Men's Basketball Heads To Paradise
Nov 20, 2002 | Men's Basketball
Nov. 20, 2002
Game No. 1
Brigham Young (0-0*)
vs. Kansas State (0-0)
Saturday, November 23, 2002
UVI Sport and Fitness Center (3,000)
St. Thomas, US Virgin Islands
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Tip Time: 4:15 p.m. CST/6:15 p.m. AST
Television: None
Radio: Saturday's game versus Brigham Young will air on a tape-delay basis on most Mid America Sports Network stations following the K-State at Missouri football game. The contest will also be webcast live over the Internet at www.k-statesports.com. Ben Boyle will provide the play-by-play.
The Records: Both Kansas State and Brigham Young will tip off the 2002-03 season at the Paradise Jam. Saturday's game will serve as the season opener for K-State, which split its two preseason exhibitions. The Cougars will begin a day earlier as BYU takes on Toledo in St. Thomas on Friday. Brigham Young won both of its two preseason exhibitions.
K-State Coach Jim Wooldridge: Wooldridge (Louisiana Tech '77) is in his third season at Kansas State and owns a record of 24-34 (.414). The 2002-03 campaign marks Wooldridge's 16th as a collegiate head coach. He has amassed a 253-181 (.583) all-time record. In two seasons at K-State, Wooldridge has lifted the Wildcats from the cellar of the Big 12 to a seventh-place finish in just his second year in Manhattan. Kansas State posted a 13-16 record in 2001-02.
BYU Coach Steve Cleveland: Cleveland (UC Irvine '76) is in his sixth season at BYU and owns a 85-69 record with the Cougars. During his five seasons in Provo, Utah, Cleveland has guided BYU to three postseason appearances, including a Mountain West Conference regular season title and NCAA Tournament berth in 2001. Prior to taking the helm at BYU in 1997, Cleveland compiled a 157-77 record at Fresno City College.
The Series: Saturday's game will be the sixth between K-State and BYU. The Wildcats lead the all-time series, 3-2, including a pair of neutral-site wins.
K-State opens 2002-03 season in paradise
Kansas State tips off its 100th anniversary season of men's basketball in St. Thomas, US Virgin Islands, on Saturday, Nov. 23, when the Wildcats meet Brigham Young in the third annual Paradise Jam.
The contest is the first of 13 non-conference games on tap for K-State, including nine in the friendly confines of Bramlage Coliseum where the Wildcats have posted 56 consecutive home winning seasons. It is also the first regular-season neutral-site game for the Wildcats since Kansas State traveled to the 1998 Maui Invitational.
Tournament format
K-State is one of six teams competing in the Paradise Jam, which is being played at the 3,000-seat University of the Virgin Islands Sport and Fitness Center in St. Thomas. Kansas State and BYU along with Toledo will comprise the St. Thomas Division, with Michigan, St. Bonaventure and Virginia Tech making up the St. John Division. After three days of inter-divisional round robin play, the 1, 2 and 3 ranked teams in each division will square off in Monday's championship round.
Head-to-head competition will be used to break all two-team ties when determining opponents for the championship round. If three teams are tied, the net margin in all game will be used as the first criteria followed by total points in all games, most three-pointers in all games and most field goals in all games.
A quick look at the Wildcats
Kansas State, direction of third year head coach Jim Wooldridge, returns three starters and seven letterwinners from last season's 13-16 (6-10, T-7th Big 12) squad. To the mix, the Wildcats have added four scholarship players (Tim Ellis, Marcus Hayden, Jarrett Hart, Frank Richards) and three walk-ons (Seth Elliott, Josh Eilert, Schyler Thomas). K-State's 2002-03 recruiting class has been ranked as high as No. 11 in the nation by Hoopscoop magazine.
K-State split its two preseason exhibition games, falling to a talented EA Sports Southeast All-Stars squad, 91-81, before bouncing back with a 95-68 victory over Athletes First.
Kansas State posted a balanced scoresheet in both contests, with five players hitting double figures versus EA Sports and four reaching double digits against Athletes First. Matt Siebrandt, who shot a scalding 13-for-15 during the two exhibitions, Jarrett Hart and Pervis Pasco were the only Cats to turn the trick in both games.
Head coach Jim Wooldridge started a lineup of Gilson DeJesus, Pervis Pasco and Matt Siebrandt at the forward slots and a backcourt of Jarrett Hart and Frank Richards in both games.
Opening Statements
Season openers have proved to be a positive experience for the Wildcats through the years.
* Kansas State is 75-23 (.765) all-time in season openers.
* K-State has won eight of its last 10 season openers with both losses coming on the road.
* The Wildcats have opened away from campus just 26 times in their previous 98 seasons and own an 11-15 record when debuting away from Manhattan.
* Kansas State is opening away from campus for just the sixth time in the last 20 years and the first time since debuting at Arizona in the 1999 Preseason NIT.
* All five away season openers occurred in early-season tournaments, with just one being a neutral site game.* K-State is 2-3 in their last five away season openers.
