Game Preview // K-State Hosts UC Irvine on Friday

GAME #3
KANSAS STATE (2-0) vs UC IRVINE (2-1)
Friday, November 17, 2017 >> 8:10 p.m. CT >> Bramlage Coliseum (12,528) >> Manhattan, Kan.

TELEVISION
FOX Sports Kansas City // K-StateHD.TV [free] // ESPN3

Ben Boyle (play-by-play)
Stan Weber (analyst)

Channel Listing: DirecTV 671-5 [HD] / Dish 453 or 412-41 / AT&T U-Verse 750 [SD] or 1750 [HD]

RADIO
K-State Sports Network

Wyatt Thompson (play-by-play)
Matt Walters (analyst)

Listen Online: TuneIn.com [free] // www.kstatesports.com/watch [free]
Satellite Radio: None

LIVE STATS
www.kstatesports.com
kstate.statbroadcast.com [media only]

TICKETS
www.kstatesports.com/tickets
(800) 221.CATS [2287]

Single Game       $10 (bench & GA)/$20 (chairback)
Wildcat 4 Pack   $30 (4 GA tickets)
Group (12+)        $5

COACHES
Kansas State: Bruce Weber (Wis.-Milwaukee '78)
Overall: 415-223/20^th season
At K-State: 102-68/6^th season
vs. UC Irvine: 0-0

UC Irvine: Russell Turner (Hampden-Sydney '92)
Overall: 141-106/8th season
At UC Irvine: Same
vs. Kansas State: 0-0

PROJECTED STARTING LINEUP
Kansas State (2-0)
G: #3 Kamau Stokes
G: #5 Barry Brown, Jr.
G: #20 Xavier Sneed
F: #32 Dean Wade
F: #1 Mawdo Sallah

UC Irvine (2-1)
G: #2 Max Hazzard
G: #14 Evan Leonard
F: #11 John Edgar, Jr.
F: #42 Tommy Rutherford
F: #5 Jonathan Galloway

SERIES HISTORY
Overall: First meeting
In Manhattan: First meeting
Last Meeting: n/a
Weber vs. Turner: First meeting

OPENING TIP

Kansas State (2-0) begins play in the Continental Tire Las Vegas Invitational with a game against reigning Big West champion and preseason favorite UC Irvine (2-1) on Friday at Bramlage Coliseum. It will be the first of two home games for the Wildcats in the tournament, which includes Northern Arizona (0-2) on Monday, before they travel to Las Vegas for the main draw against the likes of Arizona State (2-0), George Washington (1-1) and No. 15/17 Xavier (2-0), Nov. 23-24, at the Orleans Arena.
Friday's game continues a busy stretch for the Wildcats, who are in the midst of playing six games in a 15-day stretch to start the season. Following Monday's game, K-State will travel to Las Vegas to play Pac-12 foe Arizona State on Thanksgiving Day before a matchup with either George Washington or Xavier on Friday. It marks the school's second appearances in the Las Vegas Invitational and the first since 2008.
The Wildcats will face their biggest test to date against the Anteaters, who are among just 22 Division I teams to win at least 21 games each of the last five seasons. Led by two-time Big West Coach of the Year Russell Turner who has won 116 games since 2012-13, UC Irvine has won or shared the Big West regular-season title in three of the last four seasons with five consecutive postseason appearances. This will be the first meeting between the schools on the hardwood, while K-State is 15-4 (.789) all-time against the Big West, including 9-2 (.818) at home.
K-State is attempting to start 3-0 for 13th time in the last 15 seasons, including the third consecutive season. The Wildcats have started 3-0 or better 12 times in the last 14 seasons with the exception being the 2013-14 and 2014-15 seasons when the squad started 2-1. K-State has started 3-0 at home 13 times in last 14 seasons, including three straight years. Last season, the team started the season 5-0 (with an 11-2 non-conference mark) before suffering their first loss to No. 23 Maryland.
The Wildcats have won 18 consecutive games against non-conference opponents in home venues (17 at Bramlage Coliseum). Overall, the school has a 91-5 (.948) record at home venues in non-conference play since 2006-07, including 84-5 (.944) at Bramlage Coliseum, and has won 78 of their last 81 non-conference home games.
K-State moved to 2-0 on the season for the 14th time in the last 15 seasons with a 72-51 win over UMKC on Tuesday. The Wildcats used a strong defensive effort to hold the Kangaroos to 26.0 percent shooting (13-of-50), including 28.6 percent (8-of-28) from 3-point range, to earn their 18th win in 19 tries vs. UMKC. K-State also dominated the paint, using a 46-28 advantage on the boards to post a 32-4 edge in points in the paint. Juniors Dean Wade (11 points/8 rebounds) and Mawdo Sallah (11 points/9 rebounds) narrowly missed double-doubles. Junior Barry Brown led the way with 14 points as four Wildcats registered double figures.
The Wildcats are allowing just 48.0 points per game through the first two games on 28.3 percent shooting (30-of-106), including 27.1 percent (16-of-59) from 3-point range. The 96 total points allowed are the fewest through the first two games since the 1981-82 season (94 points).

