South Dakota State Jackrabbits vs UMKC Kangaroos Prediction, 2/26/2026 College Basketball Picks, Best Bets & Odds

Game: South Dakota State Jackrabbits vs UMKC Kangaroos

Date: Thursday, February 26, 2026

Location: Swinney Center in Kansas City, MO

TV: ESPN+

The UMKC Kangaroos (4-24) will try to defeat the South Dakota State Jackrabbits (13-16) at Swinney Center on Thursday.

The South Dakota State Jackrabbits faced North Dakota and went home with a win by a final score of 91-83 in their last game. South Dakota State wrapped up the contest with a 47.5% FG percentage (28 of 59) and buried 14 of their 29 three-point shots. When they shot from the free throw line, the Jackrabbits knocked down 21 of 25 tries for a percentage of 84.0%. Regarding rebounding, they collected a total of 39 with 13 of them being offensive. They also recorded 19 assists for this contest in addition to creating 7 turnovers and getting 5 steals. Regarding defense, South Dakota State let their opponent shoot 51.7% from the field on 31 out of 60 shooting. North Dakota earned 17 dimes and had 2 steals for the contest. Furthermore, North Dakota collected 22 rebounds (5 offensive, 17 defensive), but couldn't earn a rejection. North Dakota walked away from this one shooting 66.7% when shooting free throws by converting 8 of their 12 shots. They also made 13 out of their 31 tries from distance. Regarding personal fouls, the Jackrabbits walked away with 14 while North Dakota accumulated 20 personal fouls.

Joe Sayler is a guy who came through for the contest. He ended up scoring 23 points on 6 of 13 shooting. He was on the hardwood for 36 minutes and also collected 8 boards. He finished the game at 46.2% from the field and recorded 1 assist.

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South Dakota State heads into this one with a record of 13-16 so far this year. They are giving up possession 11.0 times per contest and as a team are committing 16.4 personal fouls every game. As a unit, South Dakota State is pulling down 36.9 rebounds per contest and has tallied 423 assists this year, which is 104th in the country in terms of passing the rock. The Jackrabbits are hitting 34.6% on three-point shots (236 of 683) and 70.5% from the charity stripe. They are averaging 76.0 points per game (185th in the nation) while hitting 46.4% from the field.

On the defensive end, the Jackrabbits have forced 10.6 turnovers per contest and they draw 17.2 fouls. They give up 33.7% on 3-point shots and they are 152nd in D-1 in PPG allowed (73.0). The Jackrabbits defense is allowing a FG percentage of 43.2% (729 of 1,688) and they surrender 33.1 boards per contest as a squad. They are ranked 243rd in the nation in giving up assists to their opponents with 392 surrendered on the year.

When they last played, the UMKC Kangaroos walked away from this one with a loss by a score of 95-59 against North Dakota State. In the matter of rebounding, UMKC allowed North Dakota State to grab 50 in all (15 on the offensive side). They finished shooting 43.6% from behind the 3-point line by connecting on 17 of 39 and ended up going 4 of 6 from the charity stripe (66.7%). The Kangaroos allowed North Dakota State to knock down 37 out of 75 attempts from the field which had them shooting 49.3% for this contest. At the conclusion of this game, the Kangaroos shot 23 for 62 from the field which gave them a shooting percentage of 37.1%. Pertaining to shooting from 3-point land, UMKC knocked down 7 out of 31 tries (22.6%). They were able to make 6 of the free throw tries for a rate of 37.5%. North Dakota State was called for 11 personal fouls for this game which took the Kangaroos to the charity stripe for a total of 16 shots. They also gave up possession of the ball 14 times, while earning 8 steals in this game. The Kangaroos were able to collect 20 defensive rebounds and 5 offensive boards for a total of 25 for the contest.

Kasheem Grady II pitched in for the Kangaroos in this game. He buried 6 of 12 for the matchup giving him a rate of 50.0%, and earned 1 rebound. He earned 15 points in his 21 minutes on the court and had 1 assist for the contest.

UMKC has a record of 4-24 so far this year. As an offense, the Kangaroos are hitting on 41.7% from the floor, which has them ranked 330th in the nation. UMKC has accumulated 1,958 points on the campaign (69.9 per contest) and they pull in 33.9 boards per game. Their rate of assisting teammates is at 12.0 times per game (313th in the nation) and they are losing possession via turnover 13.6 times per game. The Kangaroos are responsible for committing 16.4 fouls per contest and they hit 69.1% from the charity stripe.

The Kangaroos are ranked 357th in the nation in points given up per game with 83.9. They have forced 12.0 turnovers per game and have let teams shoot 48.0% from the floor (346th in college hoops). The UMKC defense allows 35.5% on shots from beyond the perimeter (246 of 692) and their opponents are connecting on 71.4% of their shots from the free throw line. They have surrendered 16.2 dimes and 39.6 boards per contest, which is 340th and 358th in college hoops.

Who will win tonight's NCAA game against the spread?

Guy Bruhn's Pick: Take South Dakota State

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