'Roos Hang Tough With Cyclones at Municipal, But Fall 76-61

The Kansas City men's basketball 'Roos held a second half lead against Iowa State on Wednesday night, but a 14-0 run by the Cyclones was the difference midway through the final period, taking the game 76-61 in front of 3,614 at Municipal Auditorium.

Through the game's first 25 minutes, Kansas City (4-7) was neck-and-neck with Iowa State (9-3), battling the Big 12 team hard in an entertaining opening half. The 'Roos jumped out to an 8-2 lead in the first five minutes, playing with energy and forcing four ISU turnovers during the run, while getting back-to-back threes from junior guard Nate Rogers. The Cyclones tightened it up after that though, and the score was tied three times in the next five minutes, sitting at 13-13 with 10:54 on the clock.

The first big Iowa State rally was kicked off by five straight points from Anthony Booker and capped by a three from Tyrus McGee to make it an 8-0 spurt that took less than two minutes. UMKC kept it close though, and with ISU leading 30-24 with 3:09 left in the period, made its run. Over the final three minutes, the 'Roos out-scored the Cyclones 5-0 to go into the break down only 30-29.

ISU out-scored Kansas City 18-4 in the paint and had an 18-9 rebound edge, but 6-of-10 three-point shooting from the 'Roos (also forced 10 Cyclone turnovers) kept it close. Sophomore guard Estan Tyler was on fire in the opening half, scoring 13 points, including 3-of-3 from three-point range. Booker and Chris Babb each had nine for Iowa State.

The second period was all Kansas City in the opening minutes, taking a 6-2 run to make it 35-32 in favor of the 'Roos, forcing ISU coach Fred Hoiberg to call a timeout. The Cyclones came out strong and tied it, but back-to-back buckets by junior forward Nelson Kirksey and Tyler gave the Kangaroos their biggest lead since the opening minutes at 39-35 with 15:54 to play.

Iowa State caught fire from there, and got into transition, going on a 14-0 run over the next five minutes to make it 49-39. McGee was the catalyst, hitting for 17 second half points and 5-of-6 from three-point land. His three at the 7:43 mark pushed the advantage to 11, but Kansas City had one last run in it, cutting it to six with 6:18 to play. McGee hit two more threes to answer that though, making it 12 with 5:18 on the clock, and the Cyclones coasted down the stretch to seal the win.

The 'Roos came out much stronger on the glass in the final stanza with only a 14-12 deficit, but the difference proved to be ISU's three-point shooting, as it hit 8-of-12 in the period.

Tyler matched a career-high with 17 points to lead Kansas City, while Rogers had 13, senior Thomas Staton put up 12, and Kirksey tallied 11. McGee finished with a game-high 20 points, while three others finished in double-figures for ISU, who played only eight players.

Kansas City also finished with a season-best 10 three-pointers on only 19 attempts. ISU went 11-of-23 for the game.

The 'Roos will play the final game of the home stand on Saturday at 12:00 p.m. against Southeast Missouri State. The game will take place at Swinney Recreation Center, and will be televised on KSMO.