UMKC falls to Utah Valley, is on three-game losing streak

UMKC returned to friendly confines with the hopes of putting an end to a modest losing streak.

It did not work out for the Kangaroos.

UMKC lost to Western Athletic Conference opponent Utah Valley 75-67 at Swinney Recreation Center on Thursday night.

The loss pushed the Kangaroos’ skid to three games. UMKC had lost two straight road games coming into the home matchup against Utah Valley.

UMKC fell to 7-13 on the season and 2-3 in the WAC. The Kangaroos are 7-7 since opening the season with six straight defeats.

Utah Valley, meanwhile, improved to 14-7 and 3-3 in the WAC.

Xavier Bishop, who entered the game as UMKC’s leading scorer at 15.8 points per game, led the Kangaroos again on Thursday night. Bishop scored 22 points. He made 8 of 13 shots from the field and was 4 for 6 on three-pointers.

UMKC shot 51 percent form the field for the game, compared to Utah Valley’s 51.9, but Utah Valley had a distinct advantage on free throws. Utah Valley made 17-26 free throws. UMKC, meanwhile, only got to the line for 10 free throws and made 6 of them.

UMKC, which splits home games between Municipal Auditorium downtown and Swinney Recreation Center on the UMKC campus, had been 2-0 on the season at Swinney. Overall the Kangaroos are 5-3 in home games.

UMKC is set to play host to Seattle University at Swinney on Saturday at 6 p.m.

This story was originally published January 24, 2019 at 8:47 PM.