NOTES ON UC IRVINE

UC?Irvine enters Friday's game with a 2-1 record after posting a 91-52 victory over Chapman in its home opener on Tuesday. The Anteaters connected on 49.3 percent from the field, including 50 percent in the second half, as starter Jonathan Galloway and reserve Brad Greene each registered a double-double. The team, which ranked sixth nationally in field goal percentage defense in 2016-17 at 38.3 percent, held Chapman to 28.8 percent (15-52) shooting and posted a 52-29 advantage on the boards. Sophomore Tommy Rutherford scored a game-high 19 points.
UC Irvine opened the season with a 65-54 loss at South Dakota State on Nov. 10 before rebounding to earn an 83-69 victory at Denver. The squad, which has won or shared the Big West regular-season title three of the last four years, was picked to finish first in the Big West Preseason Poll with 14 of 26 first-place votes.
The Anteaters are averaging 76.0 points per game on 44.5 percent shooting, including 31.7 percent from 3-point range, with 47.7 rebounds, 13.7 assists, 7.3 steals and 7.3 blocks per game, while allowing opponents to average 62 points on 30.8 percent shooting, including 35.6 percent from long range. The team has 22 blocks through three games, which ranks third nationally.
Rutherford paces three players in double figures at 12.7 points per game on 80 percent shooting (16-of-20) to go with averages of 7.3 rebounds and 2.3 blocks. He is joined in double figures by sophomores Evan Leonard (11.7 ppg.) and John Edgar, Jr. (10.3 ppg.), while big men Elston Jones and Galloway are averaging a team-best 9.0 rebounds per game. Sophomore guard Eyassu Worku is averaging 5.0 assists to go with a 9.3 points per game average. In all, eight players are averaging 5.0 or more points per game.
A two-time Big West Coach of the Year, Russell Turner enters his eighth season at UC?Irvine with a 141-106 (.571) overall record, including a 116-67 (.634) mark over the last six seasons which has included five postseason appearances (2013 CIT, 2014 NIT, 2015 NCAA, 2016 CIT and 2017 NIT). The Anteaters are one of just 22 Division I teams to win at least 21 games each of the last five seasons. He has led the squad to five consecutive 20-win seasons, including a 21-15 mark in 2016-17. His teams have won a conference-best 60 Big West games over the last five seasons (60-22/.732) and they have won or shared three of the last four Big West regular-season titles, including the last two years.

SERIES HISTORY

This will be the first meeting between K-State and UC?Irvine on the hardwood.
K-State is 15-4 all-time against teams from the Big West Conference, including a 9-2 mark at home. The Wildcats have played UC Davis (1-0), UC Santa Barbara (1-1), Cal State Fullerton (3-0), Cal State Northridge (2-0), Hawai'i (2-0) and Long Beach?State (6-3). The most recent Big West foe was Long Beach State, in which, as the squad posted a 3-1 record against the 49ers in meetings in 2011, 2013 (twice) and 2014.

