along.” Richardson said.
UMKC also did damage from the outside, with LaVell Boyd and Harrison hitting for four and three, three pointers, respectively.
Kansas City started to take control in the middle part of the second half when it held the Skyhawks without a field goal for a stretch of more than seven minutes. UMKC was up by as many as 10 with 7:15 to play.
Harrison hit a big three with from 30 feet away as the shot clock was winding down 5:19 to play to stretch it back to nine, but UTM started to chip away with less than three minutes to play. They took a seven-point UMKC advantage and got it down to 71-70 with 1:28 to play on a three-pointer, but UMKC wouldn’t let it get away, getting the stops it needed and holding the Skyhawks scoreless the rest of the way.
The ‘Roos are at five wins faster than any UMKC team since 2001 (started 5-0 that year), while its four-game win streak is the longest since 2010. It is also 4-0 at home for the first time since that 2010 start.
Harrison finished with 24 points and five assists, while Boyd had 16 points and four assists. The ‘Roos turned it over only three times in the second half as well, giving UTM only two points off those miscues. Also in double figures was Newbill, who set a season-high with 10 points.
UMKC will be back on the road for their next two, starting on Saturday at Iowa for a 2 p.m. contest.