SIOUX FALLS, S.D. -- With two weeks remaining in the regular season, there is still plenty to be figured out. In fact, none of the nine seeds at the upcoming Summit League Basketball Tournament are locked in, which should lead to an abundance of intrigue throughout the remaining 16 games on the League docket.

One team working its way back up the standings is Kansas City, who's last two wins have come against a conference foe that was on top of the League table when the Roos knocked them from that perch. The first was a 65-47 thumping of North Dakota on Feb. 10, while the latter occurred last Thursday at home -- a 72-67 victory over South Dakota State. It was KC's first win over the Jackrabbits since returning to the League in 2020-21.

That victory moved them back to the .500 mark and into a tie for fourth place with North Dakota State at 6-6. The Fighting Hawks have since regained the top spot thanks to back-to-back, double-digit road wins last week at Denver and Oral Roberts, but their lead is slim as the Jackrabbits rallied for an overtime win at Omaha their next time out to stay within a half-game of UND.

The Fighting Hawks (9-4) and Jackrabbits (8-4) both already have four losses, which would be the most by a regular season champion since the 2016-17 South Dakota squad went 12-4. There have only been two times when the regular season champ had as many as five losses: Oakland (11-5; 1999-2000) and Valparaiso (11-5; 2003-04).

There are plenty of pivotal matchups set for this week as St. Thomas, who sits in third and a game behind the Jackrabbits travels to play the Bison Thursday before a Saturday tilt with SDSU in Frost Arena. UND is off until its Saturday showdown at in-state rival NDSU on CBS Sports Network. Tipoff is set for 1 p.m. CT for the national television broadcast.

The Roos, meanwhile, travel to South Dakota Thursday looking to get over the .500 mark for the first time since opening League play with a home win over ORU on Dec. 29. The Golden Eagles start the week at Omaha, who is tied for fifth with Denver at 6-7, and will look to snap a four-game losing streak that has seen them fall to eighth in the standings.

The Pioneers will look for the season sweep of the Jackrabbits Thursday in Brookings after knocking off the Jackrabbits 99-80 on Jan. 13 in the Mile High City.

All four games Thursday will be available on the Summit League Network.

AROUND THE LEAGUE
Thursday, Feb. 22
Denver at SDSU* (SLN) | 7 p.m. CT
Oral Roberts at Omaha* (SLN) | 7 p.m. CT
Kansas City at South Dakota* (MS/SLN) | 7 p.m. CT
St. Thomas at NDSU* (WDAYX/SLN) | 7 p.m. CT

Saturday, Feb. 24
North Dakota at NDSU* (CBSSN) | 1 p.m. CT
Oral Roberts at South Dakota* (SLN) | 1 p.m. CT
St. Thomas at SDSU* (SLN) | 2 p.m. CT
Omaha at Kansas City* (SLN) | 7 p.m. CT

Thursday, Feb. 29
Omaha at St. Thomas* (SLN) | 7 p.m. CT
SDSU at North Dakota* (MS/SLN) | 7 p.m. CT
NDSU at South Dakota* (SLN) | 7 p.m. CT
Kansas City at Denver* (ALT/SLN) | 7 p.m. MT

Saturday, Mar. 2
South Dakota at North Dakota* (MS2/SLN) | 1 p.m. CT
SDSU at NDSU* | 1 p.m. CT
Denver at St. Thomas* (SLN) | 7 p.m. CT

Sunday, Mar. 3
Kansas City at Oral Roberts* (SLN) | 2 p.m. CT

Rankings: (AP/Coaches)
All times local to site
* Summit League game

Key:  ALT2 (Altitude Sports), MS (Midco Sports), CBSSN (CBS Sports Network), ESPN+ (ESPN Plus), MWC (Mountain West Conference Live), SLN (Summit League Network), YT (YouTube)

TEAM TRACKER
DENVER PIONEERS (15-13; 6-7 SL) | @DU_MensHoops
Next Up: at South Dakota State* (2/22; 7 p.m. CT); Kansas City* (2/29; 7 p.m. MT)
Previous Game: North Dakota* (L, 92-78);  North Dakota State* (W, 77-71)    
The Pioneers earned a home split this past week, dropping their first game 92-78 to North Dakota before staging a huge second-half rally to race past North Dakota State 77-71 ... Senior Tommy Bruner was held to a season-low 11 points in the loss to the Fighting Hawks but responded by dropping 41 points, including 30 in the second half vs. NDSU to help his team erase a 20-point deficit ... Bruner is the first Division I player with a pair of 40-point games this season and first Summit League player to do that since Oral Roberts' Max Abmas had a pair during his junior season in 2021-22 ... Touko Tainamo had 27 points and 13 rebounds to corral his eighth double-double of the season and chipped in with 13 points and six boards vs. the Bison ... Freshman Deandre Craig has scored 35 points off the bench (11.7 ppg) over his last three games - that matches his total from DU's first 10 Summit League games ... DU's lone game this week is a Thursday night tilt at South Dakota State. 
 
