Game Preview // K-State Plays Loyola for Trip to Final Four Saturday

GAME #37
(9) KANSAS STATE (25-11, 10-8 Big 12) vs. (11) LOYOLA CHICAGO (31-5, 15-3 MVC)
NCAA South Regional Championship
Saturday, March 24, 2018 >> 5:09 p.m. CT >> Philips Arena (21,000) >> Atlanta, Ga.

TELEVISION
TBS // NCAA March Madness Live

Brian Anderson (play-by-play)
Chris Webber (analyst)
Lisa Byington (sideline reporter)

NATIONAL RADIO
Westwood One
Listen Online: March Madness Live App [free] / www.ncaa.com/marchmadnesslive [free]
Satellite Radio: Sirius 137 / XM?201/ Internet 962

Brandon Gaudin (play-by-play)
John Thompson (analyst)

RADIO
K-State Sports Network

Wyatt Thompson (play-by-play)
Stan Weber (analyst)

Listen Online: TuneIn.com [free] // www.kstatesports.com/watch [free]

LIVE STATS
http://ncaa.com/mediastats

TICKETS
Vivid Seats (www.vividseats.com/)

COACHES
Kansas State: Bruce Weber (Wis.-Milwaukee '78)
Overall: 438-234/20^th season
At K-State: 125-79/6^th season
NCAA Tournament: 15-11 [12 trips]

Loyola Chicago: Porter Moser (Creighton '90)
Career Record: 225-211/14^th season
Record at LUC: 120-110/7^th season
NCAA Tournament: 3-0 [1 trip]

PROJECTED STARTING LINEUP
Kansas State (25-11)
G: #2 Cartier Diarra
G: #3 Kamau Stokes
G: #5 Barry Brown, Jr.
G: #20 Xavier Sneed
F: #14 Makol Mawien

Loyola Chicago
G: #5 Marques Townes
G: #13 Clayton Custer
F: #14 Ben Richardson
F: #0 Donte Ingram
F: #25 Cameron Krutwig

SERIES HISTORY
Overall: K-State leads 5-4
At NCAA Tournament: First meeting
At Neutral Sites: First meeting
In Atlanta: First meeting
In Manhattan: K-State leads 4-0
In Chicago: Loyola Chicago leads 4-1
Active Streak: K-State, 3
Weber vs. Loyola Chicago: 1-0 (0-0 at neutral sites)
Moser vs. K-State: First meeting (0-0 at neutral sites)
Weber vs. Moser: First meeting (0-0 at neutral sites)

OPENING TIP

Kansas State (25-11, 10-8 Big 12) will be making its first appearance in the Elite Eight since 2010, as the Wildcats play 11-seed Loyola Chicago (31-5, 15-3 MVC) in the NCAA South?Regional Championship at 5:09 p.m. CT, on Saturday evening at Philips Arena in?Atlanta. The winner will be the first entrant in the 2018 Final Four and the first in a considerable time for either program, as K-State last advanced to the Final Four in 1964 while Loyola won the NCAA title in 1963. This is the first regional in the history of the NCAA Tournament where none of the top four seeds advanced to the regional semifinals. Saturday's will air on TBS with Brian Anderson (play-by-play), Chris Webber and Lisa Byington (reporter).
K-State is making its 37th postseason appearance, which includes 30 in the NCAA Tournament and seven in the NIT. The Wildcats have posted a 37-33 all-time record in NCAA?Tournament play, including a 3-9 mark in the regional finals. The school is making its third appearance (1987, 2014, 2018) as a No. 9 seed with a 4-2 all-time record and is 1-2 against a No. 11 seed (1989, 1996, 2017). The school has now advanced to the postseason 10 times in the last 12 seasons (eight trips to the NCAA?Tournament and two to the Postseason NIT), including in consecutive seasons for the first time since making five straight appearances from 2010 to 2014.
K-State has not advanced to the Final Four since making the fourth and latest appearance in 1964. The other trips to the Final Four came in 1948, 1951 and 1958, The Wildcats have lost six consecutive regional finals (1972, 1973, 1975, 1981, 1988, 2010) with the last regional final victory coming on March 14, 1964 in the Midwest Regional against Wichita State, 94-86. It is the last regional final since losing to Butler, 63-56, on March 27, 2010.
K-State and Loyola Chicago will be meeting for the 10^th in their histories, but the first time in the NCAA Tournament, with the Wildcats holding a slight 5-4 edge in a series that dates back to 1936. The Ramblers won four of the first six meetings before the Wildcats have won the last three matchups, including 92-54 in 2009, 68-60 in 2010 and 74-61 in 2011.
K-State displayed its grittiest effort thus far, as the Wildcats got a 22-point effort from sophomore Xavier Sneed and a crucial layup from junior Barry Brown, Jr., in the last 19 seconds to dispatch off No. 5 seed Kentucky, 61-58, and reach the Elite Eight for the first time since 2010. It marked the first victory in 10 tries against Kentucky, including three in the NCAA Tournament.
K-State had not advanced to the Elite Eight since a run to the West Regional Final in 2010, in which, the school defeated North Texas (82-62), BYU (84-72) and Xavier (101-96) before falling to Butler (56-63) in the final in Salt Lake City. Overall, the school has now gone to 12 Elite Eights in its history (1951, 1958, 1959, 1961, 1964, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1981, 1988, 2010, 2018). Head coach Bruce Weber advanced to the second Elite Eight in his coaching career and the first since taking Illinois to the national championship game in 2005. With the win over UMBC on Sunday, Weber became the 10th Division I coach to take three different schools to the Sweet 16.

