Game Preview // K-State, Oklahoma State Meet at Bramlage Coliseum Tuesday

Tuesday, February 11

Manhattan, Kan.

8 p.m.

Kansas State University

Oklahoma State

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Game Preview // K-State, Oklahoma State Meet at Bramlage Coliseum Tuesday

Feb 10, 2020 | Men's Basketball

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By: The Wildcats and Cowboys set to meet for the first time in 2020

GAME 24
KANSAS STATE (9-14, 2-8 Big 12) vs. OKLAHOMA STATE (11-12, 1-9 Big 12)
Tuesday, February 11, 2020 >> 8:05 p.m., CT >> Bramlage Coliseum (12,528) >> Manhattan, Kan.

PROMOTION
Diversity and Inclusion Unity Game
The first 1,500 student passholders will receive a K-State Team Flags at the southeast entrance.

TELEVISION
ESPNU / WatchESPN

Rich Hollenberg (play-by-play)
Bryndon Manzer (analyst)
Paul Ervin (producer)

RADIO
K-State Sports Network
Flagships: // KMAN 1350 & WIBW 580
Online: TuneIn.com [free] / www.kstatesports.com/watch [free]
Satellite Radio: XM 375 / Internet 375

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

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

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

Gameday: $20 (bench & GA)/$40 (chairback)
Wildcat 4-Pack: $70 ($17.50 each)

COACHES
Kansas State: Bruce Weber (Wis.-Milwaukee '78)
Overall: 472-258/22^nd season
At K-State: 159-103/8^th season
vs. Oklahoma State: 11-5 (6-1 at home)

Oklahoma State: Mike Boynton, Jr. (South Carolina '03)
Overall: 44-47/3^rd season
At Oklahoma State: 44-47/3^rd season
vs. Kansas State: 0-4 (0-2 on the road)

PROJECTED STARTING LINEUP
Kansas State (9-14)
G: #2 Cartier Diarra
G: #3 DaJuan Gordon
G/F: #20 Xavier Sneed
F: #23 Montavious Murphy
F: #14 Makol Mawien

Oklahoma State (11-12)
G: #13 Isaac Likekele
G: #1 Jonathan Laurent
G/F: #20 Keylan Boone
F: #12 Cameron McGriff
F: #14 Yor Anei

SERIES HISTORY
Overall: K-State leads 82-53
Current Streak: K-State, 4
In Manhattan: K-State leads 41-16
At Bramlage Coliseum: K-State leads 13-10
Last Meeting: W, 85-46, 2/23/19 [Manhattan]
Weber vs. Boynton: 4-0 (2-0 at home)

