Box Score KANSAS CITY, Mo. – The Omaha men's basketball team was edged out at UMKC on Saturday afternoon, falling 79-72 at Municipal Auditorium. With the loss, the Mavericks are now 4-5 (0-0 Summit League) on the season, while the Kangaroos improve to 4-7 (0-0 WAC).

Senior guard CJ Carter scored a team-leading 20 points, adding five rebounds, three assists, three steals and a block. Freshman forward Tre'Shawn Thurman was right behind him with a season-high 19 points on 8-of-14 shooting, also finishing with eight boards, four steals, three blocks and an assist.

Junior guard Marcus Tyus chipped in another double-digit scoring effort, totaling 13 points with five rebounds, two helpers and a steal. Junior forward Jake White, making his first appearance since Nov. 16, grabbed a game-high 11 rebounds alongside six points and a pair of assists.

As a team, Omaha shot .424 (28-of-66) to UMKC's .436 (24-of-55), but the Mavericks outrebounded the 'Roos 46-34. UNO forced 18 UMKC turnovers but committed a season-high 26 miscues.

Kansas City was led by Martez Harrison's 25 points. Frank Williams Jr. also had 16 with a trio of 3-pointers, and Deshon Taylor notched 12 points for the afternoon.

The Kangaroos opened the game to a fast 6-0 lead, but Omaha battled right back to 8-6 with two scores from Thurman. After a Reese Holliday three made it 11-6 UMKC, Omaha scored 13 straight unanswered points en route to a 19-13 advantage. The Mavericks then went up by nine at 31-22 with a three-point play by senior forward Mike Rostampour. UMKC answered immediately with an 11-2 run that tied the game at 33-33, and the Kangaroos took a 39-35 lead into the locker room at halftime.

Both teams continued to slug it out in the second half, as each shot 40 percent from the field. UMKC held an advantage at the foul line, however, as the Kangaroos were 15-of-25 in the second half while the Mavericks made 7-of-11.

Omaha exploded for an 18-3 run early in the second stanza, started and ended by Tyus 3-pointers that took it from 41-38 UMKC to 53-44 UNO. The 'Roos responded with seven straight points to cut the Mavericks' lead to two. On the next possession, junior guard Devin Patterson recovered a loose ball at midcourt and sent it to Thurman, who delivered a one-handed jam that made it 55-51 before a UNO timeout at 11:46.

Two minutes later, with UNO up 58-53, back-to-back threes from Williams suddenly ignited UMKC's 10-1 go-ahead run. Two layups from Harris put the Kangaroos ahead 65-61 with 6:12 left, and although Omaha pulled within four again at 76-72 with 1:05 to go, Kansas City held on to its lead and picked up the 79-72 win.

Omaha returns to action on Wednesday, Dec. 17, welcoming Northern Colorado. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. at Ralston Arena, and the game will be available live on 1620 The Zone with Gary Sharp and Grant Nieland on the call. Links to live stats, audio and video will be available on OMavs.com.