K-State Opens 2020-21 Season vs. Drake in Little Apple Classic

GAME 1
KANSAS STATE (0-0) vs. DRAKE (0-0)
Wednesday, November 25, 2020 >> 1:05 p.m. CT >> Bramlage Coliseum (12,528) >> Manhattan, Kan.
Little Apple Classic

TELEVISION
ESPNU

Chuckie Kempf (play-by-play)
Tim Welsh (analyst)
Steve Kurtenbach (producer)

RADIO
K-State Sports Network
Flagships: // KMAN 1350 & WIBW 580
Online: TuneIn.com [free] / www.kstatesports.com/watch [free]
XM 384 [Internet 974]

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

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

COACHES
Kansas State: Bruce Weber (Wis.-Milwaukee '78)
Overall: 474-265/23rd season
At K-State: 161-110/9^th season
vs. Drake: 9-1

Drake: Darian DeVries (UNI '98)
Overall: 44-24/3^rd season
At Drake: Same
vs. Kansas State: First meeting

PROJECTED STARTING LINEUP
Kansas State (0-0)
G: #00 Mike McGuirl
G: #3 DaJuan Gordon
G: #24 Nijel Pack
F: #23 Montavious Murphy
F: #1 Kaosi Ezeagu

Drake (0-0)
G: #0 D.J. Wikins
G: #12 Roman Penn
F: #1 Tremell Murphy
F: #4 Shanquan Hemphill
F: #51 Darnell Brodie

SERIES HISTORY
Overall: K-State leads 20-6
Current Streak: K-State, 1
In Manhattan: K-State leads 10-2
At Bramlage Coliseum: First meeting
Last Meeting: W, 90-41 [12/18/56 in Manhattan]
Weber vs. DeVries: First meeting

OPENING TIP

Kansas State (0-0) will officially open its 117th season on Wednesday afternoon, as the Wildcats play host to Drake (0-0) at 1 p.m., CT in the first game of the inaugural Little Apple Classic at Bramlage Coliseum. The Wildcats and Bulldogs are joined in the field by Colorado of the Pac-12 and South Dakota of the Summit League, which will face off at 7 p.m., CT in the day/night doubleheader on the first day.
The Little Apple Classic will continue on Friday, as Drake and South Dakota will meet at 1 p.m., CT followed by a renewal of the Big Seven/Eight/12 rivalry between K-State and Colorado for the first time since 2011 in the nightcap at 7 p.m., CT on ESPNU. The Wildcats and Buffaloes have played 143 times since their first meeting in 1933 and met at least once a year for 63 consecutive years (1948-2011).
K-State is technically hosting an in-season tournament at Bramlage Coliseum for the first time in the arena's 32-year history. The Wildcats defeated Lamar (79-55) and Alabama-Huntsville (87-26) in the Midwest Regional of the 2012 NIT Season Tip-Off in head coach Bruce Weber's first season on Nov. 12-13 before advancing to the championship round of the tournament at Madison Square Garden in New York.
The Little Apple Classic is the 86th in-season tournament in school history dating to the 1935 Kansas City Tournament. Overall, the Wildcats have a 176-108 (.620) record in tournament play with 16 titles, most recently at the 2018 Paradise Jam.
K-State is 91-25 (.784) all-time in season openers dating back to the first season in 1903, including a 79-9 (.897) mark at home. The Wildcats have a 27-2 (.931) record in season openers played at Bramlage Coliseum, which includes a 16-game winning streak from 1995 to 2012. The two losses in that span have come to Southern Miss (74-60 on Nov. 27, 1993) and Northern Colorado (60-58 on Nov. 8, 2013).
K-State, which has won 16 of its last 17 home openers, posted a 67-54 win over North Dakota State in last season's opener on Nov. 5, 2019, as the Wildcats held the Bison to 28.8 percent shooting (15-of-52), including 26.7 percent (8-of-30) from 3-point range. Four current Wildcats played in the game, including starts by senior Mike McGuirl (22 minutes) and sophomore Montavious Murphy (33 minutes).
Despite seeing their 33-game winning streak end at Bramlage Coliseum with a loss to Marquette on Dec. 7, 2019, the Wildcats have still won 98 of their last 104 non-conference homes games. K-State is 111-8 (.932) at home venues in non-league play since the 2006-07 season, including a 102-6 (.944) mark at Bramlage Coliseum.
Head coach Bruce Weber is 20-2 (.909) in his 21-year head coaching career in openers (Southern Illinois, Illinois and K-State), including a 20-1 (.952) mark in home openers. He is 7-1 (.875) in season openers at K-State, which includes 6 consecutive wins since the Northern Colorado loss in 2013.
Despite their relative proximity (318 miles separate the campuses), K-State and Drake haven't met in more than 63 years since a 90-41 win by the Wildcats on Dec.18, 1956 at Ahearn Field House. The Wildcats lead the all-time series, 20-6, including 10-2 in games played in Manhattan. This will be the second meeting in a season opener, as K-State posted a 79-73 win over Drake in overtime to open the 1952-53 season on December 6.

