There was a reason for all of the smiles and chatter that went on between Kansas University guard Sherron Collins and University of Missouri-Kansas City guard Reggie Hamilton on Sunday night.
“Coming up, I kind of looked up to Sherron,” said Hamilton, who hails from Thorwood High in Harvey, Ill., a Chicago suburb. “That’s the player I grew up trying to be like, trying to get the same accomplishments that he got. We had a few words, here and there, but it was just competitive.”
Perhaps more so than Collins would have liked.
In the season opener for KU, Hamilton’s Kangaroos (0-2) pushed the Jayhawks (1-0) to the limit for 30 minutes, only to fade down the stretch, as the deeper and bigger Kansas team scrapped out a 71-56 victory at Allen Fieldhouse.
For Hamilton, who finished with 13 points on 4-of-8 shooting – including 3-of-5 from three-point land – Sunday’s contest was more than a showdown with a fellow alumnus of Chicago’s famed Illinois Warriors AAU club. It was about putting forth a better effort than his team did in its season opener, a 61-56 home loss to North Dakota on Friday.
“We came here to play the game to win,” Hamilton said. “Most teams look at this like, ‘Man, this is Kansas University.’ But we looked at it as a game we could win, and that’s what we came here to do.”
Hamilton and Collins renewed their Windy City rivalry right out of the gate. Collins opened the game with a three-pointer from the wing, and Hamilton answered with one from the top of the key on the other end. From there, UMKC gained momentum with every trip down the floor and built a lead as large as seven points – 16-9 – in the first half. Spencer Johnson’s three-pointer on UMKC’s second possession gave his squad a 6-5 lead, and the ‘Roos led the rest of the way during the first half, with Kansas only able to tie it twice, 21-21 and 32-32.
The second tie proved to be the one that took the bounce out of the Kangaroos’ step.
“I think there was a little momentum shift at the end of the first half, and that kind of carried over into the second half,” Hamilton said. “They just did a good job. That’s a good team over there.”
Despite fielding a squad with six players who suited up for their first college basketball game last Friday, UMKC coach Matt Brown encouraged his group to look at Sunday’s contest as an opportunity to correct the mistakes that were made in the opener and nothing more.
“I told our kids that KU is just like we are,” Brown said. “They have eight new kids and four returners, and we’re basically in the same situation, so it doesn’t matter if you are KU or UMKC, it’s still a first-time thing.”
Despite his coach’s business-like, albeit realistic, approach, Hamilton said playing in Allen Fieldhouse was a thrill.
“Playing here, you know the crowd’s always going to be great,” he said. “But I was happy with our effort because we gave better energy and effort (than against North Dakota).”
UMKC sharpshooter Dane Brumagin – the only senior on the ‘Roos’ roster – opened the second half with one of his four three-pointers on the night. The shot gave UMKC the lead and served as a message that the Kangaroos would not go away.
A 10-0 KU run during the next five minutes pushed the Jayhawks ahead for good. UMKC never crawled closer than five points the rest of the night.
With the game out of reach, Hamilton fouled out on an offensive charge with 1:45 to play. But he didn’t leave the court without helping Collins up from the floor.
“When I thought about it before the game, this was a guy I used to try to be like in high school,” Hamilton said. “But when you’re on the court, you don’t think about stuff like that. You’re just out there trying to stay into the game.”
