Southeast Missouri State men's basketball team's rally vs. Missouri-Kansas City falls short

Southeast Missouri State's home-court bubble finally burst Saturday night, thanks to hot-shooting University of Missouri-Kansas City.

The Kangaroos shot Southeast out of the Show Me Center by draining 13 3-pointers to build a 16-point lead and holding on for a 74-69 win.

"They were shooting lights out," Southeast senior forward Leon Powell said. "Everything they threw up was going in."

An announced crowd of 1,850 saw Southeast fall to 4-6, while UMKC improved to 6-5. The Redhawks lost for the first time in five home games.

"We're disappointed," Southeast coach Dickey Nutt said.

UMKC, which relies heavily on long-range shooting in its Princeton-style offense, entered the contest making 38.2 percent from beyond the arc and averaging 8.4 3-pointers per game.

Southeast's biggest weakness so far has been defense, and the Redhawks were allowing opponents to make a healthy 39.6 percent of their 3-pointers.

The Kangaroos feasted on that combination, hitting 13 of 21 from long distance for a sizzling 61.9 percent. They shot 49 percent from the field overall.

"When a team shoots that good, it's hard to beat them," Southeast junior guard Marland Smith said. "Our defense isn't very good, but it does seem every team shoots pretty good.

"It's probably because our defense isn't very good. We have to get a lot better defensively."

Said Powell: "I guess it is our defense. Most teams we've been playing, after every game they have their career days. We knew they could shoot it. We didn't know they could shoot it like that."

Senior guard Reggie Chamberlain, who entered play averaging nearly 20 points and shooting better than 44 percent from beyond the arc, made 5 of 9 3-pointers and scored 23 points.

Chamberlain hit 4 of 5 3-pointers on his way to 16 points in the first half. His trey with 1.4 seconds left after a UMKC steal sent the Kangaroos to the break up 41-28.

"You can tell he had it going," Smith said. "Every shot he put up, it was going in."

Southeast, which led only for a few seconds all night -- by one point twice early -- fell behind by 16 points at the outset of the second half.

The Redhawks finally were able to put together some stops and got their offense going to make things very interesting.

Two Smith free throws with 4 minutes, 44 seconds left cut the deficit to 58-56.

UMKC answered with consecutive 3-pointers to build a 64-56 advantage, but the Redhawks weren't quite done.

Southeast got within three points twice, including 70-67 on Smith's layup with 24 seconds remaining.

But the Kangaroos made 6 of 6 free throws over the final 41 seconds to hold on.

"We felt if we could have played in the first half like we did the second half, we would have had a much better chance to win," Nutt said. "I feel like we finally got some stops. We shot 50 percent [in the second half]. We were very aggressive. A play here or there."

Nutt knew the Kangaroos would attempt plenty of 3-pointers. He credited them for running a solid offense that invariably found the open shooter.

"They're a great shooting basketball team," Nutt said. "It's what they live and die on."

Powell hit 8 of 10 from the field and 5 of 7 free throws for 21 points. He added 10 rebounds for his second consecutive double-double and recorded four blocks.

Smith had his best offensive performance of the year with a season-high 21 points. He also dished out six assists and grabbed six rebounds.

"I finally got some shots to go down. ... Being a lot more aggressive," Smith said. "I still have to pick it up on defense."

Nutt liked what he saw from the explosive Smith, whose problem has been consistency.

"I was really proud of the way Marland played. He played with some aggressiveness," Nutt said.

Sophomore forward Tyler Stone added 12 points and nine rebounds.

Southeast also got a lift off the bench from senior walk-on point guard Logan Nutt, who scored a career-high six points, all in the second half to help fuel the rally. The coach's son had two assists and no turnovers in 18 minutes.

The Redhawks out-rebounded UMKC 38-24 and doubled up the Kangaroos on points in the point at 38-19.

Southeast also had a season-low nine turnovers, including just one in the second half.

But all that could not overcome the Kangaroos' hot shooting. Six UMKC players hit at least one 3-pointer.

"If we could have just played a little better, we could have won," Smith said.

Southeast takes a break for finals next week before hosting SMU on Dec. 19.