NOTES ON DRAKE

Drake returns nine lettermen, including three starters (Roman Penn, D.J. Wilkins and Jonah Jackson), from a squad that posted a 20-14 overall record and finished in eighth place in the Missouri Valley standings with an 8-10 mark. The Bulldogs ended the year on a strong note, knocking off Illinois State (75-65) and top-seeded Northern Iowa (77-56) in the Missouri Valley Tournament before losing to Bradley (76-66) in the semifinals.
Drake was picked seventh in the 10-team Missouri Valley preseason poll, just three points behind sixth-place Missouri State. Junior Roman Penn (12.0 ppg., 5.7 apg.) was selected to preseason All-MVC Second Team, while senior Tremell Murphy (5.0 ppg., 3.4 rpg.) was picked to the Third Team.
A season ago, the Bulldogs averaged 69.4 points per game on 45.8 percent shooting, including 34.5 percent from 3-point range, with 33.8 rebounds, 14.9 assists, 5.5 steals and 3.9 blocks per game, while allowing opponents to average 67.7 points on 42.2 percent shooting, including 36.7 percent from long range. The team connected on 74 percent from the free throw line.
Penn is one of two returners (along with junior D.J. Wilkins) who started all 34 games for the Bulldogs in 2019-20, as he averaged 12 points on 49.5 percent shooting, including 40.3 percent from 3-point range, with 4.7 rebounds, a league-best 5.7 assists and 1.3 steals in 30.5 minutes per game. He was named to the Missouri Valley All-Newcomer Team and Third Team All-MVC. Wilkins averaged 8.9 points on 36.7 percent shooting with 2.9 rebounds and 2.1 assists in 29.9 minutes per game. Senior Jonah Jackson also returns after starting in 23 games and averaging 6.0 points per game.
In addition to getting back Murphy, who played in just 5 games before getting hurt in 2019-20, the Bulldogs will have a pair of Division I transfers in Shanquan Hemphill (Green Bay) and Darnell Brodie (Seton Hall). Hemphill averaged 11.7 points on 52.8 percent shooting as a junior at Green Bay, while Brodie played two seasons at Seton Hall.
Head coach Darian DeVries enters his third season as a head coach with a 44-24 (.647) overall record, as he has led the Bulldogs to consecutive 20-win seasons for the first time since 1969-70 and 1970-71. Prior to becoming the head coach at Drake, he was on staff at Creighton for 20 years, including 17 as an assistant coach under Dana Altman and Greg McDermott.

SERIES HISTORY

K-State and Drake will meet for the 27th time on Wednesday afternoon in a series that dates to 1918. The Wildcats own a 20-6 mark in those previous 26 meetings, including a 10-2 mark in games played in Manhattan.
The two schools haven't met in close to 64 years since a 90-41 win by the Wildcats on Dec. 18, 1956 at Ahearn Field House, as 18 of the previous 26 meetings came from 1918 to 1928. This will be the second matchup in an opener and the first since a 79-73 overtime win by K-State on Dec. 6, 1952.
Head coach Bruce Weber has a long history with Drake during his time at MVC conference member Southern Illinois from 1998 to 2003, posting a 9-1 mark against the Bulldogs, including 8 wins in a row.
K-State is 45-18 all-time against teams from the Missouri Valley, including a 28-3 mark in games played at home. Drake is the first Valley school to visit Bramlage Coliseum since Bradley on Dec. 9, 2014. The Wildcats have dropped the last two meetings against MVC competition, including a 73-60 setback to Bradley in the Fort Myers Tipoff on Nov. 27, 2019. The last win against the league came in the home game against Bradley, 50-47, in 2014.