KANSAS CITY ROOS (12-16; 6-6 SL) | @KCRoosMBB
Next Up: at South Dakota* (2/22; 7 p.m. CT); Omaha* (2/24; 7 p.m. CT)
Previous Game: North Dakota* (W, 65-47); South Dakota State* (W, 72-67) 
The Roos moved back to the .500 mark in Summit play by knocking South Dakota State out of the top spot in the League standings with a 72-67 victory ... JUCO-transfer Jamar Brown scored a team-high 16 points and pulled down 10 rebounds to log his sixth double-double of the season, which is tops among Summit League guards ... Khristion Courseault led the Roos with 17 points and made two clutch baskets in the closing 90 seconds to snap a 10-game losing skid to SDSU and beat the Jackrabbits for the first time since rejoining the League ... Kansas City has won back-to-back games against the top two teams in the standings, yielding only 57.0 ppg in those two victories ... The Roos moved into a tie for fourth at 6-6 and travel to South Dakota Thursday before returning home to play Omaha Saturday. 
 
NORTH DAKOTA FIGHTING HAWKS (17-11; 9-4 SL) | @UNDMBasketball
Next Up:  at NDSU* (2/24; 1 p.m. CT); South Dakota State* (2/29; 7 p.m. CT)
Previous Games: at Denver* (W, 92-78); at Oral Roberts* (W, 78-65)
The Fighting Hawks won back-to-back road games to take back sole possession of first place in the standings ... UND, who is now 5-2 on the road in League play, delivered a pair of double-digit victories as Treysen Eaglestaff averaged 25.0 ppg in those two wins ... He started with 33 points at Denver where he connected on 5-of-8 from beyond the arc to register the first 30-point game of his career ... He also went 10-for-11 from the foul stripe and added 17 in the Fighting Hawks' win at Oral Roberts ... Tyree Ihenacho added 16 vs. the Pioneers and Amar Kuljuhovic continued to clean up on the glass, pulling down a game-high 14 rebounds to go with 10 points to give him his seventh double-double of the season ... Kuljuhovic is the only League player averaging double-digits boards in conference play (10.7/g) ... Sophomore B.J. Omot scored a team-high 20 in the win at ORU and continues to pace UND in scoring at 17.1 ppg overall and 17.6 ppg in Summit action ... The Fighting Hawks are off until Saturday when they travel down to Fargo to play in-state rival NDSU in a national-broadcast on CBS Sports Network.
  
NORTH DAKOTA STATE BISON (13-14; 6-6 SL) | @NDSUMBB 
Next Up: St. Thomas* (2/22; 7 p.m. CT); North Dakota* (2/24; 1 p.m. CT)
Previous Game: at Oral Roberts* (W, 73-60); at Denver* (L, 77-71)   
The Bison picked up a road split last week, winning by 13 at Oral Roberts before letting a double -digit lead slip away in the second half of a six-point loss at Denver ... Tajavis Miller broke out of a scoring and shooting slump over the weekend, combining for 39 points in NDSU's two games ... He had started 19 straight before playing just three scoreless minutes last Saturday against Omaha but rebounded with an 18-point outing in the win over Oral Roberts and team-leading 21 against the Pioneers ... Miller also went 9-for-14 from distance in those two games after going 2-for-17 in the previous nine games ... Andrew Morgan, coming off his first career TicketSmarter Peak Performer of the Week accolade, had 18 points and nine boards in the win over ORU and added 10 points and seven boards against the Pioneers ... The Bison are currently tied for fourth place with Kansas City at 6-6 with two home games against teams ahead of them in the standings coming up this week ... First, St. Thomas visits Thursday before in-state rival North Dakota visits Saturday for a national-broadcast on CBS Sports Network.

OMAHA MAVERICKS (13-15; 6-7 SL) | @OmahaMBB 
Next Up: Oral Roberts* (2/22; 7 p.m. CT); at Kansas City* (2/24; 7 p.m. CT)
Previous Game: South Dakota* (W, 91-84); South Dakota State* (L, 85-77, OT) 
The Mavericks had all five starters reach double figures in a 91-84 win over South Dakota but ended up splitting two home games after South Dakota State rallied for an 85-77 overtime win to close out the week ... Junior Frankie Fidler scored 23 points to go with six rebounds and six assists against the Coyotes ... J.J. White added 18 points and Marquel Sutton posted his fourth double-double of the season with 14 points and 11 rebounds ... Nick Davis and Jaeden Marshall  rounded out the double-figure scorers with 12 and 10, respectively ... Marshall, who was starting in place of the injured Tony Osburn, scored a career-high 20 in the loss to the Jackrabbits, while Fidler scored a game-high 26 to boost his average to 24.2 ppg in League play (2nd overall) ... Omaha let a six-point lead slip away in the final minute of regulation ... The Mavericks play host to Oral Roberts Thursday before hitting the road to take on Kansas City Saturday.

