Head Coach Bruce Weber Previews Big 12 Opener at Iowa State

MANHATTAN, Kan. – K-State head coach Bruce Weber met with members of the media via Zoom on Monday morning, as the Wildcats continue preparations for the earliest Big 12 opener in school history on Tuesday night at Iowa State at 8 p.m., CT. The game will air nationally on ESPNU.

The Wildcats have met the Cyclones more times than any opponent in a conference opener, holding a 10-6 mark in those matchups, including a 91-75 win at Hilton Coliseum in the last such meeting on Dec. 29, 2017. Overall, K-State is 53-54 all-time in league openers dating back to the start of Missouri Valley Conference play in 1914, including a 17-34 mark on the road. The team is 10-14 in Big 12 openers, including 3-11 away from home.

Iowa State is 1-2 on the season after losing at Top 5 Iowa on Friday night.

K-STATE HEAD COACH BRUCE WEBER
On the young guys being ready for Big 12 play...
"Yeah, it's a little scary, there's no doubt. We had planned to have the exhibition game at Wichita State. I thought we were going to have a game at Butler. Those were going to be your road games, plus the games in the Cayman Islands so you would've had some experience with being on the road. Obviously, the road is a little different. I'm not sure if they're having fans or how many fans. I don't think it's quite as much of a factor. I just told another group that I watch the NFL, and usually the home field advantage is the pass rushers and getting to the quarterback and putting pressure. You just don't see it as much there. I told our coaches to not even bring up that we're going on the road. They don't need to think about it anymore. They've got enough things to worry about. Obviously, we played better offensively the other day. Some of that is you make shots and you look better. I thought we shared the ball. We did some video clips that we share with recruits, and it looked pretty good. Now, can we get better defensively in a hurry, because right now we're not very good defensively. We'll see if they grow up and can deal with playing in the Big 12 early without a lot of experience and play a road game right away."

On Friday's game being encouraging…
"I thought we had a great practice before the Milwaukee game. It was a late game, so we came back and did weights, watched film and did some individual work. Kind of reviewed some things we haven't got to practice. One of the most impressive things to me from the game, and it gets taken for granted, but getting the ball in bounds. Mike had to get the ball in from the side I think four straight times. Rudi had to get it in bounds, and those are things, I'm just being totally honest with you, we haven't practiced because we didn't have time to practice. We always say that you gotta make basketball plays. They made basketball plays. We've had a little more time. I think the practices have been good. Yesterday was good. We went hard. It was more us yesterday. Today will be more of a preparation for Iowa State, all the things we need to worry about before hopping on a plane."

On the young starting lineup…
"Antonio (Gordon) was out last week. He had a little bit of an illness. It's a situation he had to deal with, not COVID-19, but he had something and missed a couple of days. He was back yesterday playing pretty well. Hopefully, we can have him in there, but I think that group played well and played well together. They deserve to be back out there and hopefully they'll keep making progress."

On Davion Bradford…
"A lot of it is confidence and I've said before, he's a great young man with a great big heart. His life has not been the easiest, but he's done well. I kind of joked with him. I asked him if he's ever played that many minutes in any game in your career, and he said no. He actually asked out one time. I said no and then called a timeout to give him a little rest, because Carlton (Linguard) with limited practice is struggling with the defensive part. It's going to take him a bit of time, and Davion was doing well. Makol Mawien was one of the better ball screen defenders in the country. I would not tell you that about Davion right now, but he's starting to understand. It's hard. It's hard for big guys. I just talked with the tv people about playing big guys vs. small ball. Big guys really have to be active on ball screens if they're going to play, especially against older, good guards like we're going to face this week in Iowa State and Baylor."

On the Big 12 so far this season…
"It's scary, especially for a young team. Throwing them into the pool with the wolves, but you gotta go through it. We went through it with a young group with Barry, Dean, and those guys. They took their lumps, but all the sudden they became older. (Former Baylor player) King McClure is doing the game (on TV) and we just did a Zoom with him. He said, 'When I played, it always seemed like you had old guys'. Well, Barry, Dean and Cam weren't old when they were freshmen at one time, so it's part of the process. I wish we had a little more seasoned veterans to go along with them, but right now we don't. Those guys all want to play, so they're getting their chance. They're getting that chance with conference games very early."

On if Montavious Murphy will still be out…
"Yeah, I would anticipate it. He actually went to the doctor this morning. He's gotta go check all the tests. I haven't had a chance to talk to him and see what the doctors have come up with and his parents. We'll see where he's at."