OPENING TIP

Kansas State (9-14, 2-8 Big 12) returns home to Bramlage Coliseum on Tuesday, as the Wildcats play host to Oklahoma State (11-12, 1-9 Big 12) on a night that the athletics department will celebrate its Diversity and Inclusion initative. The Cowboys will mark the second consecutive Big 12 opponent that the Wildcats will face for the first time in 2020. The game will tip at 8:05 p.m., CT on ESPNU with Rich Hollenberg (play-by-play) and Bryndon Manzer (analyst) on the call.
K-State could not overcome a slow start on Saturday night, as Iowa State jumped out to a 21-2 lead and withstood several comeback attempts by the Wildcats in the second half to post a 73-63 before near sellout crowd at Hilton Coliseum. Down by 21 points in the first half, K-State rallied to within 4 points on two occasions in the last 10 minutes, including 52-48 after a layup by junior David Sloan that forced an ISU timeout with 7:54 to play. However, the Cyclones responded by scoring 7 of the next 10 points to push the lead back out and were never seriously threatened the rest of the way. ISU connected on 45.3 percent (24-of-53) from the field, including 54.5 percent (12-of-22) in the second half, while K-State was held to 37.9 percent (22-of-58) shooting and were plagued by 16 turnovers.
Junior Cartier Diarra provided an offensive spark for the Wildcats in his first start in 5 games, as he scored a game-high 24 points -- just one point shy of his career-high of 25 points done twice -- on 7-of-15 field goals, including 5-of-11 from 3-point range, to go with 3 assists and a career-best 3 blocked shots in 37 minutes. It marked Diarra's fifth career 20-point game (all done this season), as he is now responsible for the team's four-best scoring efforts this season (25 vs. Tulsa and No. 12/11 West Virginia, 24 at Iowa State and 23 vs. North Dakota State).
Much like K-State, Oklahoma State (11-12, 1-9 Big 12) has had an up-and-down season but the Cowboys' fortunes seem to be on the upswing with wins in 2 of their last 5 games after enduring a stretch of 6 consecutive losses. OSU ended the skid with a 73-62 win at Texas A&M in the Big 12/SEC Challenge on Jan. 25 before ending its 8-game Big 12 streak with a 72-57 win at home over TCU on Feb. 1. The Cowboys fought top-ranked Baylor to the very end in Waco, trailing by just 2 with 35 seconds, before falling 78-70 on Saturday. They have a balanced offensive team with 5 players averaging better than 8 points per game led by sophomore Isaac Likekele (11.6 ppg.) and seniors Lindy Waters III (11.5 ppg.) and Cameron McGriff (10.5 ppg.). K-State coach Bruce Weber coached Likekele at the FIBA U19 World Cup this past summer, where the duo led Team USA to the gold medal for the first time since 2015.
Injuries have been a big part of K-State's season, as 5 different players have missed a combined 46 games, which has caused head coach Bruce Weber to use 6 starting lineups. The 6 lineups are the most since using 11 in 2014-15. Freshmen DaJuan Gordon and Montavious Murphy have started together in each of the last 5 games, which is the first freshman pair to start together since Barry Brown, Jr., and Dean Wade in 2015-16.

NOTES ON OKLAHOMA STATE

Oklahoma State (11-12, 1-9 Big 12) has rebounded from its 6-game losing streak to start Big 12 play to win 2 of its last 5 games, including a 73-62 win at Texas A&M in the Big 12/SEC Challenge on Jan. 25 and a 72-57 victory over TCU at home to snap its 8-game Big 12 losing skid on Feb. 5. OSU is coming off a 78-70 win over top-ranked Baylor on Saturday, in which, the Cowboys trailed by just 2 points in the last 35 seconds. Senior Lindy Waters III led 5 players in double figures with 16 points, as the team shot 47.1 percent from the field, including 55.9 percent (19-of-34) inside the 3-point arc.
Oklahoma State is averaging 67.1 points on 41 percent shooting, including 30.3 percent from 3-point range, to go with 36.5 rebounds, 12.0 assists, 7.1 steals and 3.8 blocks per game, while allowing 66.0 points on 39.9 percent shooting, including 30.6 percent from 3-point range. The team is connecting on 72.3 percent from the free throw line.
The Cowboys are a balanced scoring team with 5 players averaging 8 or more points, including 3 double-digit scorers in sophomore Isaac Likekele (11.6 ppg.) and seniors Lindy Waters III (11.5 ppg.) and Cameron McGriff (10.5 ppg.). Likekele is connecting on 46.7 percent from the field to go with averages of 4.9 rebounds, 4.6 assists and 2.0 steals in 32 minutes per game. He leads the team in scoring, assists, steals and minutes. Waters leads with 90 field goals made, including 34 from 3-point range, while McGriff is tops in rebounding at 6.7 per game. Reserve Thomas Dziagwa is first with 56 made 3-point field goals, while averaging 9.2 points per game.
Oklahoma State is led by third-year head coach Mike Boynton, who has posted a 44-47 (.484) record, which includes trip to the quarterfinals of the NIT in his first season in 2017-18.

