UMKC took to the road Saturday night in Cedar City, Utah, and came up short again.
The team extended its winless road record to 0-11 for the season as Southern Utah University rolled to a 66-59 victory.
The Kangaroos only win away from Kansas City during the 2006-2007 basketball season was on a neutral site at the Great Alaska Shootout in November.
UMKC Head Basketball Coach Rich Zvosec was discouraged by his team's play when interviewed on the post-game radio show by Danny Clinkscale on WHB 810.
"We didn't make the extra pass tonight," said Zvosec. "You take tough shots and you're not going to shoot for a high percentage."
UMKC shot just 34.4 percent from the field on the night, including a 20.8 percent (5-24) performance from the three-point arc.
Senior guard Quinton Day, who finished with 10 points on the night, shot a dismal 3-18 from the field including a 2-13 effort from bonus range. Throw in four turnovers and no assists and the Paseo High School product had his poorest statistical outing of the year, following close behind his season-best 30-point effort just seven days ago.
Despite the poor shooting, the Kangaroos did battle the Thunderbirds the entire night playing sound defense most of the evening. UMKC forced 17 SUU turnovers and beat the T-birds on the boards 36-29 on the night.
The Roos looked strong early, hitting successive three-point shots by Day and junior guard Tim Blackwell in the first 90 seconds of the contest to take a 6-1 lead. Blackwell also had a pair of rebounds to go with an assist, but would not shoot, much less score again, in 19 minutes of action.
The Thunderbirds soon took the lead on successive free-throw shots by senior guard Justin Smith, who scored 13 points in the contest That gave the squad a 9-8 lead. SUU would not trail again until the last five minutes of the contest.
Junior forward Tate Sorenson, who threw in 11 points on the night, gave SUU a 24-14 lead with 6:42 remaining in the first half. The 10-point margin proved to be the largest for either team.
UMKC mounted a 12-4 run and headed into the locker room at intermission trailing by a pair, 26-28.
Senior forward Dee Ayuba tied the game at 28-28 early in the second stanza and continued to burn up the net when given the opportunity. He scored 12 of his team-high 16 points in the final period of action.
Zvosec felt Ayuba could have gotten many more open looks at the basket from his teammates.
"Dee was scoring at will and forcing the double team," said Zvosec. "When he forced the double team, it created openings for other players."
The Kangaroos' road only gets bumpier. The squad travels to Tulsa, Okla., Thursday night to face league rival Oral Roberts University, who has yet to be beaten this season in Mid-Continent Conference action.
But Zvosec said he isn't done teaching and preaching to his battle-worn squad.
"We wrote on the board [in the locker room] hard plus smart equals success," said Zvosec. "We played hard and the effort was there, but we didn't play smart. We have to continue to try and work to get better."
dstroud@unews.com
