Kansas City Opens First Round of Summit League Play Against #9 Oral Roberts

Wednesday, March 5

Sioux Falls, SD

7:00 PM

Kansas City

Oral Roberts

Photo by: Ryan Weaver Photography

3/4/2025 4:15:00 PM | Men's Basketball

The Roos and Golden Eagles will tip off 25 minutes following the women's first round

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First Five

Kansas City Men's Basketball opens postseason play in the First Round of the Summit League Championship on Wednesday evening, taking on ninth-seeded Oral Roberts in a 7 p.m. tip. Kansas City has held an eight seed just once before: the 2009-10 Roos grabbed the eighth spot and took on top-seeded Oakland in the Summit League Quarterfinals, falling 85-70.
Jamar Brown was named to the All-Summit League Postseason lists for the second-straight season, this time earning a Second Team All-League nod. Brown ranks top-10 in the Summit League in offensive rebounds, free throw percentage, double-doubles, field goal percentage, minutes, points, defensive rebounds, total rebounds, steals and three-point makes.
Melvyn Ebonkoli's emergence over the past month has provided a different look for the Kansas City offense. He has reached double-digit scoring five times in the past seven games, including a pair of double-doubles. In the season's first 24 games, he scored 10-plus three times with one double-double.
Across the past four games, the Roos are averaging 18.75 three-point attempts, down from the team's season average of 25.6. Through the first 27 games, 46.1% of the KC's field goal attempts came from deep. In the last four games, that number has dropped to 34.7%.
The Roos have owned the battle of the glass recently, out-rebounding opponents by an average of 6.4 boards per game across the past five contests.

Scouting Oral Roberts

The Golden Eagles have dropped six of their past seven contests, entering the Summit League Tournament with the nine seed.
ORU is led by Issac McBride, a Second-Team All-League selection that averages 19.0 points and 2.5 assists per game.
The Roos and Golden Eagles have met 44 times in the past, the third-most common opponent for Kansas City. ORU owns a 30-14 advantage all-time.
These teams have met two times in Summit postseason play before with the Roos winning both battles. The first came in the 2003 quarterfinals, a 76-73 win. The second came in the 2004 quarterfinals, a 86-73 win.
KC and ORU split the season series with both teams defending their home courts. Jamar Brown averaged 16.5 points and 10.0 rebounds across the two games.