POSTGAME NOTES: K-STATE 61, KENTUCKY 58

K-State improved to 25-11 this season, which is the most wins in a single season since winning 27 in head coach Bruce Weber's first season in 2012-13… It is the sixth 25-win season in school history, including the first since that 27-win campaign in 2012-13… The other 25-win seasons came in 1950-51 (25-4), 1958-59 (25-2), 1987-88 (25-9) and 2009-10 (29-8)… Weber is the first head coach in school history to do it twice… It is the 29^th 20-win season in school history and the fourth in six seasons under Weber.
K-State advanced to the Elite Eight for the 12^th time in school history, including the first time since the 2009-10 season… The Wildcats also advanced to the Elite Eight in 1951, 1958, 1959, 1961, 1964, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1981 and 1988… This is Weber's second trip to the Elite Eight (Illinois, 2005) as a head coach.
K-State is now 37-33 all-time in NCAA Tournament play, in this, its 30^th all-time appearance… The Wildcats are now 13-5 in the regional semifinals, including a 4-2 mark as a No. 9 seed, in this, the third such appearance (1987, 2014, 2018)… The team is now 2-1 vs. a No. 5 seed in the third such meeting… Overall, the school is now 43-41 all-time in postseason play, its 37^th appearance (30 NCAAs and 7 NITs).
Head coach Bruce Weber is now 438-234 overall in his 20^th season, including a 125-79 mark in his sixth season at K-State… The 125 victories rank fourth all-time in school history and are the most wins since Jack Hartman retired as the winningest coach in school history in 1986 with 295 career victories… Weber is the fifth different head coach to lead K-State to at least four NCAA Tournament appearances.
Weber is now 15-11 all-time in the NCAA Tournament as a head coach, in this, his 12^th trip to the NCAA Tournament, which includes a 4-3 mark at K-State… He is the 10^th Division I coach to take three different teams to the Sweet 16 (K-State, Illinois, Southern Illinois) in his career.
Thursday's win was the first-ever over Kentucky on the hardwood, having lost the previous nine matchups, including both in the NCAA Tournament (1951, 2014)… K-State is now 164-149 all-time against the SEC, including 3-0 this season (Vanderbilt, Georgia and Kentucky).

Team Notes

K-State scored 61 points on 35.2 percent shooting (19-of-54), including 40.9 percent (9-of-22) from 3-point range, and connected on 63.6 percent (14-of-22) from the free throw line… The Wildcats are now 37-25 under Weber when scoring 60 or more points, including 6-2 this season.
K-State connected on nine 3-point field goals, which marked the 12^th time this season with nine or more treys in a game.. The Wildcats are 10-2 in those contests… The team is 82-31 under Weber when hitting on at least six 3-point field goals, including 18-5 this season.
K-State held Kentucky to just 58 points on 38.1 percent (16-of-42) from the field, including 25 percent (3-of-12) from 3-point range… It marked the seventh time holding an opponent to less than 59 points… K-State held Kentucky to season-lows for points (59), field goals made (16) and attempted (42).
K-State is now 104-28 under Weber when the team holds an opponent to 69 points or less since 2012-13, including 44-7 when holding an opponent to 59 points or less, including 7-0 this season… The Wildcats are also 25-6 this season when holding the opponent to under 50 percent shooting from the field.
K-State registered 11 steals against Kentucky, which ties for the sixth-most by a Wildcat team in the NCAA Tournament… The team scored 24 points off 15 total turnovers… It marked the 12^th time this season with 20 or more points off opponent miscues with K-State boasting an 11-1 mark in those contests.
With the 11 steals on Thursday, K-State set the school single-season record with 287 on the season, which surpasses the previous school record of 282 set by the 1993-94 season.
K-State improved to 20-2 when leading at halftime after holding a 33-29 advantage at the break.

Player Notes

Sophomore Xavier Sneed scored a team-high 22 points on 7-of-14 field goals, including 5-of-8 from 3-point range… It was his fourth career 20-point game… It marked the sixth time in his career leading the Wildcats in scoring, including the fifth this season… He has now scored in double figures in 34 career games, including 21 this season… His 5 3-point field goals tied for the eighth-most by a Wildcat in an NCAA Tournament and the most since Kamau Stokes had 5 vs. Wake Forest (3/14/17) in the First Four.
Sneed also posted a team-high 9 rebounds, which marked the 13^th time in his career leading the team in rebounding, including the 12^th time this season.
Junior Barry Brown, Jr., scored 13 points on 4-of-15 field goals and 4-of-5 from the free throw line to go with 3 rebounds and 3 assists in 39 minutes… He has now scored in double figures in 62 career games, including 28 this season… It marked just the fifth game this season without a steal.
Junior Kamau Stokes was solid across the board with 6 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists and 4 steals in 39 minutes… It was the most minutes he has played all season… The 4 steals tied a career-high (also 4 vs. Boston College (11/25/16), while the 4 steals tied for the seventh-most by a Wildcat in an NCAA Tournament and the most since Xavier Sneed had 4 vs. UMBC (3/18/17).

Game Preview // K-State Plays Loyola for Trip to Final Four Saturday

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Players Mentioned

Barry Brown, Jr.

Cartier Diarra

Makol Mawien

Xavier Sneed

Kamau Stokes

Kansas State University Athletics

Game Preview // K-State Plays Loyola for Trip to Final Four Saturday

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Barry Brown, Jr.

Cartier Diarra

Makol Mawien

Xavier Sneed

Kamau Stokes

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