SERIES HISTORY

K-State and Oklahoma State will meet for the 136th time in their histories with the Wildcats holding an 82-53 advantage in a series that dates back to 1922, including a 41-16 mark in games played at home. The last Cowboy win (80-68) came at Bramlage Coliseum on Feb. 22, 2017.
K-State has won 4 in a row in the series, which is the longest such streak since winning 5 straight from 1986-88. Last season, the Wildcats earned a 75-57 win in Stillwater on Feb. 2 before an 85-46 win at home on Feb. 23. The win at home last season was the biggest in series history.
Current senior Xavier Sneed has averaged 9.8 points and 4.5 rebounds in 6 career games (4 starts) against OSU, while junior Cartier Diarra is averaging 11.7 points on 57.1 percent shooting in 3 games (2 starts).
Head coach Bruce Weber is 11-5 all-time against Oklahoma State, including a 6-1 mark at home, while he is 4-0 against head coach Mike Boynton. Boynton is 0-4 against K-State, including 0-2 on the road.

HISTORY AT BRAMLAGE COLISEUM

K-State has posted a 386-122 (.760) all-time record at Bramlage Coliseum since its opening in the 1988-89 season. The 386 wins are the most at a home venue for the Wildcats, surpassing the 378 at Ahearn Field House (1950-88).
K-State has registered a 186-42 (.816) record at home over the past 14 seasons, including an 81-36 (.692) mark in Big 12 play. The 186 wins rank fourth among all Big 12 schools in that span, while the 81 league victories at home are only surpassed by Kansas and Texas.
Head coach Bruce Weber has tallied a 101-26 (.795) 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), Georgia (2014) and Marquette (2019). The 26 losses (22 of which have come in Big 12 play) have come by a grand total of 204 points or just 7.9 points per game.

LAST TIME OUT: IOWA STATE 73, K-STATE 63

Iowa State jumped out to a 21-2 lead and withstood several comeback attempts by Kansas State in the second half to post a 73-63 on Saturday night before 14,149 fans at Hilton Coliseum.
The Cyclones (10-13, 3-7 Big 12), who led for nearly 39 minutes in the contest, have now won 3 in a row over the Wildcats (9-14, 2-8 Big 12) and snapped a 2-game losing streak at home in the series.
Down by as many as 21 points in the first half, K-State rallied to within 4 points on two occasions down the stretch, including 52-48 after layup by junior David Sloan that forced an ISU timeout with 7:54 to play. However, the Cyclones, playing in front of a near sellout crowd, responded by scoring 7 of the next 10 points, including back-to-back buckets by senior Prentiss Nixon out of the timeout, to push the lead to 59-51 with just under 4 minutes remaining and were never seriously threatened the rest of the way.
Junior Cartier Diarra, who was inserted into the starting lineup for the first time in 4 games, provided a spark for the Wildcats with a game-high 24 points – just one shy of his career-high – on 7-of-15 field goals, including 5-of-11 from 3-point range, to go with 3 assists and a career-best 3 blocks in 37 minutes. It marked Diarra's fifth 20-point game of his career, which have all come this season.
Diarra was joined in double figures by freshman DaJuan Gordon, who collected his fifth double-digit scoring game of the season and his second in Big 12 play with 10 points. Senior Xavier Sneed, who struggled with a hip injury for most of the game, saw his streak of double-digit scoring game end at 7 after posting just 8 points, but he did lead the Wildcats with 7 rebounds and 3 steals in his 32 minutes of action.
The ISU offense was balanced with 5 players scoring at least 9 points, as junior Solomon Young led the way with 20 points on 7-of-9 field goals and 6-of-7 free throws. Sophomores Rasir Bolton and Terrence Lewis scored 13 and 12 points, respectively, while sophomore Tyrese Haliburton and senior Prentiss Nixon added 9 points each. The Cyclones connected on 45.3 percent (22-of-58) from the field, including 54.5 percent (12-of-22) in the second half, and were a near perfect 19 of 20 from the free throw line.

