Seattle University overcame UMKC’s pressure defense by distributing the offense, with seven players scoring at least seven points each as the Redhawks pulled away with a 74-56 victory over the Kangaroos Wednesday night in a Western Athletic Conference men’s basketball game at KeyArena.
William Powell (Huntsville, Ala.) shot 7-of-10 from the field and 3-of-4 from the free throw line for a career-high 17 points, plus he pulled down six rebounds. Isiah Umipig (Federal Way, Wash.) hit four three-pointers on his way to 14 points, including a three-pointer with 10:41 remaining in the second half to pass the 1,000 career point mark as a Redhawk, while Jarell Flora (Bremerton, Wash.) contributed 13 points, four rebounds, and three assists.
“I am pleased with the way we controlled the tempo, especially against a team that wants to speed it up and turn the ball over,” Seattle U head coach Cameron Dollar said. “We did a good job on the boards, and the bench played well. It was a total team effort tonight.”
UMKC (11-16, 6-4 WAC) took the early lead, with a jumper by Martez Harrison giving the Kangaroos a 9-7 lead, but Seattle U responded with nine unanswered points to pull ahead, 16-9, six minutes into the contest. The Redhawks maintained that lead throughout the first half before going on a 9-2 scoring run over a three-minute span late in the opening half to take their biggest lead before halftime at 39-26.
Reese Holliday hit consecutive three-pointers early in the second half to close the UMKC deficit to seven at 46-39, but Seattle U rattled off nine unanswered points, with Umipig hitting two three-pointers and Jadon Cohee (Langley, B.C.) converting on a traditional three-point play. The Redhawk lead never dipped below double digits the rest of the night, with Seattle U closing out the game on a 10-2 scoring run over the final five-and-a-half minutes.
Jack Crook (Manchester, England) finished with eight points and a team-high seven rebounds, while Emerson Murray (Vancouver, B.C.) contributed seven points, four rebounds, two assists, and two steals. Off the bench, Emmanuel Chibuogwu (Seattle, Wash.) collected eight points, four rebounds, and two assists, and Cohee added seven points to the winning effort.
Holliday was perfect from the field, including three three-pointers, and missed just one free throw attempt as he led UMKC with 17 points, while Deshon Taylor scored 13 points and Harrison earned 12 points, three assists, and two steals. As a team, UMKC shot 44.4 percent (20-of-45) from the field, including 6-of-18 from behind the three-point line, and 76.9 percent (10-of-13) from the free throw line.
Thanks to a 61.9 percent shooting performance from the field in the second half, including 5-of-6 from behind the three-point line, Seattle U finished at 53.6 percent (30-of-56) from the field, including 8-of-16 from long distance, and 75.0 percent (6-of-8) from the free throw line. The Redhawks won the rebounding battle, 31-22, including 11 offensive rebounds that led to 15 second chance points.
Seattle University (12-13, 5-6 WAC) hosts Chicago State Saturday, Feb. 21, at KeyArena starting at 7 p.m. The game will be streamed online by the WAC Digital Network (www.wacsports.com/watch), and it will also be broadcast on 770 AM KTTH with Dave Grosby and Gary Hill Jr. providing the play-by-play descriptions. Tickets for the game are on sale through Ticketmaster and the KeyArena Box Office.