UMKC advances to WAC semifinals with first conference tournament win since 2007
This time there would be no last-second heroics to leave a sour taste in the mouths of UMKC, which won a conference tournament game for the first time since 2007.
UMKC rallied from a first-half deficit for a 70-61 win over Texas-Pan American in the opening round of the Western Athletic Conference men's basketball tournament on Thursday at Orleans Arena in Las Vegas.
The win, which avenges a narrow 53-51 loss to the Broncs on Saturday in the regular-season finale in Edinburg, Texas, moves UMKC into Friday's semifinal round.
UMKC will face No. 3 seed Seattle, which outlasted Chicago State 49-45, around 10:30 p.m. Central time. Top-seeded New Mexico State faces Bakersfield in the other semifinal game on Friday. Bakersfield advanced to the semifinal round with a 55-40 win over Utah Valley in Thursday's opening game of the tournament. The winner of Saturday's championship game earns the conference's automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament. That field will be announced on Sunday.
Reese Holliday and Deshon Taylor combined for 19 of UMKC's 31 points in the first half as the Roos managed to recover from an 11-5 deficit within the first five minutes of the game.
"I am proud of the way our guys responded after getting down early," UMKC coach Kareem Richardson said. "We stayed within ourselves and adhered to the game plan and did the things we needed to do in order to be successful."
Things did not look bright for the Roos from the opening tip as they struggled on the offensive end and was hampered by early foul trouble as the Broncs, which got a three-pointer from UTPA's leading scorer Janari Joesser in the opening minute, grabbed the early advantage. He was injured moments later and did not return.
UTPA managed to eventually build a nine-point advantage, thanks in large part to cold shooting on the part of the Roos, who hit just three of 13 shots to start the game.
“It was obviously a very hard-fought game by both teams,” said Richardson after watching his team improve to 14-18 on the season. “We were a little tight, especially on offense, … but we finally settled in and then foul trouble kind of hampered us a little bit.”
UMKC had five players pick up two fouls in the first half and sent the Broncs to the free throw line 12 times in the opening 20 minutes.
After clawing back to with 23-20 left in the first half, UMKC's Reese Holliday connected for a three-point basket of his own to tie the game 23-23 with 5:30 remaining in the opening 20 minutes. Deshon Taylor's three-pointer just over two minutes later gave UMKC its first lead of the game at 28-27 at the 3:22 mark and the Roos would eventually increase their lead to 33-29 at the intermission.
After allowing UTPA to tie the game at 38-38 early in the second half, the Roos began to putting the finishing touches on the game by going on a 19-9 run over the next six minutes to take the lead for good.
Frank Williams connected on a pair of three-pointers and one by Taylor sparked that run. Martez Harrison's three-point play at 9:48 gave UMKC its biggest lead of the night at 60-47. The Broncs would get no closer than seven points the rest of the way.
Holliday led the way for the Roos with 18 points, including 6-of-6 from the foul line, to lead three Roos in double figures. He also notched eight rebounds and added three assusts and two steals as en route to Friday's semifinal round.
Taylor and Martez Harrison also finished in double figures with 16 and 14 points, respectively, for UMKC.
"It's been awhile since this program has experienced a win in a conference tournament," Richardson said. "We are going to savor this for a few hours."
Thursday's win marked the first time the Roos have been victorious in a conference tournament since defeating Valparaiso in the 2007 Mid-Continent Conference tournament.
This story was originally published March 12, 2015 at 9:32 PM with the headline "UMKC advances to WAC semifinals with first conference tournament win since 2007."