Late Push By 'Roos Not Enough, Grizzlies Hold On 86-74

Kansas City cut a 19-point second half Oakland lead to only four with 58 seconds left, but the Grizzlies went 10-of-10 from the line to seal the win in the final home game for the 'Roos, 86-74.
Kansas City (7-21, 4-10 SL) fell into an early hole thanks to a shooting show from Oakland's Travis Bader, who started the contest 7-of-7 from the floor, including five threes in the first 10:26 of the contest, helping the Grizzlies (15-13, 10-4 SL) build a 32-18 lead.
By the 3:08 mark, Oakland had its advantage up to as many as 21 points at 43-22. It took a 45-28 lead into the halftime break. Bader cooled after the first 10 minutes, but led all scorers at the break with 19 points. Nelson Kirksey paced UMKC with nine points in the first half. The Grizzlies scored a 13-4 advantage in points off turnovers, and shot 15 percent better from the floor. They also hit 8-of-14 three pointers.
The second stanza saw OU hold its double-digit lead steady through the first 12 minutes, but UMKC came alive on both ends of the floor for the next six minutes though. An 8-0 run sparked by two buckets from Trinity Hall cut the lead to eight with 6:08 to play.
The Grizzlies put it back to 10, but with less than two minutes to play the 'Roos went on a 6-0 rally over the next minute, capped by a layup from senior Thomas Staton to get it down to four with 58 seconds remaining, putting the Senior Night crowd into a frenzy at 76-72.
The 'Roos elected to foul on the inbounds play after a timeout, and OU converted its free throws and got a stop on the other end. It would keep UMKC from scoring until only 14 seconds remained, and hit all 10 charities to seal it.
UMKC out-scored the Grizzlies 46-41 in the final half thanks to 62.1 percent shooting. The 'Roos scored 26 points in the paint as well, and got 11 points from Staton.
For the game, the two squads were just about even in shooting, but a 35-25 rebound lead and 16 more free throw attempts proved to be the difference. OU also outscored UMKC 15-6 in second-chance points. The win made it 14 straight in the series for Oakland.
Bader led all scorers with 29, while Drew Valentine had 17 and Ryan Bass put up 16. The 'Roos got 18 points from Kirksey (matched a career-high), while Staton tallied 17. Estan Tyler rounded out double-figure scorers with 11.
Kansas City will play its Ramada BracketBuster game next Saturday at Tennessee Tech in Cookeville at 7:00 p.m.

Kansas City Celebrates Senior Night Saturday Against Oakland

The 'Roos will celebrate senior night on Saturday when Oakland comes to Kansas City for a nationally televised game on Fox College Sports and locally on KSMO. The 'Roos have dropped six of their last seven, while Oakland comes in as the hottest team in the league, winning six straight. It will be the 33rd meeting between the 'Roos and Grizzlies, with Oakland holding a 26-6 advantage. OU has won the last 13 meetings in the series dating back to a February 15, 2007 overtime win for UMKC, 80-76.
Oakland enters the contest with a 14-13 overall record, and is 9-4 in conference play and on a six game win streak. The Grizzlies defeated each of the teams ahead of them in the standings during the stretch.
The Grizzlies are led by guard Travis Bader's 21.9 points per game (4.3 threes made per game), while center Corey Petros puts up 12.7 points and 8.4 boards (second in SL) per contest. Also in double figures is point guard Duke Mondy, who puts up 12.9 points per outing, and leads the Summit League in both steals (85) and assists (137).
As a team the Grizzlies lead the conference in steals per game (8.5) and turnover margin, forcing 14.9 miscues per outing. They shoot 22.9 free throws per game, ranking No. 1 in the league as well. They have allowed opponents to shoot .498, ranking last in the conference.
Even though UMKC lost to IPFW on Thursday night they did have one bright spot. Kansas City got a 19-point, 10 rebound performance by Fred Chatmon on Thursday against IPFW, his fourth double-double of the season. He has scored 20 and 19 points in his last two games.
Kansas City heads to Tennessee Tech for the Bracketbuster game next Saturday at 7:00 p.m. in Cookeville.

Grizzlies Outlast 'Roos In Sloppy Contest, 81-68

Kansas City went into the half tied at 33 with Oakland on Thursday night, but the Grizzlies jumped out quickly in the second period and outlasted the 'Roos in a turnover-laden contest, 81-68.

Kansas City (5-14, 2-5 SL) has now dropped 13 straight to Oakland (8-12, 3-3 SL), and has not won a game at OU since 2006. The two teams combined for 41 turnovers (UMKC 21, OU 20), 29 of which were in the opening stanza. The difference proved to be a 23-point second half performance from OU's Travis Bader though, drilling four threes and went 9-of-9 from the line.

