Kansas City’s men’s basketball team lost its final two games of the regular season at South Dakota State in a weekend double-header. The Jackrabbits won 67-49 on Friday and 89-77 on Saturday.

Entering Friday’s game, the Roos were in the midst of a five-game win streak. The Roos fought to maintain their momentum, but eventually ran out of gas in the second half.

The matchup against first-place South Dakota State was never going to be easy, but Kansas City kept it close in the first half, trailing only 31-26 at the break.

The Roos offense struggled the rest of the game. The Jackrabbits’ defense shut down Kansas City late, and the Roos failed to record a field goal in the last seven minutes of the contest.

Brandon McKissic and Josiah Allick once again led the Roos in scoring, with 17 and 12 respectively. Kansas City was without its energetic defender Zion Williams, who fouled out of the game. 

Saturday’s game, the last of the season, brought another loss for the Roos. McKissic did not play in the game, but the Roos managed to perform much better offensively. Allick led the Roos with 17 points, while Marvin Nesbitt Jr. added 16 points and Franck Kamgain put up 10 points.  As a team, Kansas City made 10 three pointers compared to South Dakota’s four.

The Roos’ starters racked up early fouls which limited their playing time, with Allick only playing 24 minutes of the game. With Kansas City’s big man missing time, the Jackrabbits dominated the boards, out rebounding Kansas City 26-13.

Ultimately, the Roos’ 30 total fouls thwarted any chance of finishing the season strong. South Dakota took advantage and made an astounding 35 free throws, outscoring Kansas City 35-11 from the line. Allick, Nesbitt Jr., and Caden Boser all fouled out, and Williams and Kamgain finished with four fouls each.

With the weekend’s results finalized, the Roos finished in sixth place in the Summit League. 

Kansas City hopes to have a healthy roster before the league tournament begins next week on March 10.

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