by 3manweave » Thu Apr 14, 2016 9:15 pm
[December 7th, 2015 - Game #8, at Mississippi State]
UMKC (5-2) @ Mississippi St. (3-3) :: Humphrey Coliseum, Starkville, Miss.
The Star usually sends their UMKC beat on one non-conference game road trip per year. Well, as luck would have it, I get stuck going to Starkville, Mississippi. There just isn't much here to do at all. The coliseum they play in is pretty nice, however, and there really isn't a bad seat in the house. I was able to settle in about 15 minutes prior to tip. It looked pretty bad at first, but UMKC kept it somewhat respectable, losing 83-65.
The 'Roos got off to a rough start, getting down 15-4 with barely five minutes gone in the game. Mississippi State would further extend the lead to seventeen, 24-7, with 12:20 to go in the first half. Led by Brad Fitzwater, UMKC would cut the lead to eleven, 32-21, as Fitzwater hit his fourth trey of the first half with 7:28 to go. Fitzwater would later add a bucket with 4:14 to go in the half to give him fourteen, which led the team at the half. Unfortunately, he was held scoreless in the second half.
The Bulldogs widened their lead to twenty-one at the half, as backcourt mates Elan Keeling and Joey Horton combined for thirty-three points. Keeling would finish with a game-high thirty points on eight-of-23 shooting, including a whopping eighteen three-point attempts; making only six of those. Mississippi State head coach Ben Howland seemed content to let his star guard put up as many shots as he needed to. However, they shot 12-of-29 (.414) as a team from three-point range. Reserve guard Aaron Darting scored eleven points, hitting all three three-point attempts he took, and hitting two-of-two at the line.
The 'Roos actually shot the ball well, hitting just under 50% of their total shot attempts (23-of-47, or 48.9%), and 46.2% of their three-point attempts (six-of-13), but simply couldn't match the volume shooting of Mississippi State. Fitzwater and Will Bedard each had fourteen to lead UMKC, while Shyrone Forte played one of his better games as a collegian, scoring thirteen while grabbing three boards, handing out two assists, and registering two blocks.
Besides Keeling's thirty points, Horton scored nineteen. Darting was the only other Bulldog in double figures with eleven.
UMKC (05-03): 32-33-65
MSST (04-03): 53-30-83
Rebounds (Offensive): MS State 29 (6), UMKC 25 (4)
Blocked Shots: UMKC 5, MS State 0
Steals: MS State 6, UMKC 3
Assists: MS State 21, UMKC 15
Turnovers: MS State 11, UMKC 16
Field Goals: UMKC 23/47 (.489), MS State 28/58 (.483)
Free Throws: MS State 15/16 (.938), UMKC 13/19 (.684)
Three-point: UMKC 6/13 (.462), MS State 12/29 (.414)
Points In Paint: UMKC 22, MS State 18
Second Chance Points: MS State 7, UMKC 5
Fast Break Points: MS State 8, UMKC 4
Largest Lead: MS State 27, UMKC 0
Player of the Game: Elan Keeling, Mississippi State - 30 points (8-of-23 FG, 6-of-18 3PT, 8-of-8 FT), 4 rebounds, 3 assists, steal
UMKC
Brad Fitzwater: 14 points (5-of-9 FG, 4-of-6 3PT), 5 rebounds, 2 assists, 6 turnovers
Will Bedard: 14 points (6-of-13 FG, 2-of-4 FT), rebound
MS State
Joey Horton: 19 points (7-of-9 FG, 1-of-2 3PT, 4-of-4 FT), 3 rebounds, 3 assists
Aaron Darting: 11 points (3-of-3 3PT, 2-of-2 FT), rebound