The 'Roos were right with the Grizzlies in the opening five minutes, but scored only two points over a span of seven minutes as the hosts built a nine-point advantage with 7:29 to play, 21-12. Oakland pushed its lead to as many as 13 at the 5:33 mark, but Kansas City fought back, cutting it to six with 4:09 on the clock.

OU took a 33-24 lead with 3:03 left in the half on a three-point play by Drew Valentine, but UMKC closed the stanza on a 9-0 run with two buckets from Aaron Washington and a three with two seconds left from Nelson Kirksey.

The 'Roos forced OU into 17 turnovers in the period, while making 12 miscues themselves. The Grizzlies shot 66.7 percent while UMKC hit for 48.1 percent, but a 19-10 advantage in points off turnovers kept the Kangaroos in it. Estan Tyler led the 'Roos with nine points.

The Grizzlies scored the first eight points of the second half and never trailed again. At the 15:41 mark the home squad was up by a 51-39 score, but Kansas City cut it to five with 11:24 on the clock. OU committed only three turnovers in the second half though, while the 'Roos made nine miscues.

Kansas City could never get closer than five in the stanza though, as Oakland had an answer every time. A three by Thomas Staton with 2:31 on the clock cut it to 70-65, but the Grizzlies scored the next seven points to ice it. Valentine nabbed five steals in the half, while scoring 11 points for OU. Tyler's 11 points led the way for UMKC in the period.

The Grizzlies outscored UMKC 17-3 in points off turnovers in the final stanza, and played only six players in the period. Oakland also outscored Kansas City 19-6 from the free throw line.

Tyler finished with 20 points for the 'Roos, his second career 20-point game and second in a row. The only other player in double figures was Kirksey with 10 points. Bader finished with a game-high 30 points, while Valentine tallied 19 points, a building-record eight steals and eight boards. Corey Petros had 16 points and 10 rebounds for OU as well.

Kansas City will head to Fort Wayne, Indiana on Saturday for a contest with IPFW. Tipoff is scheduled for 6:00 p.m. CT.

UMKC Continues Road Swing At Oakland Thursday

The 'Roos come into this matchup with Oakland after their first road win in conference play since December of 2011 vs. IPFW. Kansas City and OU are fighting for fifth place in the league standings, with Oakland entering the contest on a three-game losing streak.

It will be the 32nd meeting between the 'Roos and Grizzlies, with Oakland holding a 25-6 advantage. OU has won the last 12 meetings in the series dating back to a February 15, 2007 overtime win for UMKC, 80-76. At OU, Kansas City is 2-12 and on a six-game skid there. The last win on the road for the 'Roos came by a 84-81 score on February 11, 2006. Matt Brown has a 0-11 mark against OU while OU’s head man, Greg Kampe, is 25-6 vs. UMKC.

Oakland enters the contest with a 7-12 overall record, and is 2-3 in conference play. The Grizzlies have defeated IUPUI and Omaha in league action, with losses on the road to the top three teams; WIU, SDSU and NDSU.

The Grizzlies are led by guard Travis Bader's 19.6 points per game (3.8 threes made per game), while center Corey Petros puts up 12.9 points and 8.1 boards (second in SL) per contest. Also in double figures is point guard Duke Mondy, who puts up 11.7 points per outing, and leads the Summit League in both steals (57) and assists (97).

As a team the Grizzlies lead the conference in steals per game (8.7) and turnover margin, forcing 15.2 miscues per outing. They shoot 23.4 free throws per game, ranking No. 1 in the league as well. They have allowed opponents to shoot .493, ranking last in the conference.

The 'Roos set a school record on Saturday, shooting 82.6 percent in the second half (19-of-23). The old mark was set on January 13, 1990 against Northern Illinois at 75 percent (15-of-20).

Estan Tyler came off the bench for the first time this season on Saturday, and responded with a career and team season-high 25 points. He also had five assists and no turnovers, only the second turnover-free game this season (vs. UND). The effort led to Tyler being named the Summit League Player of the Week on Monday (becoming the first 'Roo to earn that honor since Jay Cousinard on November 22, 2010).

UMKC’s big three will continue to spearhead the 'Roos attack. In the last five games, two players are averaging in double-figure points, Thomas Staton (14.6) and Tyler (14.3). Fred Chatmon leads the team with 6.2 boards a game during the stretch. Chatmon also ranks fourth in the league in blocks (1.3 bpg) while Tyler is fifth in assists (3.5 apg).

Kansas City will continue its road swing on Saturday at Fort Wayne for a 6:00 p.m. CT contest at Memorial Coliseum.