On Mike McGuirl on and off the court...
"It means a lot to him. He's worked very hard to get to this point. I've talked about it before, how he and DeJuan came back early even though they couldn't get into the facility for almost two months. He wants to have a really successful season for our team and for himself. What I like over the past few games is that he's much more efficient. I've tried to get him to understand that he doesn't have to put the whole team on his back. He had a pretty good game against Drake. I thought he forced it a few times the next couple of games. I think he thought he just had to make all the plays. I loved on Friday night to have eight assists and one turnover, and then his efficiency shooting has been much better the last few games. That the kind of progress I think is important for him. I know he's a senior and he's got as much experience as anyone we've had, but freshman year he didn't really play much. This is a totally new role for him. He's gotta figure some of that out himself. I'm pleased with what he's done. Let the offense come. Take what they give you, and help lead our team. If he'll do that, he's going to be successful and give us a chance to be successful."

On if he thought McGuirl would develop as he has...
"When we recruited him, I thought he had pretty good bounce. He could score the basketball. He loved to play. He had good work ethic and was very driven. And he's intelligent. He's basically done with his business degree. I think he has one class left. I had high hopes for him. It was a little bit bumpy along the way, but he stuck with it. His family stayed with it and has supported him and encouraged him. All along, I've told him many times that I feel bad about his freshman year. When they announced that everyone could come back next year, it really made me feel good for him. He's one of the first people I called just because I've always said that I wished I could give him back that year. For him, it's an opportunity to really become the player we had hoped and have great success."

On the extra year for players moving forward…
"You think about DaJuan, Antonio, Monty and Kaosi, they're freshmen right now. You could have everybody back for next year's team. I think that's a really positive thing. Obviously you have to keep them together, have to stay positive with them and help them. When we signed this group, obviously we didn't have any idea about COVID. We thought we were probably going to have three or four seniors on the team. We felt these guys could blend in and not have the type of role. But now this is what's happened and deal with it. Make the best of it. Life's paths, they're not always perfect. You don't always get what you want from life, but you get what you need and that's experience. That's what we're getting right now."

On playing against Milwaukee for the first time…
"I have faced them before at SIU and then also at Illinois to go to the Elite 8 and then now, so it's not something new. I always feel a lot of pride that I had an opportunity to go to school there to get a degree that's given me a chance to have a special life, family and experiences that I never ever dreamed of as a young child. I really appreciate the school and opportunity there. I'm just happy we won so I didn't have to get gruff from my buddies, probably 10 guys that I grew up with that all went there. We all appreciate the opportunity. It's give us a chance to have nice lives. I'm happy we got a chance to win."

On Iowa State…
"They're somewhat like us because they have a lot of new players. Their new players are older. They got transfers and have the guy that seems like he's been there forever in Solomon Young. You remember as a freshman, he came here and had a double-double. They kicked our butt, and he's had some really good games. When they go to him, he's a man inside. He can score. He doesn't have quite the punch he had against Iowa. Obviously, Iowa has one of the best big guys in the country, if not the best one. Then you've got (Rasir) Bolton, who as a freshman averaged 14 at Penn State or 12 or something. He can score the basketball, and then (Javan) Johnson, the other transfer, can score the basketball. We're going to have to keep them in front of us. We're going to have to do a good job in the post. Big challenge for Davion and Carlton and Seryee. We're going to have to give them help. Our offense was much better against Wisconsin Milwaukee. We talked about that. 20 assists on 29 field goals, shot 50-some percent, good 40s from three, but we gotta get better defensively. I wish I had a magic wand and said we were going to do that, but the habits, the drills, the concepts, the desire and all those things, it's going to take some time but I hope each game we get a little better. How we defend the three will be really important in that game."

On Baylor's situation…
"Well, the Big 12 called (Executive Associate AD) Casey Scott on Saturday and said they are on pause. The game is still up in the air. I told our coaches yesterday after practice, 'if someone has a chance, call (assistant coach) Alvin Brooks and just check in'. I know the trainers have talked. They feel they might have an opportunity to play against us, but it's still up in the air. We'll see by continuing the testing that everybody has to go through. The new rule with the CDC with contact tracing gives you a little better chance, and each county and city is a little different. With seven days and the eight negative tests, if they got contact tracing it probably gives them a little better chance."

On preparing for the Baylor game as if it will be played…
"We still got our tests this morning, and Iowa State probably tested today. There's a lot of stress in this whole thing, and it makes it much more difficult. We'll get back Wednesday morning because you gotta drive to Des Moines and fly back. We'll have off on Wednesday because of NCAA rules and then hopefully ready to prepare on Thursday and Friday and hopefully have a better idea by then. The coaches are doing their prep that they need to do, so hopefully we'll be ready to go when we get back here on Wednesday."

Kansas State University Athletics

Head Coach Bruce Weber Previews Big 12 Opener at Iowa State

Players Mentioned

Davion Bradford

Makol Mawien

Mike McGuirl

Montavious Murphy

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