* Kansas State is a perfect 2-0 under current head coach Jim Wooldridge in season openers and 5-2 in the month of November.
* In 15 years as a head coach, Wooldridge has guided four different squads to a combined record of 11-4 in season openers, including a 1-4 mark in away contests.
The book on BYU
* Brigham Young is coming off an 18-12 season in 2001-02 that saw the Cougars finish tied for fourth in the Mountain West Conference.
* BYU made its third straight postseason appearance in 2001-02, advancing to the second round of the National Invitation Tournament.
* The Cougars return three starters and three lettermen from last year's squad, including leading scorers Travis Hansen and Mark Bigelow. Hansen, who averaged 15.6 points, was also BYU's leading reabounder a year ago, pulling down 6.2 rebounds per game. Bigelow averaged 14.9 points.
* Like K-State, Brigham Young will showcase a new look at the point in 2002-03 as Kevin Woodberry, a transfer from Dixie State College takes over running Steve Cleveland's offense. Woodberry, who guided Dixie to the 2001-02 NJCAA title, averaged 13.0 points and 4.0 assists in BYU's two exhibitions.
* BYU won both of its preseason exhibitions, defeating the EA Sports West All-Stars, 89-84, and the Dominican Republic National Team, 92-55.
K-State vs. BYU Series Stuff
* Kansas State leads the all-time series with Brigham Young, 3-2.
* The Wildcats defeated the Cougars, 95-85, on Dec. 15, 1973, in Manhattan the last time the two teams squared off.
* K-State and BYU have met twice previously at neutral sites with the Cats taking both contests. Kansas State defeated BYU, 64-54, on March 23, 1951, in Kansas City during the second round of the NCAA Tournament. K-State also defeated Brigham Young, 86-55, on Dec. 18, 1959, in a double-header played in Lawrence.
* Four of the five meetings have been decided by 10 points or less.
* K-State head coach Jim Wooldridge is 0-1 all-time against BYU as his 1995-96 Louisiana Tech squad dropped a 74-64 decision in Provo.
* Kansas State is 23-15 all-time against teams hailing from the Mountain West Conference.
Cat-Coug connections
Like K-State, BYU also has two Brazilians on its roster. Both Gilson DeJesus and Marcelo Da Barrosa were friends with Cougars Luiz Lemes and Rafael Araujo back in their native Sao Paulo. In fact, Da Barrosa and Araujo played for a number of years together in the frontcourt of Clube Athletico Paulistano, while Limes played for the rival Clube Continental.
At stake for K-State
* A win over BYU Saturday would be K-State's third straight season opening victory.* Kansas State looks to improve to 4-2 all-time versus the Cougars.
* A victory over Brigham Young Saturday would be the Wildcats' second in a row over the Cougars and mark the first time either team has won two straight in the series.
* The Wildcats will be out to stop a two-game losing streak in away season openers.
Experimental rules at the Jam
The Paradise Jam will employ several experimental rules during the four days of competition. The use of the rules is mandated by the NCAA for all certified tournaments and are as follows.
* The three-point line will be move nine inches behind the current three-point line to create a new distance of 20 feet, six inches.
* The free throw lane will be widened by two feet on each side and will serve as both the three-second lane and free throw lane.
* The free throw block will be relocated between the first free throw lane space adjacent to the end line and the next lane space on both sides.
Pick Me!
The Paradise Jam will name a five-man all tournament team as well as a tournament MVP. The awards will be announced at the conclusion of the final game.
Behind the whistle
Officials scheduled to work the Paradise Jam hail from both the Atlantic Coast Conference and Southeastern Conference. All officials at the Paradise Jam have NCAA Tournament experience.
Cats roll in final exhibition
Matt Siebrandt went 7-for-7 from the floor and scored 15 points and Jarrett Hart led all Kansas State scorers with 17 points to lift the Wildcats past Athletes First, 95-68, in K-State's final exhibition contest.
Pervis Pasco added 14 points, while Gilson DeJesus also hit double figures with 10 points.
Forward Bruce Jenkins led Athletes First with 26 points and 11 rebounds. Brodney Kennard and Joe Adkins each added 13 points.
Five different Wildcats scored in a 10-2 run late in the first half that gave K-State a 35-25 lead with 4:27 remaining. The lead grew to 42-27 before Athletes First cut it to 44-33 at halftime.
Athletes First twice sliced the deficit to nine in the first four minutes of the second half before Kansas State took control of the contest with a big run.
Seven different Wildcats scored in a 14-point rally that pushed the lead to 66-43 with 11:26 to play.
The Wildcat lead down the stretch was never less than 19 points, as K-State shot 64 percent from the floor in the second half and won the battle of the boards by a 41-34 margin.
Inside the exhibition numbers
Even though they were only exhibition games, Kansas State did some impressive things in its two preseason contests that just may indicate that head coach Jim Wooldridge has put together a club that will be improved for its third straight season. Here's a peak inside the numbers.
* Kansas State averaged 88.0 points in the two games. Last season, K-State averaged just 68.4 points and only 65.5 points in its two preseason games.
