Hoops adjustments: Reduced crowds likely for Big 12 Tourney; KC Roos play two Saturday
Men’s basketball made an early start this season where Big 12 Conference play is concerned, but the annual Big 12 Tournaments in Kansas City are expected to begin on schedule in March.
Games will be played with limited capacity at KC’s T-Mobile (formerly Sprint) Center and Municipal Auditorium, commissioner Bob Bowlsby said Thursday.
“We’re planning on playing the tournament,” Bowlsby said. “Standard operating procedure right now is that we’re going to have some measure of reduced fans. We don’t for a minute expect that we’re going to have a full house. We could end up with no fans. We could end up with 25% but there isn’t any way for us to make those decisions now.”
The men’s event is scheduled for March 10-13 at T-Mobile Center. The women’s tournament returns to Kansas City for the first time since 2012. Those games are set for March 11-14 at Muni.
This year’s college basketball season ended in March because of COVID-19 concerns. The halt occurred the day after the men’s tournament started at the T-Mobile Center. But the venue played host to the Hall of Fame Classic last month, and the next scheduled event in the building, according to the arena’s website, is the Big 12 Tournament.
In other basketball news, Saturday marks a rarity for college hoops at UMKC: The KC Roos men’s team is scheduled to play two games against the same opponent: Kansas Christian College.
Both games are set for Swinney Recrecation Center, with the first tipping off at noon and the second at 5 p.m. UMKC doesn’t allow fans to attend its games right now because of COVID-19 restrictions.
The KC Roos (2-4) lost a home game to South Dakota on Dec. 5. They added two games against KC’s Spurgeon College last week, but both were then canceled.