Saturday, January 10
Kansas City, Mo.
7:00 PM
Kansas City
4-14,1-3Summit League
79
vs
81
North Dakota
9-11,3-1Summit League
1
2
F
North Dakota
37
44
81
Kansas City
44
35
79
Photo by: Ryan Weaver
Hot-Shooting Roos Fall Just Short Against North Dakota
1/10/2026 9:43:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Kansas City shot over 50% from the field but 18 turnovers plagued the Roos
KANSAS CITY, Mo. - Kansas City Men's Basketball (4-13, 1-3 Summit) had exactly what it wanted at the end of the game, down by just two points: the ball in the hands of its best shooter and a wide-open look. Karmello Branch let a corner three fly as time expired, but it came up short and allowed North Dakota (9-11, 3-1 Summit) to escape with the win, 81-79. The Roos had their best shooting night of the season, going 54.0% from the field and 63.2% from three-point range but turned the ball over 18 times and allowed 13 offensive rebounds to keep UND in the game.
KC got out to a hot start, building an early 10-point lead after back-to-back-to-back three-pointers from Branch. The Fighting Hawks battled to cut the lead down to two points twice, but that was as close as they would get and the Roos entered the half with a seven-point lead behind 19 first half points from CJ Evans.
North Dakota took advantage of Kansas City miscues early in the second half as the Roos turned the ball over on their first two possessions of the second half and just like that, the advantage was cut to just one point. KC held on to the lead for a few more minutes before a four-minute scoring drought hit and allowed UND to turn the tide with a 10-point run.
The North Dakota lead swelled to as many as six points with just over five minutes remaining, but Jamaria Clark came up big for the Roos. The backup point guard scored all nine of his points during a three-minute spurt late in the game, his final two points a pair of free throws that allowed KC to briefly reclaim the lead.
UND responded with another 10-point run and led by eight points with just 1:21 remaining, but five-straight points from Jayson Petty, a pair of free throws from Branch and 1-of-5 free throw shooting down the stretch by the Fighting Hawks gave Branch a look at the win at the buzzer.
Evans finished with his best night as a Roo, going for a season-high 24 points on 9-of-15 shooting. He added seven assists, becoming the first Kansas City player to go for 20-plus points and seven-plus assists in a game since Khristion Courseault on Feb. 22 of 2024. He was followed by Branch with 20 points, reaching the 20-point plateau for the fourth time in the past seven games. It marks the second time this season that KC has had two players go for 20 points in the same game.
It was a historic shooting day for the Roos - Kansas City had not gone for 50% shooting, 60% three-point shooting and 90% free throw shooting in a game since doing so against Western Illinois on Jan. 19, 2012. They are just the fourth team to reach those marks in a game this season, joining Drake (Dec.2), Lafayette (Dec. 5) and St. Bonaventure (Dec. 31).
Kansas City is back in action on Thursday, traveling to South Dakota for a meeting with the Coyotes.
KC got out to a hot start, building an early 10-point lead after back-to-back-to-back three-pointers from Branch. The Fighting Hawks battled to cut the lead down to two points twice, but that was as close as they would get and the Roos entered the half with a seven-point lead behind 19 first half points from CJ Evans.
North Dakota took advantage of Kansas City miscues early in the second half as the Roos turned the ball over on their first two possessions of the second half and just like that, the advantage was cut to just one point. KC held on to the lead for a few more minutes before a four-minute scoring drought hit and allowed UND to turn the tide with a 10-point run.
The North Dakota lead swelled to as many as six points with just over five minutes remaining, but Jamaria Clark came up big for the Roos. The backup point guard scored all nine of his points during a three-minute spurt late in the game, his final two points a pair of free throws that allowed KC to briefly reclaim the lead.
UND responded with another 10-point run and led by eight points with just 1:21 remaining, but five-straight points from Jayson Petty, a pair of free throws from Branch and 1-of-5 free throw shooting down the stretch by the Fighting Hawks gave Branch a look at the win at the buzzer.
Evans finished with his best night as a Roo, going for a season-high 24 points on 9-of-15 shooting. He added seven assists, becoming the first Kansas City player to go for 20-plus points and seven-plus assists in a game since Khristion Courseault on Feb. 22 of 2024. He was followed by Branch with 20 points, reaching the 20-point plateau for the fourth time in the past seven games. It marks the second time this season that KC has had two players go for 20 points in the same game.
It was a historic shooting day for the Roos - Kansas City had not gone for 50% shooting, 60% three-point shooting and 90% free throw shooting in a game since doing so against Western Illinois on Jan. 19, 2012. They are just the fourth team to reach those marks in a game this season, joining Drake (Dec.2), Lafayette (Dec. 5) and St. Bonaventure (Dec. 31).
Kansas City is back in action on Thursday, traveling to South Dakota for a meeting with the Coyotes.
Team Stats
UND
KC
FG%
.468
.540
3FG%
.409
.632
FT%
.583
.929
RB
27
35
TO
5
18
STL
9
1
Game Leaders
Pts
20
FGM
6
3FGM
5
FTM
3
Pts
18
FGM
5
3FGM
4
FTM
4
Pts
9
FGM
3
3FGM
1
FTM
2
Players Mentioned
G
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