NON-CONFERENCE HISTORY

K-State has a 93-6 (.939) record at home venues (includes both home games played at Bramlage Coliseum and the Sprint Center) in non-conference game dating back to the 2006-07 season, including an 86-6 (.935) mark at Bramlage Coliseum. The Wildcats have won 78 of their last 81 non-conference home games, including their current 18-game winning streak in home non-conference games.
K-State went 8-0 in non-conference games played at home venues in 2016-17 (7-0 at Bramlage Coliseum and 1-0 at the Sprint Center in Kansas City) with an average margin of victory of 19.1 points per game. The last home non-conference loss came in a 50-46 loss to Georgia on Dec. 31, 2014.
Overall, the Wildcats went 11-2 in non-conference play in 2016-17, which included a pair of road victories at Saint Louis (84-53) and Colorado State (89-70). The two setbacks came to No. 23 Maryland (69-68) on Nov. 26, 2016 at the Barclays Center Classic in Brooklyn, N.Y., and at Tennessee (70-58) in the SEC/Big 12 Challenge on Jan. 28, 2017. The team has won double-digit non-conference games each of the past two seasons (23 total/23-5 record) since posting a 7-6 record in 2014-15.

HISTORY AT BRAMLAGE COLISEUM

K-State has posted a 354-113 (.758) all-time record at Bramlage Coliseum since its opening during the 1988-89 season. The 354 victories are the second-most at a home venue for the Wildcats, trailing the 378 wins at Ahearn Field House (1950-88).
K-State has collected a 153-33 (.822) record at home over the past 12 seasons, including a 66-28 (.702) mark in Big 12 play. The 153 wins rank fourth among Big 12 schools in that span, while the 66 league victories at home are only surpassed by Kansas and Texas. In all, the school has earned double-digit victories in 24 of its 29 seasons in the arena, including a current streak of 16 consecutive seasons.
The Wildcats have a 214-56 (.792) record at home, including a 126-10 (.926) mark in non-conference action, since the 2001-02 season for an average of just over 13 home wins (13.3) per season. Last season, the team went 11-5 at home, including 7-0 in non-conference play.
Head coach Bruce Weber has a 69-17 (.800) record at Bramlage Coliseum since taking over at K-State in 2012-13 with non-conference home losses to Northern Colorado (2013), Texas Southern (2014) and Georgia (2014). The 17 losses (14 of which have come in Big 12 play) have come by a grand total of 99 points or just 5.8 points per game. Among the 69 victories are 12 over ranked teams, including top-ranked Oklahoma in 2016.

DEFENSIVE PROWESS

K-State has impressed on defense to start the season, allowing just 48 points through the first two games while holding its opposition to just 28.3 percent shooting (30-of-106), including 27.1 percent (16-of-59) from long range. The 96 points are the fewest points through the first two games since the introduction of the shot clock (45 seconds in 1985-86 and 30 seconds in 1993-94) and fewest since allowing 94 to start the 1981-82 season.
The Wildcats have held their first two opponents to 45 and 51 points, respectively, as they have now held 60 opponents to 60 points or less under head coach Bruce Weber's direction with the squad boasting a 52-7 (.881) mark in those contests (losses to Kansas in 2012, Northern Colorado and Kentucky in 2013, Texas Southern and Georgia in 2014, Texas and Oklahoma State in 2016 and West Virginia in 2017).
The 45 points by American (11/10/17) were the fewest points allowed in an opener since holding South Dakota to 45 points in a 50-point win on Nov. 29, 1986, while the 38 points was the largest margin of victory since also winning by the same margin against Loyola Chicago on Nov. 13, 2009. UMKC, which scored 100 points twice in four games so far, was held to just 51 points on 26 percent shooting (13-of-50), including 28.6 percent (8-of-28) from 3-point range. It was the fewest points scored by the uptempo Kangaroos since scoring 43 at Oklahoma State on Dec. 29, 2015.
K-State has put up some impressive defensive numbers under Weber, leading the Big 12 in scoring defense twice in the past five seasons (60.4 ppg., in 2012-13 and 65.4 ppg., in 2013-14). Since his arrival in 2012-13, the Wildcats are allowing opponents just 64.9 points per game (11,035 points) on 42.5 percent shooting (3822-8995), including 32.8 percent (972-2967) from 3-point range.
Under Weber's direction, K-State has an 87-25 (.777) record when holding an opponent to 69 points or less since 2012-13 and a 15-43 (.259) mark when allowing 70 or more points.

