Roos Stay Home for Meeting with Pioneers

KANSAS CITY, Mo. - Kansas City Men's Basketball remains at home this week for three games, starting with a matchup against Denver tomorrow at 7 p.m., a rescheduling of the postponed Jan. 1 game.

Kansas City Notes

The Roos are coming off their second League loss of the young season against Oral Roberts. The two teams made the same amount of field goals and free throws, but ORU knocked down 12 more threes than the Roos. The Golden Eagles made 17 threes total, the most by an opponent in program history.
The Roos are the top team in the Summit and among the top in the nation in turnover margin and turnovers forced. The Roos' turnover margin of 4.5 is the 19th best in the nation, and have had a positive margin in 11-of-15 games. In such games, they hold an 8-3 record, going 0-4 in games that they commit more than they force.
Coach Donlon produces tough defensive teams, and this year's Roo squad is no different. They force 7.8 steals per game to lead the Summit and rank 78th in Division One. The Roos have forced at least five steals in all but four games.
Kansas City is efficient shooting the ball, knocking down shots at a 45.9% clip. They have shot above 50% from the field in five games, and above 45% in seven.
Evan Gilyard II leads Kansas City's scoring efforts on the year, averaging 12.9 points per game. However, the Roos distribute their scoring. Five players have had 20-plus point games on the year, and the Roos have had seven different leading scorers in games throughout the season.
Marvin Nesbitt Jr. has steadily increased his offensive production throughout the beginning of league play. After averaging 8.5 points per game through Dec. 12, he has averaged 13.0 points in the Roos' last five games.
The Roos rank second in the Summit League in assists per game, dishing out an average of 14.1. KC holds a record of 4-0 when they log 15-plus assists.
After dishing five assists just once in Kansas City's first 12 games, Gilyard has notched at least five in each of the Roos past three contests.

Last Time vs. Denver

The Roos swept the Pioneers in conference play last season with back-to-back 68-57 and 80-69 victories in the Swinney Center.
In the first game of the series, Marvin Nesbitt Jr. dropped a career-high 20 points with 18 of those coming in the first half.
The second game of the series was led by a 23-point performance by Franck Kamgain and 16 points from Zion Williams, both career highs.
Kansas City forced 32 turnovers in the series, leading to 33 points off of takeaways.
Rebounding proved to be essential in the second game of the series. KC out-rebounded Denver 36-to-27, giving the Roos 17 second-chance points.

Series History vs. Denver

Kansas City holds a 6-2 series lead in the infancy of this conference matchup.
Before last season, the Roos hadn't faced off against the Pioneers since 2003 when Michael Watson led KC to a 72-68 victory over Denver in Municipal Auditorium.
KC is undefeated at home against Denver and will try to protect their home court for seven-straight on Monday.
The greatest margin of victory dates back to December 17, 1990 where the Roos prevailed 101-73 over the Pios.
The Roos average 75 points per game when playing the Pioneers.
Coach Billy Donlon looks to continue his unbeaten streak against Denver since their return to The Summit League.

Denver Scouting Report

The Pioneers enter this game 6-14 overall and 2-5 in conference play.
Denver is on a three-game skid in Summit games with losses to South Dakota State, South Dakota, and North Dakota State in the past week.
Their two league victories came over North Dakota and St. Thomas.
Denver has one of the lowest scoring offenses in the league, averaging just 68.6 points per game.
The Pios struggle to convert free chances at the charity stripe, coming in at the bottom of league standings with a 68.3% free throw percentage as a team.
KJ Hunt leads the offensive production for Denver, averaging 16.3 points per game, good for sixth best in the league. He also dishes out the most assists (3.5 per game) and brings down the most rebounds (4.9 per game) on the Pioneers roster.

Roos Stay Home for Meeting with Pioneers

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Evan Gilyard II

Franck Kamgain

Marvin Nesbitt Jr.

Zion Williams

Roos Stay Home for Meeting with Pioneers

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Evan Gilyard II

Franck Kamgain

Marvin Nesbitt Jr.

Zion Williams

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