Senior Isiah Umipig (Federal Way, Wash.) tied the Western Athletic Conference Men’s Basketball Tournament single game record with eight three-pointers, including seven in the first half as Seattle University established a lead and went on to defeat Missouri-Kansas City, 69-63, Friday night in the semifinals of the 2015 WAC Tournament at the Orleans Arena.
With the victory, Seattle U moves on to the championship game against regular season champion and top seed New Mexico State Saturday, March 14, starting at 8 p.m. If the Redhawks defeat the Aggies, they will earn their first NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Tournament berth since 1969.
“We got off to a great start, and we played defense really solid all night long, so my hats off to the guys, led by our seniors,” Seattle U head coach Cameron Dollar said. “We are blessed to be in this situation, we are excited about it, and we are going to get geared up for them (New Mexico State).”
Umipig shot 9-of-19 from the field, including 8-of-17 from behind the three-point line, and 4-of-4 from the free throw line to finish with 30 points, the third time this season he has reached the 30-point mark. Along with tying the tournament record, he also tied his career high with the eight three-pointers and broke the program’s single-season made three-pointer mark that he set last season at 106, hitting 111 three-pointers so far this year.
“I got into a rhythm, we were moving really well, and I was able to get open and get some looks. My teammates kept looking for me, and I got into a good flow,” Umipig said.
The first half belonged to Umipig, who hit seven three-pointers to lead everyone with 21 first-half points, outscoring the entire UMKC team. After a Umipig three gave the Redhawks an 11-6 lead, UMKC pulled to within one on baskets by Reese Holliday and Broderick Newbill.
After Newbill hit another basket, Umipig nailed three shots from long distance, and Jarell Flora (Bremerton, Wash.) added a three-pointer of his own to give the Redhawks a 26-12 advantage. Two more Umipig three-pointers sandwiched around a Emmanuel Chibuogwu (Seattle, Wash.) jumper gave Seattle U its biggest lead of the half at 34-15, but Deshon Taylor hit a layup in the final minute to cut UMKC’s deficit to 16 at 34-18 at halftime.
UMKC (14-19) scored seven unanswered points, capped by a Taylor three-pointer, to bring its deficit down to single digits at 41-32 with 13:06 remaining in the second half. Thanks to a traditional three-point play by Flora and a layup from William Powell (Huntsville, Ala.), the Redhawks extended their lead back to 14 at 51-37 with 8:23 to go in regulation.
Still down by 14 with just 2:24 left on the clock, UMKC started closing the gap, highlighted by an amazing three-pointer from Taylor launched from about 35 feet out as he was falling out of bounds. Martez Harrison made four free throws in the final minute to bring the Kangaroos to within five points, but Seattle U made 10-of-14 free throws in the last two-and-a-half minutes to hold off the UMKC rally.
Powell finished with 13 points, six rebounds, two assists, and a blocked shot, while Flora earned 12 points and four rebounds. Jack Crook (Manchester, England) contributed seven points and a game-high 11 rebounds, helping the Redhawks win the rebounding battle, 38-27, and Emerson Murray (Vancouver, B.C.) added four points, five rebounds, and five assists to the winning effort.
Taylor led the Kangaroos with 16 points, while Reese Holliday hit 5-of-7 shots from the field and 4-of-4 from the free throw line to score 15 points. Harrison, the WAC Player of the Year, finished with 12 points, four assists, and two steals, but most of his scoring came from the free throw line as he was in foul trouble the entire night. As a team, UMKC shot 35.2 percent (19-of-54) from the field, including 8-of-21 from behind the three-point line, and 89.5 percent (17-of-19) from the free throw line.
Seattle U shot 48.8 percent (21-of-43) from the field, including 10-of-23 from behind the three-point line, and 65.4 percent (17-of-26) from the free throw line. The Redhawks did commit 15 turnovers that led to 14 UMKC points, but Seattle U was able to equal that amount of points off just five Kangaroo turnovers.
Seattle University (16-14) and New Mexico State will battle for the conference tournament title and a berth in the NCAA Tournament Saturday, March 14, starting at 8 p.m. in a game televised live on ESPNU. Dave Grosby and Gary Hill Jr. will broadcast the contest from courtside live on 770 AM KTTH, starting with the pregame show shortly before tipoff.