HISTORY IN SEASON OPENERS

K-State is 91-25 (.783) all-time in season openers dating back to the first season in 1903. The Wildcats have a 79-9 (.897) record in season openers played at home, including 27-2 (.926) at Bramlage Coliseum.
K-State will open the season at home for the 18th consecutive season on Wednesday with the Wildcats holding a 16-1 (.938) record in that span. The lone loss in that span came in a 60-58 loss to Northern Colorado on Nov. 8, 2013, which snapped the school's 16-game winning streak in home openers. The last time K-State opened the season away from home came in 2002-03 when the squad played in the Paradise Jam, Nov. 23-25, 2002.
K-State won 16 consecutive home openers from 1995 to 2012, which spanned the only two season-opening losses at Bramlage Coliseum history. The Wildcats lost a 74-60 decision to Southern Miss on Nov. 27, 1993 to start the 1993-94 campaign before the Northern Colorado loss in 2013.
Overall, K-State is 28-4 (.871) in openers at Bramlage Coliseum. Aside from the Southern Miss (1993) and Northern Colorado (2013) defeats, the Wildcats lost to Fresno State, 60-58, on Dec. 2, 1989 and to Northwestern, 59-55, on Nov. 30, 2002, but each of those were not in a season opener.
Since the 2013 loss, K-State has won its last six home openers (Southern Utah, UMES, Western Illinois, American, Kennesaw State and NDSU) by an average of 25 points per game, while averaging 77.7 points per game.
Head coach Bruce Weber is 20-2 (.904) in season openers in his 22-year head coaching career (Southern Illinois, Illinois and K-State), which includes a 20-1 (.950) mark in home openers. His two losses have come at Murray State, 65-62, on Nov. 14, 1998 while at SIU and at home to Northern Colorado in 2013 at K-State. He is 7-1 (.875) in season openers at K-State.

NON-CONFERENCE HISTORY

K-State has a 111-8 (.932) record at home venues (includes home games played at Bramlage Coliseum, INTRUST Bank Arena in Wichita and the Sprint Center in Kansas City) in non-conference play dating back to the 2006-07 season, including a 102-6 (.944) mark at Bramlage Coliseum
Despite seeing their 33-game winning streak end at Bramlage Coliseum with a loss to Marquette on Dec. 7, 2019, the Wildcats have still won 98 of their last 104 non-conference home games. The last home non-conference loss before Marquette came against Georgia, 50-46, on Dec. 31, 2014.
K-State has posted a 147-42 (.781) record in non-conference play since the 2006-07 season, which includes a 7-6 (.539) mark in 2019-20. Prior to last season, the team had posted double-digit non-conference wins in 12 of the last 13 seasons.

UP NEXT: VS. COLORADO (0-0)

K-State will continue play in the Little Apple Classic on Friday when the Wildcats play host to former conference foe Colorado (0-0) at 7:30 p.m. CT on ESPNU. It will be the first meeting between the schools since 2011.
K-State owns a 96-47 all-time mark against Colorado, including a 54-10 mark at home. However, the Buffaloes have won the last 3 meetings in the series, including a 74-66 win in their last visit to Bramlage Coliseum on Jan. 12, 2011.

K-State Opens 2020-21 Season vs. Drake in Little Apple Classic

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Kaosi Ezeagu

DaJuan Gordon

Mike McGuirl

Montavious Murphy

Nijel Pack

Kansas State University Athletics

K-State Opens 2020-21 Season vs. Drake in Little Apple Classic

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Kaosi Ezeagu

DaJuan Gordon

Mike McGuirl

Montavious Murphy

Nijel Pack

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