Men's Basketball Enters Final Week of Regular Season in South Dakota

at South Dakota State (WATCH | STATS)
at South Dakota (WATCH | STATS)

Starting Five

The Roos look to regain momentum and snap a season-long-tying three-game losing streak as they travel to South Dakota for the final two games of the regular season. Across the past five years, KC has posted a 4-6 combined record in its final two regular season games.
In his final game on the Swinney Center court, Sam Martin stepped into a large role, earning his first start of the season and scoring 15 points on 6-of-7 shooting. His 15-point effort was a career-high against Division One competition and his 23 minutes were a season-high.
Jevin Sullivan earned his first-career double-double with an 11-point, 10-rebound effort against North Dakota. Sullivan joins Jeff Ngandu and Allen David Mukeba Jr. in the double-double club this season, making KC one of six Summit League teams to have three-plus players log at least one double-double this season.
Pulling down an average of 13.76 offensive rebounds per game, the Roos are the fourth-best offensive rebounding team in the nation, trailing just Charleston, Saint Peter's and Alabama-Birmingham. Ngandu leads the Summit with an average of 2.66 offensive boards per game, ranking 84th in the NCAA.
Entering the final week of play, Kansas City's final seed heading into the Summit League Championships is still up in the air. The Roos stand in sixth place right now, but could move in either direction before the trip to Sioux Falls. Dating back to 2018, the Roos have entered the conference tournament as either the fifth, sixth or seventh seed each year.

SDSU Notes

South Dakota State has used a recent six-game winning streak to claim sole possession of second place in the Summit League.
The Jackrabbits began the streak with a 67-66 win over the Roos in KC on Jan. 30. Shemarri Allen led KC with 23 points and his attempted game-winner rimmed out as the horn expired.
Kansas City has won just 4-of-24 meetings with SDSU all-time, and is seeking its first win in the series since Nov. 28, 2015.
The Jackrabbits are one of the better defensive teams in the league, ranking top-two in three-point defense, scoring defense and fouls per game.
Zeke Mayo ranks third in the conference and 54th in the nation, averaging 18.5 points per game.

South Dakota Notes

Saturday's game could have large implications in the final conference standings, as one game currently separates the Roos and the Coyotes between sixth and seventh place.
KC opened conference play with a 62-45 win over USD on Dec. 19. RayQuawndis Mitchell scored 28 points on 5-of-11 three-point shooting.
The Roos have a slight 8-7 advantage in the all-time series and have won 4-of-6 meetings in Vermillion.
One of the best three-point shooting teams in the nation, the Coyotes hit the long ball at a 38.9% clip.
Kruz Perrott-Hunt leads the team with an average of 14.0 points per game and did not play in the teams' first meeting.

Men's Basketball Enters Final Week of Regular Season in South Dakota

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Shemarri Allen

Sam Martin

RayQuawndis Mitchell

Allen David Mukeba Jr.

Jeff Ngandu

Jevin Sullivan

Men's Basketball Enters Final Week of Regular Season in South Dakota

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Shemarri Allen

Sam Martin

RayQuawndis Mitchell

Allen David Mukeba Jr.

Jeff Ngandu

Jevin Sullivan

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University of Missouri Kansas City Athletics