Kansas City Heads a Mile High for Battle with Denver

WATCH | LIVE STATS

First Five

Kansas City Men's Basketball closes out the first round of Summit League play this Thursday at Denver, looking to snap a five-game losing streak. In Head Coach Marvin Menzies' first two years, the Roos went 4-5 (2022-23) and 4-4 (2023-24) in their first go-round against conference opponents.
Babacar Diallo had a stand-out game in Kansas City's most recent contest against St. Thomas, scoring a career-high 21 points on 6-of-11 shooting and knocking down 4-of-5 three-point shots. Diallo is the fifth Roo with a 20-point game this season, joining Jamar Brown, Cameron Faas, Kasheem Grady II and Anderson Kopp.
The Roos have established themselves as one of the nation's top teams from the free throw line, leading the league and ranking 22nd in the nation with a 77.5% conversion rate. Kansas City has shot above 85% from the line in seven games this season, including an 88.2% clip against UST.
A pair of streaks were broken against the Tommies: Jayson Petty was held below 10 points for the first time in Summit League play this season and Jamar Brown was held to single-digit scoring for the second-straight game, the first time in his career that he has been held below 10 points in back-to-back games.
Kansas City has established itself as a heavy three-point shooting team. According to KenPom, KC ranks 38th in the nation in percentage of field goal attempts that come from long range (46.7) and 30th in percentage of points from three (38.5).

Scouting Denver

Denver currently sits in a tie for eighth place in the Summit League standings, holding a 1-6 record in league play but coming off a 70-68 buzzer-beating win against Oral Roberts last Thursday.
The Pioneers have three players averaging above 12 points per game, led by Nicholas Shogbonyo with an average of 14.1.
Denver's depth is a strength, ranking second in the Summit and 88th in the nation in bench points per game (24.68).
The Roos hold a 10-5 advantage in the all-time series against Denver, but the Pioneers are 3-2 against the Roos in games played at a mile high.
The last meeting between these two teams came in the Quarterfinals of the Summit League Tournament last year with Denver emerging victorious on a last-second three.

University of Missouri Kansas City Athletics