Big shots

Mulford, Palmer hit key 3s
in victory over Kangaroos

By RICH JOHNSON
UNIVERSITY JOURNAL

David Palmer and Jordan Mulford combined to hit nine 3-point shots, but none were bigger than their last two.
Mulford hit one with the shot-clock running down late in the second half and Palmer knocked down one of his own with the score tied and one minute left as the ’Birds took an 82-78 comeback win over UMKC at the Centrum Arena Saturday night.
Trailing 75-73 with 3:01 remaining, the ’Birds struggled to find a hole in the Kangaroos’ defense. Mulford got the ball, took a step to the corner and fired, hitting the 3-pointer with one second left on the shot clock.
“I knew the shot clock was getting close because we had the ball a pretty long time,” Mulford said. “Then I heard someone from the bench say ‘Shoot it, get rid of it.’ I just kind of took a dribble to the right and found myself open. He kind of backed off of me, and I had an opportunity to shoot it.”
A layup by Robbie Warren put SUU on top 78-75, but Marc Stricker tied the score with 1:13 left on a 3-pointer from the corner.
Fifteen seconds later, Palmer nailed a three from the wing.
Warren said watching a teammate hit a big shot at the end is “one of the greatest feelings.”
“It’s almost like you shot it yourself,” he said. “You’re happy that they’re able to make those big plays and step up for the team.”
After a defensive stop, Donnie Jackson hit a free throw with 10 seconds remaining to seal the win.
Palmer was 5-of-9 from behind the arc and scored a career-high 22 points for SUU, which improved to 7-7 on the season and 2-0 in Mid-Con play.
Mulford added 16 points and was 4-of-6 from 3-point range.
“Our teammates create shots for us well, and that’s the main thing,” Palmer said. “We don’t do a lot of creating on our own. They get us open and give us the ball. We were lucky enough tonight that they were falling down.”
Palmer scored 16 points in the second half alone.
“It’s nice to have kind of a breakout game,” Palmer said. “I kind of struggled in the first half, so it was kind of nice to get going in the second half.”
SUU trailed 45-34 at the half, after allowing the Kangaroos to shoot 60 percent from the field. SUU coach Bill Evans said he was disappointed in the team’s first-half performance and told the T-Birds if they played the same way in the second half, they wouldn’t win.
“I told them we didn’t play with any focus or any toughness,” he said. “We weren’t doing the little things we needed to do like, contest shots.”
SUU responded in the second half, opening it up with an 11-3 run. Mulford said the difference was the team’s difference.
“We kind of mixed it up a little bit,” he said. “We got some fsteals, and we got out on the open floor and made some buckets.”
Michael Watson finished with 24 points for the Kangaroos, who shot 16-of-38 from 3-point range.
The two teams combined to hit 29 3-pointers.
SUU’s win, coupled with Thursday’s win over Oral Roberts, leaves the ’Birds unbeaten in Mid-Con play heading into Thursday’s road