* The Wildcats' 88.0 average is the highest of any previous exhibition schedule of the Wooldridge era. K-State averaged 85.0 points in his inaugural season.
* K-State shot a very respectable 51.4 percent in this season's two exhibitions compared to 44.1 percent last year, not including the 37.3 percent the Cats shot during their exhibition slate.
* The Wildcats outscored their preseason opponents by 20 percent in the second half (100-80).
* K-State was +3.0 in rebound average compared to the -1.3 deficit the Wildcats posted in 2001-02.
* Kansas State had an assist-to-turnover ratio of nearly 2-to-1, dishing out 48 assists and committing 28 turnovers. Last year the Wildcats were upside down in turnover ratio in exhibition play, recording 23 assists and yielding 31 turnovers.
Wooldridge era enters year three
Head coach Jim Wooldridge returns for his third campaign at Kansas State. In his brief two years at the helm, the Wildcats have shown tremendous improvement, posting a 24-34 (.414) record and climbing from 12th to seventh in the Big 12. Prior to Wooldridge's arrival in Manhattan, Kansas State finished the 1999-2000 season last in the Big 12 with a 9-19 overall record. Since then, he has increased K-State's number of wins by two in each of his first two seasons at the helm, improving to 11-18 in 2000-01 and 13-16 in 2001-02. With its seventh-place tie in the league standings last season, K-State has jumped five spots on the Big 12 leaderboard under Wooldridge. It marks the second-biggest improvement in the conference over that time span. Wooldridge owns an overall career record of 253-181 (.583) and is entering his 16th season as a head coach.
Newcomers ready for real thing
Kansas State's completely revamped backcourt of Frank Richards, Jarrett Hart and Tim Ellis appears ready for primetime as the trio of junior college transfers showed they will be a force to be reckoned with during the Wildcats' two exhibition games. The group combined for 72 points (36.0 ppg) on 30-for-63 (.476) shooting and finished the preseason ranked second (Hart), third (Ellis) and fifth (Richards) on the team in scoring.
* Hart may have posted the best all-around performance of the three, leading the Wildcats in scoring with 17 points against Athletes First following a 10-point, nine-assist performance against EA Sports. He also pulled down 10 rebounds in the two contests.
* Richards turned in the game's lone double-double against EA Sports, finishing with 13 points and 10 assists. He also was 6 of 12 from the field and posted a 2-to-1 assist-to-turnover ratio. Richards' 10 assists were more than any Wildcat produced in 28-of-29 games last season. Larry Reid dished out 11 versus Fairleigh Dickenson. He came back with eight points and six assists against Athletes First. In all, Richards has 16 assists in the two games, while surrendering just two turnovers.
* Ellis came off the bench to lead the backcourt scoring with 15 points on 6-for-12 shooting, including 2-for-3 from 3-point distance, in 21 minutes of work against EA Sports. He just missed a second double-figure scoring game versus Athletes First, finishing with nine points and three rebounds in 17 minutes on the court.
Frosh appears as advertised
Since signing 6-foot-8 forward Marques Hayden, head coach Jim Wooldridge has been saying that the true freshman is a legitimate Big 12 talent. His assessment appears to be right on as Hayden had a solid opener, scoring eight points and grabbing a game-high 10 rebounds in just 19 minutes of work. Hayden averaged nearly a rebound a minute in the first half, collecting seven boards in eight minutes. He showed off a deft scoring touch down low after the break, scoring six of his eight points around the paint. Against Athletes First, Hayden finished with eight points on 4-for-6 shooting and collected four rebounds. He concluded exhibition play as the squad's leading rebounder at 7.0 rpg and was No. 2 on the team in field goal percentage, connecting on 67 percent of his attempts.
Getting offensive
In addition to averaging nearly 20 points above their season scoring average from 2001-02, the Wildcats also had five players average double figures in scoring. Last season, K-State had just two players, Larry Reid and Pervis Pasco, finish the season with double-digit scoring averages.
Leadership begins up front
Senior Matt Siebrandt, a two-year letterman, has been a more vocal leader in practice and games than in the past and he's backing up those words with his performance on the court.
* Siebrandt finished the preseason as the team leader in both scoring (16.0 ppg) and field goal percentage (86.7 percent).
* The senior forward led the Wildcats with 17 points on 6-for-8 shooting against EA Sports.
* Siebrandt was even better against Athletes First, connecting on all seven of his shots from the floor and finishing with 15 points.
* Siebrandt was also 6-for-8 (75.0 percent) from the foul stripe.
Cat scratches
Senior Pervis Pasco averaged 12.0 points in K-State's two preseason exhibitions, including a 14-point performance against Athletes First... Last year, Pasco scored in double figures in 21 of 29 contests... Janerio Spurlock appeared in a K-State uniform for the first time since suffering fractured patella at Northwestern on Dec. 8, playing four minutes against EA Sports... Gilson DeJesus, who averaged 6.2 points and 3.4 rebounds as a junior, averaged 8.5 points and 5.0 rebounds during K-State's two exhibitions.