LEADING WITH DEFENSE

K-State has continued its reputation as one of the top defensive teams in the country under head coach Bruce Weber, holding its 23 opponents to 64.3 points on 42 percent shooting (508-of-1210), including 32.5 percent (166-of-511) from 3-point range, while posting a Big 12-best 8.5 steals and forcing 16.4 turnovers per game (second behind Texas Tech in the Big 12).
K-State ranks among Top 55 in 3 defensive categories, including 53rd in scoring defense and 22th in both steals per game and in turnovers forced.
K-State has held 26 of its last 57 opponents to 60 points or less with just nine eclipsing 70 (with 8 occurring in the last 24 games). The squad has held 95 opponents to 60 points or less in Bruce Weber's tenure, boasting an 86-9 mark in those contests. The Wildcats are 7-1 this season when holding an opponent below 60 points, including their first 4 wins.
K-State had one of the top defensive teams in the country in 2018-19, holding opponents to 59.6 points on 41.5 percent shooting, including 31.4 percent from 3-point range, while forcing 14.8 turnovers per game and averaging 7.5 steals per game. The Wildcats ranked among the nation's best in a number of defensive categories, including fourth in scoring defense, 16th in turnover margin (+3.5), 36th in 3-point field goal percentage defense, 43rd in total steals (256) and 48th in steals per game.
K-State had one of the top defensive teams in the country in 2018-19, holding opponents to 59.6 points on 41.5 percent shooting, including 31.4 percent from 3-point range, while forcing 14.8 turnovers per game and averaging 7.5 steals per game. The Wildcats ranked among the nation's best in a number of defensive categories, including fourth in scoring defense, 16th in turnover margin (+3.5), 36th in 3-point field goal percentage defense, 43rd in total steals (256) and 48th in steals per game.
The 59.6 points per game average was the lowest opponent scoring average since the introduction of the shot clock in 1985-86, surpassing the 60.4 points per game average in 2012-13, while it was the sixth-lowest all-time and the lowest since the 1982-83 team allowed 58.4 points per game. Only eight other teams (1948-49, 1949-50, 1950-51, 1961-62, 1980-81, 1981-82, 1982-83) allowed less than 60 points per game in school history.
K-State held foes to an average of 14.5 points under their average in 2018-19, including a 14.6 average in Big 12 play. Eleven opponents (6 Big 12 foes) were held to 20 or more points under their average, most notably Texas Tech (26.6), TCU (25.4 and 23.5), Iowa State (24.3) and OSU (21.8).
In Big 12 play, K-State allowed 59.6 points per game on 42.6 percent shooting, including 33.8 percent from 3-point range. It is the school's lowest defensive scoring average in a Big 12 season and a tie for the ninth-best in a conference season and the lowest since 1961-62. The Wildcats held Big 12 opponents (Iowa State, TCU [twice], Texas Tech, Oklahoma State [twice], West Virginia, Baylor and Oklahoma) to 60 points or less on 9 occasions.

