McKissic, Giles spark UMKC past California Baptist 84-68

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Brandon McKissic and Jordan Giles scored 17 points each, Giles making 13 after halftime, and UMKC pulled away with a big second half to down California Baptist 84-68 on Thursday night.

California Baptist, a newcomer to the Western Athletic Conference, trailed 35-31 at halftime before Giles and McKissic scored UMKC's first 14 points of the second half to push the Kangaroos' lead to 49-42. A 15-0 run followed that broke the game open, 62-32, and the Lancers didn't get closer than 13 in the final eight minutes.

UMKC (7-10, 2-0) has won two in a row after starting the season 0-6.

Xavier Bishop scored 13 for UMKC, which shot 53 percent for the game (28 of 53) and scored 31 points off 18 Cal Baptist turnovers.

Jordan Heading led the Lancers (9-7, 1-2) with 23 points on 10 of 15 shooting and Jeremy Smith added 11.