ORAL ROBERTS GOLDEN EAGLES (11-15; 5-8 SL) | @ORUMBB 
Next Up: at Omaha* (2/22; 7 p.m. CT); at South Dakota* (2/24; 1 p.m. CT)
Previous Game: North Dakota State* (L, 73-60); North Dakota* (L, 78-65)
The Golden Eagles lost back-to-back home games for the first time since the end of the 2021-22 season when they dropped games to North Dakota State and North Dakota last week at the Mabee Center ... ORU turned in the two poorest shooting nights of the season in the losses, making only 34.8 percent in the 73-60 loss to NDSU and 36.1 percent in the 92-78 loss to UND ... Senior Kareem Thompson paced the Golden Eagles with 14 against the Bison and added a double-double against the Fighting Hawks with 12 points and 10 rebounds -- his third of the season ... Issac McBride led ORU with 23 against UND, which marked the 15th time he scored 20-plus in a game this season ... McBride is one of 30 Division I players averaging 20-plus ppg as his average sits at 20.4 ppg with road games looming for ORU at Omaha Thursday and South Dakota Saturday. 

ST. THOMAS TOMMIES (17-10; 7-5 SL) | @TommieMBBall
Next Up: at North Dakota State* (2/22; 7 p.m. CT); at South Dakota State* (2/24; 2 p.m. CT)
Previous Games: Oral Roberts* (W, 85-63); at Denver* (L, 94-77); South Dakota* (W, 83-80) 
The Tommies rallied from a 10-point halftime deficit to win their lone game of the week at home, posting an 83-80 victory over South Dakota ... Raheem Anthony scored 20 points and equaled his season-high with eight assists in a game St. Thomas trailed by as much as 14 ... Graduate student Parker Bjorklund registered his second double-double of the season with 17 points and 11 rebounds, while Drake Dobbs added 18 ... Bjorklund hit the go-ahead jumper with 58 seconds to play and Anthony went 4-for-4 from the foul stripe in the closing 18 seconds to seal the Tommies' League-leading 17th win of the season ... UST surrendered 11 first-half triples to the Coyotes but did not give up any during the second half comeback ... The Tommies have a pair of road tilts at teams in the top half of the League standings starting Thursday at North Dakota State, who is just behind them in fourth place and Saturday at South Dakota State, who is just ahead of them in second place.
 
SOUTH DAKOTA COYOTES (10-17; 3-9 SL) | @SDCoyotesMBB 
Next Up: Kansas City* (2/22; 7 p.m. CT); Oral Roberts* (2/24; 1 p.m. CT)
Previous Game: at Omaha* (L, 91-84); at St. Thomas* (L, 83-80)  
The Coyotes dropped a pair of road games last week despite combining to shoot 56 percent from the floor (61-108) and 55 percent from 3-point range (21-for-38) in the two setbacks ... In the 91-84 loss at Omaha, Bostyn Holt scored a team-high 22 points and Lahat Thioune added 20 as the Coyotes went 32-for-57 from the floor ... Paul Bruns hit four of USD's 10 3-pointers in the contest, finishing with 14 points and Kaleb Stewart chipped in 18 points and four assists ... Holt once again led USD in scoring in the 83-80 loss at St. Thomas as he finished with 23 points and six assists ... Holt now has three consecutive 20-plus point scoring games (24.0 ppg) after scoring just 67 total points (7.4 ppg) in USD's first nine Summit League games ... The Coyotes were 29-for-51 from the field against the Tommies and went 11-for-14 from 3-point land in the first half to build a 48-38 lead at the break ... Stewart added 16 in the loss ... USD returns home to face Kansas City Thursday and Oral Roberts Saturday.

SOUTH DAKOTA STATE JACKRABBITS (15-12; 8-4 SL) | @GoJacksMBB 
Next Up:  Denver* (2/22; 7 p.m. CT); St. Thomas* (2/24; 2 p.m. CT)
Previous Games: at Kansas City (L, 72-67); at Omaha (W, 85-77, OT)
The Jackrabbits earned a split in a pair of road games last week and now sit a half-game behind North Dakota heading into the final two weeks of the regular season ... SDSU fell by five at Kansas City Thursday before earning an overtime win at Omaha ... Junior Zeke Mayo led four Jacks in double figures with 19 against the Roos but SDSU could not overcome a 16-for-25 effort from the foul stripe ... Charlie Easley added 13 points and eight rebounds, while William Kyle III tacked on 15 points and equaled his career-high with five blocks ... Kyle III now leads all League players with 27 blocks in 12 conference games (2.3/g) ... In the win over the Mavericks, SDSU erased a six-point deficit in the closing 43 seconds to force an overtime period where they outscored Omaha 12-4 ... Easley, Mayo and Kyle III each recorded double-doubles in the win as the Jackrabbits outrebounded the Mavericks 48-32 ... Easley finished with 24 and 10, Mayo added 22 and 10 and Kyle III scored 18 to go with a game-high 12 boards ... The Jackrabbits have a pair of home games this week Thursday vs. Denver and Saturday vs. St. Thomas.

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