DEFICITS AND COMEBACKS

K-State has had to battle back from early deficits in 6 of the last 9 games, but has found a way to rally from those deficits before losing down the stretch. The Wildcats trailed TCU (1/7/20) and Texas (1/11/20) by 7 points, were down 10-0 to No. 23/23 Texas Tech (1/14/20), fell behind by 16 at Alabama (1/25/20) and to No. 1/1 Baylor (2/3/20) and mostly recently by 19 at Iowa State on Saturday.
K-State was down 7-0 to start against TCU before slowing chipping away at the deficit to eventually take a 17-16 lead at the 8:19 mark of the first half and tying at 23-all before the Horned Frogs scored 12 of the last 14 points. Down 49-42 with just over 7 to play, the Wildcats tied the game at 57-all on David Sloan's 3-pointer before losing on a tip-in with 2 seconds to play.
K-State trailed 9-2 to start against Texas before again rallying to take an 18-16 lead with 6:40 before halftime. With the Wildcats leading 25-23 with 2:48 to play in the first half, the Longhorns would score 20 of the next 22 points to take 43-27 advantage with 13:11 remaining.
K-State allowed No. 23/23 Texas Tech to score the first 10 points of the game, but the resilient Wildcats responded with 7 in a row to close to within one possession before trailing 37-30 at the half. The team again fought back to take a 46-45 lead on a layup by junior Cartier Diarra to cap an 11-2 run with 13:24 to play. The Red Raiders responded with a 16-4 run over the next 6 minutes to take a 61-50 lead with just over 7 minutes remaining.
Down by 16 points with just over 12 minutes to play, K-State closed to within one possession on multiple occasions, including 69-67 with 2:48 left, but Alabama held strong at the free throw line to post a 77-74 win on Jan. 25. A 3-pointer by from senior Xavier Sneed ignited an 18-3 run that closed the deficit to 62-61 on another 3-pointer from Diarra with 6:34 remaining.
Baylor jumped out to a 16-point lead in the first half, as the Big 12's top defense held K-State without a field goal for more than 7 minutes. However, a Sneed 3-pointer, the last of three consecutive triples, pulled the Wildcats to within one possession at 29-26 with 2:18 to play. Leading just 33-28 at the half, Baylor grabbed the momentum early in the second half, scoring 9 of the first 13 points to push the lead back into double figures at 42-32 with 14:05 remaining. After K-State responded with 5 straight points to close to within 42-37, the Bears took control with a 14-4 run that extended the lead to 56-41 and forced head coach Bruce Weber to call his third timeout with 8:46 remaining. The Wildcats didn't get closer than 6 points rest of the way.
Down by as many as 21 points to Iowa State in the first half, K-State rallied to within 4 points on two occasions down the stretch, including 52-48 after layup by Sloan that forced an ISU timeout with 7:54 to play. However, the Cyclones responded by scoring 7 of the next 10 points, including back-to-back buckets by senior Prentiss Nixon out of the timeout, to push the lead to 59-51 with just under 4 minutes remaining.

POINTS OFF TURNOVERS

K-State is once again using its defense to generate offense, as the Wildcats are forcing 16.4 turnovers per game, including a Big 12-best 8.5 steals per game, while averaging 17.3 points per game off those opponent turnovers.
K-State has scored 20 or more points off opponent turnovers 10 times this season, including a season-high 28 in the win over No. 12/13 West Virginia. The team has also scored 20 or more points off turnovers against Monmouth (21), UAPB (20), Pittsburgh (24) Bradley (22), Florida A&M (20), Alabama State (26), Texas (23), No. 23/23 Texas Tech (20) and Iowa State (23).
K-State has forced 5 opponents into 20 or more turnovers, including a season-best 25 turnovers by UNLV (11/9/19) and Monmonth (11/13/19).
K-State has scored over 4,000 points (4,074) off turnovers during head coach Bruce Weber's tenure, an average of 15.5 points per game. In 2018-19, the Wildcats averaged 17.4 points off turnovers, outscoring opponents, 590-362. The team posted 12 games of 20 or more points off turnovers.

2-POINTERS HAVE BEEN KEY

With its 3-point percentage nearly identical in wins (33.3; 69-of-207) as in losses (31.9; 97-of-304), K-State's 2-point field goal percentage has been a key factor in its wins this season. On the year, the Wildcats are connecting on 47.6 percent (357-of-750) from inside the 3-point line.
K-State is connecting on 45.8 percent (233-of-509) of its field goals in the 9 wins, including 54.3 percent (164-of-302) from inside the arc, while the team is hitting just 38.6 percent (290-of-752) of their field goals in the 14 losses, including 43.1 percent (193-of-448) from inside the arc.
This has been illustrated in the losses to Marquette and Mississippi State, as K-State connected on 32.3 percent (20-of-62) of its field goals, including 33.3 percent (13-of-39) from inside the arc, in the 73-65 loss to the Golden Eagles and 32.6 percent (14-of-43) of its field goals, including 32 percent (8-of-25) from inside the arc, in the 67-61 loss to the Bulldogs.
No 2 players have been as impactful in this statistic, as senior Xavier Sneed and junior Cartier Diarra.
Sneed is averaging a team-best 16.4 points on 48.6 percent (51-of-105) shooting, including 61.5 percent (32-of-52) from inside the arc, in the 9 wins, while he is averaging 13.2 points on just 31.9 percent (52-of-163) shooting in the 14 losses, including 35.1 percent (26-of-74) from inside the arc.
Diarra is averaging 13.0 points on 42 percent (47-of-112) shooting, including 50.8 percent (33-of-65) from inside the arc, in the 9 wins, while he is averaging 12.4 points on 39.1 percent (59-of-151) shooting, including 44 percent (33-of-75) from inside the arc, in the 14 losses.

