Men's Basketball Set to Battle Undefeated Gophers

Five Things to Know

Kansas City is set to be back in action on Thursday evening at 7 p.m.against the undefeated Minnesota Gophers in a nationally-broadcasted game on FS1.
Kansas City Head Coach Billy Donlon is no stranger to the Big Ten Conference, having held an Assistant Coaching title at Michigan in 2016-17 and Northwestern from 2017-19.
The Roos are searching for their first win over a Power Five team since defeating Mississippi State, 72-67 on 12/12/15. The Roos will also seek to defeat a Big Ten opponent for the first time in program history. The Roos hold an 0-10 mark against the conference all-time (KC does have one win over Nebraska, but it came in 2000 when the Huskers were still in the Big XII).
The Roos, benefited by 100+ point games in the first two contests of the season, currently hold the 20th-best scoring average (91.8 ppg) in Division One. Kansas City leads the Summit in scoring average by nearly 10 points
Brandon McKissic continues to move up the Kansas City scoring records. His 24-point performance against Kansas State gave him 914 on his career, 17th in Kansas City history. He is just nine points from moving into the 16 spot, and 16 points from 15th.

Last Time Out: L, 58-62 at Kansas State (11/30/20)

Kansas City started cold, falling behind 17-0 to start the game. The Roos battled for all 40 minutes but could not overcome the slow start.
Brandon McKissic carried the offensive load for the Roos, finishing with 24 points on a career-high 10 field goals.
The Roos have struggled to get to the free throw line this year and Monday was no different. The Wildcats outscored the Roos 20-to-5 from the charity stripe.
Kansas City played its brand of defense against the Wildcats, forcing 18 turnovers on 10 steals.
Franck Kamgain was the only other Roo to reach double digit scoring, finishing with 11 points.

Last Time vs. Minnesota: L, 58-76 (11/13/15)

Kansas City started the game hot, jumping out to a 20-11 lead in the first 14 minutes of action, but the Gophers used a 44-28 second half to take the win.
The Roos recieved 44 points off of the bench, led by LaVell Boyd with 25 points on 7-of-10 three-point shooting.
The Gophers had three players score in double digits, led by Joey King's 22.
The Roos outperformed the Gophers on the boards, pulling down 42 total rebounds.

Series History vs. Minnesota: Minnesota Leads, 2-0

The Roos and Gophers have met only two times in the past, both games being played in Minneapolis.
The first meeting between the two programs happened on Nov. 17, 2003, a 78-67 victory for the Gophers.

Minnesota Scouting Report

The Gophers are off to a perfect 5-0 start this season, most recently defeating Boston College in overtime on Tuesday evening.
The Gophers were able to erase a 15-point second half deficit behind the efforts of Marcus Carr, who scored 20 of his 22 points after the intermission.
Carr averages a blazing 25 points (sixth nationwide) and six assists (38th nationwide) per game.
Liam Robbins provides an inside presence for the Gophers, hauling in over seven rebounds and swatting nearly two shots per game.

University of Missouri Kansas City Athletics