HISTORY OF STRONG STARTS

K-State is looking to continue a history of strong starts to season on Friday, as the Wildcats have jumped out to a 3-0 record or better 12 times in the last 14 years. After Tuesday's win over UMKC, the team has now been at least 2-0 15 times in the last 16 seasons. K-State has won its second game in 15 consecutive seasons.
The Wildcats have started 2-0 (2014-15), 4-0 (2015-16) and 5-0 (2016-17) in each of the last three seasons after dropping their opener to Northern Colorado in 2013. The 5-0 start last season was the best since the 2012-13 season. The squad has started 5-0 five times in the last 15 seasons, including 2004-05 (8-0), 2008-09 (5-0), 2011-12 (5-0), 2012-13 (5-0) and 2016-17 (5-0).
The best start in the last 15 seasons came in 2004-05 when K-State won each of its first eight games en route to a 10-1 start to the season. The best-ever start to a season came in 1918-19 when the squad opened the year 17-0 before losing their last two games to finish 17-2 and win the Missouri Valley Conference title under head coach Zora Clevenger for the second time in three seasons.
Other impressive starts to a season include 7-0 in 1915-16, 10-0 in 1947-48, 9-0 in 1957-58, 7-0 in 1961-62, 8-0 in 1979-80 and 9-0 in 1997-98.

OFFENSIVE BALANCE CONTINUES

One of the hallmarks of the 2016-17 NCAA?Tournament team was its offensive balance, as four of five starters averaged in double figures led by Wesley Iwundu (13.0 ppg.), Kamau Stokes (11.7 ppg.), Barry Brown (11.7 ppg.) and D.J. Johnson (11.3 ppg.). The last time K-State saw four players average in double digits was 2009-10, while you would have to go all the way back to 1980-81 to find four Wildcat starters in double figures.
That balance continued to start the 2017-18 season as four of the team's five starters tallied double figures in the Wildcats' 83-45 win over American (11/10). In all, five players registered double figures as 10 posted at least one made field goal. Junior Dean Wade led all scorers with 17 points on 6-of-7 field goals, while redshirt freshman Cartier Diarra (13 points), sophomore Makol Mawien (12) and juniors Barry Brown, Jr. (10) and Kamau Stokes (10) each tallied double digits. The other starter - Xavier Sneed - nearly recorded double figures, finishing with 8 points.
The Wildcats also shared the ball well, dishing out 22 assists on 29 made field goals against American, including 7 from Stokes.
K-State saw four players scored in double figures in the win over UMKC (11/14), as Brown scored a game-high 14 points followed by Sneed's first double-digit outing of the year with 13 points to go with 11-point efforts from Wade and junior Mawdo Sallah. Brown and Wade are the only Wildcats to score in double figures in the first two games, as 11 different players have scored and registered at least one made field goal.
At least four Wildcats scored in double figures in 20 of 36 games in 2016-17, including at least three in 28 games. In all, nine players had at least one double-digit scoring game with six having at least 12 double-digit scoring games led by Iwundu's 26. The other four starters had at least 17 double-figure scoring games. In all, starters were responsible for 78 percent of the team's 2,523 points and 848 made field goals.

SOLID DEBUTS FOR NEWCOMERS

Redshirt freshman Cartier Diarra and transfers Makol Mawien and Mawdo Sallah have each been impressive to start the season. Diarra and Mawien each posted double figures in their debuts against American (11/10), as Diarra scored 13 points off the bench on 4-of-5 field goals, including all four 3-pointers to go with 4 assists, 2 rebounds and 1 steal in 23 minutes while Mawien nearly totaled a double-double with 12 points on 5-of-7 field goals and game-highs with 9 rebounds and 2 blocks.
It was Sallah's turn against UMKC (11/14), as he came off the bench to miss a double-double by one rebound with 11 points on 5-of-6 shooting with a game-high 9 rebounds.

