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UND (4-15, 0-6) @ KC (9-8, 3-3) 1/22 7 PM


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UND once again gave a great effort but came up short against ORU.  Now they travel up to play the Roos of Kansas City

About Kansas City:

In the Summit, if you mentioned a team, you can pretty well guess what style of basketball they play.  When you mention the Roos... they are known for their gritty defensive basketball.  After several wandering year in the WAC conference, the Roos returned to the Summit with some modest success in year 1.  They went 7-7 in the Summit and gave NDSU a bit of a fight before bowing out in the quarterfinals.   The portal was not kind to the Roos as they lost their best player, McKissic, to the Gator.  Nevertheless, with an offseason to get some of their players healthy and with a solid recruiting class, the Roos were looking to make a move.

So far this year, they made some noise with a win over Missouri.  However, COVID, and a injury to Allick, who is one of the best post players in this league, is causing the Roos to still find their way a little bit in the conference.  They collected a big win against NDSU on Thursday, but recently had a questionable loss to Denver.  They currently find themselves in the middle of the pack in the conference, where they know a big weekend could vault them up the standings, or getting swept can cause you to tumble down.

About Billy Donlon: (145-129 overall record, 36-35 at Kansas City, 10-10 Summit Record)

The former Wright State coach is in his 3rd year at Kansas City and is really showing that he was the correct hire for KC.  Their style of basketball has translated really well in the conference and they have shown that they can complete with anyone, no matter if they are down key players.  You know you have a great culture if your players are giving a great effort.  The program keeps making steady progress and given the wide-openness of the conference outside of SDSU and ORU right now... why not the Roos finishing in the top 3?

Key Player: Arkel Lamar (6'5 6th Year Player)

I could have easily gone with one of their dynamic guards, but I chose this player because he is very underrated in this conference.  The grad transfer from UMBC, when he is on the court, is fully capable of getting 20 and 9 a night.  He is a big man at 6'5 and 235 on the inside.  The problem?  Injuries have robbed him a lot of time in his two years in Kansas City.  NDSU found out how important he can be when he dropped 24 points and 6 rebounds in 27 minutes.  Given the thinness of UND in the post with the Sueker injury, T and Mathews need to be ready. 

Series History:

Kansas City leads the all time series 5-2.  This is the first meeting in KC as Summit League opponents. 

Other Games:

SDSU (7-0) @ WIU (3-3):  Bunnies continue to roll.  They got a little scare from St. Thomas but still pulled it out.  Zeke Mayo starting to give Bruns a run for his money for freshman POY.  Western Didn't play due to non-COVID issues with USD but will play them on Monday.  Western could look to make a statement at home, they already took down the Bison, can they claim the Bunnies too?

USD (3-3) @ UST (2-3): Yotes didn't play on Thursday but will give it a go in St. Paul against the Tommies.  This is a big game for both squads as they find themselves both in the middle of the pack.  A great style matchup today with the defensive minded Yotes verses the offensive minded Tommies.  

NDSU (3-3) @ ORU (7-1): ORU escaped UND and now have a big opportunity to get a key win against the Bison in Tulsa.  NDSU gave up a 21-0 run to the Roos and dropped one to Kansas City.  They need a statement win to show that, even without Nelson and Morgan, they are still a team to mess with.  ORU can really solidify themselves as the 2nd best team in the conference with a win. 

Omaha (2-6) @ DU (3-5):  Big game for both squads as Omaha travels to Denver. Both teams have topped their conference win totals from last year but as teams in the middle, a win could really put them in better position to make it to Sioux Falls.   

Keys:

1) Be ready for the defense.

2) Slow down Lamar

3) Make every offensive possession efficient

 The Call:

The effort has clearly been there for UND but they just haven't been able to make enough plays to get the win.  It changes today.  I think they finally put together a full 40 and do just enough to get win #1 in the conference. 

UND 72-67

You can watch the game here for freehttps://kcroos.com/watch/?Live=175&type=Live

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