Notes: Men's Basketball Opens 2026 With Trip to Omaha

Saturday, January 3

Omaha, NE

7:00 PM

Kansas City

Omaha

Photo by: Oklahoma State

1/2/2026 1:07:00 PM | Men's Basketball

The Roos and Mavericks will tip off at 7 p.m. tomorrow

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Kansas City Notes

Kansas City Men's Basketball opens the 2026 calendar year on the road, traveling to Omaha for the second game of Summit League play. Across the past 10 seasons, the Roos hold a 5-5 record in the first game of a new calendar year.
The Roos opened league play at Denver, dropping an 87-74 decision. The Roos were led by 18 points from Karmello Branch, leading the Roos in scoring for the fourth consecutive game and the sixth time of his Kansas City career.
Chris Dockery went for his second double-double of the year against the Pioneers, going for 13 points on 4-of-5 shooting and adding 11 rebounds. The redshirt junior logged the best scoring night of his NCAA career, grabbing 10-plus rebounds for the first time in 12 games and the third time total this season.
CJ Evans continues to show why he led the NJCAA in assists last season, having gone for at least six helpers in three of the last four games. Evans is averaging 4.1 assists per game, ranking third in the Summit League and 167th in the NCAA this season.
Kansas City has started the combination of Evans, Branch, Grady II, Petty and Palm in each of the last seven games, compiling a 2-5 record across that stretch. When that group starts together, the Roos have averaged 77.0 points per game and 16.3 bench points per game.

Omaha Notes

Omaha enters Saturday's meeting with a 7-9 overall record and an 0-1 mark in league play after falling to South Dakota State, 84-69 on Thursday.
Recent addition Paul Djobet has played in each of the last three games for the Mavericks, averaging 17.0 points. Lance Waddles has played and started in all 16 games, averaging 16.6 points.
As a team, Omaha leads the Summit in threes per game at 9.2, converting at a 35.9% clip.
Omaha took the lead in the all-time series with three wins against KC last season and now hold a slight 10-9 edge.
The last meeting came in last year's Summit Quarterfinals, a 70-61 Omaha win en route to its conference championship crown.