In the first of a four-game home streak, the Skyhawks fell to the Kansas City Kangaroos 79-67.
“Back to the drawing board,” said head coach Jason James.
The Skyhawks (1-5) took an early 10-5 lead over the Kangaroos (1-3), but Kansas City went on a 16-1 run late in the first half to put them on top 40-24.
Despite costly mistakes and turnovers, UTM rallied late in the second half, but the Kangaroos hung on for the victory.
“We have to get better on the defensive end,” said James. “We’ve played better defense than we have tonight. I thought we had a solid game plan on how to guard them. We just didn’t execute at all. I don’t know if it was communication amongst each other. …We’ll watch the tape and we’ll continue to get better. I mean, we’re not as bad of a defensive team as we showed.”
Kansas City shot 28 percent on field goals and 46.7 percent from beyond the arch.
Defensively, the Kangaroos totaled 32 rebounds, four less than UTM had in the entire game
Terence Smith led UTM with 14 total points, he also added four assist.
Myles Taylor finished with 13 points and a team-high eight rebounds, but only managed 2-11 on field goals.
This was Taylor’s third game since returning from injury.
“He’s probably about 80 percent right now,” said James. “Today was tough on him, because his opponent was a lot bigger and taller than he was and sometimes with those bigger guys he struggles a little bit.”
While James isn’t sure when Taylor will be fully healthy, he said that he is on the right track.
The Skyhawks are still without Mike Liabo and according to James his return depends on his actions.
“It depends on Mike,” said James. “He needs to get better at being Mike. We’re just taking it day-by-day and trying to figure out if he can get back on the right track. If he can, he’ll play, but if not, he won’t.”
On Friday, Nov. 22, the Skyhawks will host Jackson State. The game is scheduled to start at 7 p.m.
