Roos Open Big Sky-Summit Challenge in Sacramento

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Starting Five

Kansas City Men's Basketball opened Summit League play with a 1-1 week to end 2023, and begin the New Year with the first iteration of the Big Sky-Summit League Challenge. The Roos will open challenge play with a game on the road at Sacramento State. Across the past 10 seasons, the Roos are 5-5 in their first game of a new calendar year.
Kansas City averaged a Summit League low 9.4 assists per game last season, but that has changed coming into the 2023-24 year. KC is currently averaging 13.5 assists per contest, the second-best mark in the league. In the Roos' most recent game against St. Thomas, the team logged 15 assists on 19 made field goals.
The Roos dropped Sunday's game at St. Thomas despite holding a 34-33 halftime lead. The loss dropped Kansas City to 5-3 on the season when holding a lead at half. The other two losses came in back-to-back games at the Baha Mar Nassau Championship, falling to Brown after a 38-36 halftime lead and then to Middle Tennessee after leading 31-28 at the break.
Kansas City forced just four turnovers in the loss to the Tommies, dropping KC to 0-4 in games that they are unable to force 10-plus. When forcing 13-plus turnovers, Kansas City holds a 3-3 record.
The Roos are one of the best in creating second chance opportunities, pulling down an average of 14.0 offensive boards per game, ranking 18th in Division One. Jamar Brown, Melvyn Ebonkoli and Allen Mukeba all rank top-10 in the Summit in offensive rebounding.

Sacramento State Notes

The Hornets were selected to finish fourth in the Big Sky Preseason Poll, but are off to a 3-10 start, including an 0-2 mark in conference play.
This will be the first-ever meeting between the two squads.
Sacramento State is one of the best in the nation in knocking down the triple. The team averages 9.5 three point makes per game, ranking atop the Big Sky and 42nd in the nation.
Duncan Powell is a force to be reckoned with - he leads the team in scoring (13.6), rebounding (9.1) and assists (3.3).

University of Missouri Kansas City Athletics