RECAPPING EXHIBITION PLAY

K-State posted a 3-0 mark in exhibition play, beginning with a 78-62 win over Missouri State in a charity game on Oct. 21 followed by victories over Fort Hays State (79-56) on Oct. 29 and Emporia State (77-44) on Nov. 3.
With the wins, K-State is now 66-20 all-time in exhibition play, including 51-9 in home exhibition games. The Wildcats are 45-9 in exhibition games at Bramlage Coliseum with 23 consecutive wins dating back to 2003. Overall, the team has now won six straight in exhibition play since 2016.
The Wildcats averaged 78.0 points in exhibition play on 51.8 percent shooting (88-of-170), including 34.6 percent (18-of-52) from 3-point range, to go with 36.7 rebounds, 16.7 assists, 11.0 steals and 3.3 blocks per game. They hold their three opponents to 54 points on 33.1 percent shooting (52-of-157), including 31 percent (22-of-71) from 3-point range. The team forced their opponents into 55 turnovers (with 33 steals) and scored 77 points off those miscues.
K-State held advantages in points in the paint (34.7 to 17.3 per game), points off turnovers (25.7 to 14.3 per game), second-chance points (12.0 to 6.3 per game), fast-break points (13 to 4.0 per game) and bench points (28.0 to 23.1 per game).
Junior Dean Wade paced five players in double figures with a team-high 13.7 points per game average on 64 percent shooting (16-of-25) to go with a team-best 6.7 rebounds per game. Sophomore Xavier Sneed was second in both scoring (12.3 ppg.) and rebounding (5.3 rpg.), while juniors Barry Brown, Jr. (10.7 ppg., 4.7 rpg., 3.7 apg.) and Kamau Stokes (10.5 ppg., 3.5 apg.) and redshirt freshman Cartier Diarra (10.0 ppg., 3.7 apg.) also averaged double figures.

ONE OF THE YOUNGEST TEAMS

K-State is one of 15 schools nationally (Auburn, American, Bowling Green, UC Irvine, The Citadel, Holy Cross, Kentucky, Louisiana Tech, Marquette, Montana, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Toledo and Wofford) to have one or fewer seniors on its roster in 2017-18, while the Wildcats' nine freshmen (true and redshirt) and sophomores ranks nine nationally and are only surpassed by the 12 at Auburn and Kentucky, 11 by UC Irvine, 10 each by American, The Citadel, Tennessee, Toledo and Wofford.

K-STATE WELCOMES SHAUN WILLIAMS

Head coach Bruce Weber announced the signing of Shaun Williams (St. Louis, Mo./Hazelwood Central) on the first day of the National Signing Period Wednesday.
A 6-foot-3, 170-pound guard, Williams led Hazelwood Central in 12 categories en route to helping the Hawks to a 17-11 record and a trip to the Class 5, District 3 Championship Game. He averaged a team-best 18.6 points on 47.4 percent shooting (155-of-237), including 35.2 percent (38-of-108) from 3-point range, to go with 3.4 rebounds, 2.8 assists and 1.6 steals per game. He connected on a team-best 83.8 percent (98-of-117) from the free throw line. He was a First Team Class 5 All-State selection by the Missouri Basketball?Coaches Association as a junior.

UP NEXT: NORTHERN ARIZONA (0-2)

K-State concludes its homestand to start the season on Monday night, as the Wildcats play host to Northern Arizona (0-2) at 7 p.m. Tickets are available starting at $10, while fans can take advantage of the Wildcat 4 Pack for just $30. The contest will be televised on FOX Sports Kansas City (state of Kansas, Kansas City area), K-StateHD.TV (free) and ESPN3 (outside of state of Kansas).

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Barry Brown, Jr.

Cartier Diarra

Makol Mawien

Mawdo Sallah

Xavier Sneed

Kamau Stokes

Dean Wade

Kansas State University Athletics