Men's Basketball Kicks off Summit Championships Against Omaha

vs. Omaha (WATCH | STATS)

Starting Five

The Roos will look to shake off a five-game skid as they enter postseason play, taking on Omaha in the first round of the Summit League Championships. KC is looking to win its first postseason game since the 2017 WAC Tournament.
RayQuawndis Mitchell established himself as one of the league's best newcomers this year, earning spots on the Summit League Second Team and All-Newcomer Team. Averaging 17.4 points per game, he has broken the 10-point mark in every league game.
Shemarri Allen's breakout year was appropriately honored, earning Second Team All-League and All-Defensive Team honors. He averaged 4.8 points last season, jumping up to a 17.0 point average this year and leading the league by a country mile in steals per game.
Kansas City has been one of the best offensive rebounding teams in the nation this year, averaging 13.48 per game, which ranks seventh in the NCAA. Jeff Ngandu paces the Roos in that category, pulling down 2.61 per game to lead the Summit League.
The Roos enter the Summit League Championships looking for their ninth conference tournament win of all-time, holding an 8-24 record. Kansas City is 3-7 in program history when playing against a lower-seeded team, and hold an 0-2 record in postseason play when they are the seventh-seeded team.

Omaha Notes

Omaha enters the postseason with an 8-22 record, having lost 11-of-12 games to enter March.
The Roos swept the season series between the two teams, winning 75-59 in Omaha on Dec. 31 before a 64-61 win in Kansas City on Jan. 26.
In two games this year, RayQuawndis Mitchell is averaging 19.0 points against the Mavs.
Kansas City owns a slight edge, 7-6 in the all-time series. The teams have never met in a neutral venue.
The Mavericks get great production from their bench, averaging 23.73 points per contest.
Frankie Fidler was named Honorable Mention All-League and averages 14.6 points per game.

Season in Review

After starting the season 0-3, Kansas City got into the win column with a 113-543 win over Calvary Bible. The Roos broke the program three-point record in that game, nailing 17 triples.
In a trip to Estero, Fla., KC seemed to find a groove, getting big wins over Toledo and Indiana State to advance to the Gulf Coast Classic Championship game.
KC returned to the win column on Dec. 3, getting its last non-conference win of the season over Lindenwood. Mitchell dropped 27 points and six threes in the win.
The Roos kicked off conference play with a big win, running away from South Dakota, 62-45. KC held USD to just 19 points in the first half.
The Roos continued trending upwards in conference play with wins over Omaha on Dec. 31 and St. Thomas on Jan. 12.
KC got back above .500 in conference play by going on a season-long three-game win streak, defeating North Dakota State, Omaha and Denver in the span of seven days.
The Roos got their final win of the regular season on Feb. 9, defeating Western Illinois, 76-64. A pair of season-ending injuries to Allen David Mukeba Jr. and Shemarri Allen hurt the Roos down the stretch.

Stats of the Season

One of the league's best defensive teams, the Roos lead the Summit in scoring defense and rebounds per game, ranking second in blocks, field goal defense, rebound margin, steals and turnovers forced.
Jeff Ngandu has had the best shot-blocking season by a freshman in program history, averaging 1.42 per game. His 44 total blocks are the most by a Roo since 2014-15, and are tied for the fourth-most in program history.
Both averaging over 17 points per game, Allen and Mitchell would be the first Roo combo since 1992-93 to both finish above that mark.
Having used 15 unique starting lineups on the year, the Roos trail just Coppin State (22) and Austin Peay (16) in that category.
Averaging 9.3 assists per game, KC is last in the NCAA among 352 ranked teams.
Mitchell has gone over the 20-point mark on nine occasions this season, with the Roos winning six of those games.
Kansas City has had some success on a neutral court this season, logging a 2-1 record.
When the Roos shoot at a higher field goal percentage than their opponent, they are 8-3 on the year.
Each of Kansas City's final 10 wins on the season came with at least one player surpassing the 20-point mark.

University of Missouri Kansas City Athletics