Box Score Box Score (PDF/HTML)

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – The Omaha men's basketball team rallied from an 11-point halftime deficit to earn its first season sweep of a conference opponent on Saturday, defeating Kansas City 67-59 at Swinney Recreation Center. With the victory, the Mavericks improve to 7-16 (4-6 Summit League), while the Kangaroos drop to 6-16 (3-6 Summit League).

Junior guard Justin Simmons led all scorers with 21 points on 9-of-17 shooting, marking his 11th straight double-figure scoring effort and his sixth 20-plus point performance of the season. He also pulled down five rebounds and added two assists, three steals and a block. Simmons was joined in double figures by junior center John Karhoff, who recorded 16 points, three boards, four assists and a trio of steals.

Sophomore guard CJ Carter added nine points, a team-leading six rebounds, two assists, two steals and a block. Senior forward Alex Welhouse chipped in eight points, three boards and two steals, while freshman guard Marcus Tyus had seven points and two rebounds off the bench. Junior guard Caleb Steffensmeier also had four rebounds and two steals for the night.

Kansas City was paced by Brad Reid, who finished with a double-double on 13 rebounds and 12 points. Thomas Staton also had a double-figure showing with 12 points, and Estan Tyler and Trinity Hall scored eight points apiece.

As a team, Omaha shot 48 percent (25-of-52) from the field, 25 percent (3-of-12) from long range and 74 percent at the free throw line (14-of-19). UMKC came in at 41 percent (26-of-63) from the floor, 13 percent (2-of-15) beyond the arc and 50 percent (5-of-10) at the charity stripe.

Kansas City scored six unanswered points to open the game, but the Mavericks slowly chipped away to tie it at 14-all on a Phillips jumper. The 'Roos responded with three straight buckets to push it to 20-14, but Omaha stayed within three with the help of buckets from Simmons and Welhouse. UMKC took it out to 29-21, then took a double-digit lead on a shot from Tyler.

Simmons' layup with 3:02 to go broke another 6-0 UMKC scoring run, and the Mavs managed to keep it to a single-digit margin with a 41-30 tally at the half. Kansas City's Brad Reid led the 'Roos first-half charge, achieving a double-double in the first 15 minutes with 10 points and 10 rebounds.

Omaha started the second half with two buckets from Simmons and another from Phillips, making it 43-36. Kansas City went up 49-41, but a pair of Welhouse free throws got the Mavericks back on track. Karhoff then single-handedly cut the Kangaroos' advantage to 49-48 with five points over two possessions, forcing a UMKC timeout. A Carter three gave Omaha its first lead of the night at 51-50, and Tyus made his first noise of the night on a trey to make it 53-51.

With back-to-back buckets from Simmons and another drive through the lane from Carter, Omaha secured the last lead it needed, stretching it to 61-55 with just under five minutes to play. Simmons' final basket of the night made it 63-57 at the 2:20 mark, though UMKC cut it to four with a pair of foul shots by Kirk Korver. The Mavericks, who held UMKC to 29 percent shooting in the second half, used free throws from Welhouse and Karhoff to ice the game, leaving with the 67-59 win.

The win gave UNO back-to-back conference wins this weekend and marked the Mavs' first season sweep of a Summit League opponent. UMKC's 59 points was the fewest scored by any UNO opponent this year and the fewest of any Division I competition since the Mavericks began their transition.

Omaha returns to action on Thursday, Jan. 31, hosting Fort Wayne. Tipoff is slated for 7 p.m. at Ralston Arena, and links to live stats and live video will be available on OMavs.com.