SNEED LEADING THE WAY

Senior Xavier Sneed has led the Wildcats in scoring 9 times this season, averaging 14.5 points on 38.4 percent shooting (103-of-268), including 31.7 percent (45-of-142) from 3-point range. He has scored in double figures in a team-best 18 games (including 4 20-point games), while he has double-digit points in 11 of the last 13 games.
Sneed leads the team in nearly every offensive category, including scoring, field goals attempted, 3-point field goals made and attempted and free throw made (82) and attempted (121). He is also tops in steals (41) and defensive rebounds (93) and second in field goals (106) and rebounding (4.8 rpg.).
With his first rebound against Marquette on Dec. 7, Sneed became the 13th player in school history with at least 1,000 career points and 500 career rebounds. He currently has 1,341 points in 128 career games to go with 571 rebounds. He joins a 1,000-point/500-rebound list that includes Wildcat legends Dick Knostman, Jack Parr, Bob Boozer, David Hall, Steve Mitchell, Rolando Blackman, Ed Nealy, Jamar Samuels, Rodney McGruder, Thomas Gipson, Wes Iwundu and Dean Wade.
Sneed, who currently ranks 12th on the all-time scoring list with 1,341 points and needs 24 points to move into 11th place, needs 34 rebounds to crack the school's all-time Top 15 list in rebounds. If he could accomplish that feat, he would join a list that includes Ed Nealy, Bob Boozer, Jamar Samuels, Dean Wade, Rodney McGruder and Rolando Blackman that ranks in the school's Top 15 in both scoring and rebounding.

SNEED MOVING UP THE CHARTS

Senior Xavier Sneed continues to move up several career charts, as he ranks among the Top 20 in scoring (12th), 3-point field goals made (fifth) and attempted (third), steals (fourth), minutes and games played (10th).
With his 16-point effort in the win over No. 12/13 West Virginia, Sneed moved into the school's Top 15 in scoring at No. 15 with 1,257 points, moving past former teammate Kamau Stokes (1,242), current Orlando Magic player Wes Iwundu (1,249) and Tyrone Adams (1,251). He is the fourth player under head coach Bruce Weber to rank in the Top 15 in scoring, following Barry Brown, Jr. (1,781 points/fifth), Rodney McGruder (1,576/eighth) and Dean Wade (1,510/10th). He currently ranks 12th with 1,341 points, having recently passed Wildcat great Mitch Richmond (1,327).
Sneed already ranks among the very best among all 3-point shooters in school history, passing Rodney McGruder for fifth in career makes (200) and ranking fourth in career attempts (592). With his four triples against No. 1/1 Baylor (2/3/20), he became the fifth Wildcat to eclipse 200 career 3-point field goals and the first since former Kamau Stokes last season. He needs just 6 3-pointers to pass Stokes on the all-time list, while he needs 46 to jump into the school's Top 10 for field goals attempted.
Sneed also continues to move up the steals chart with his 178 ranking fourth in school history. He needs just 13 steals to pass Steve Henson (190/1986-90) and 22 to become just third Wildcat with 200 steals.
Sneed just cracked the school's Top 10 list for minutes played with 3,552 minutes, needing just 52 minutes to pass Kamau Stokes (3,603/2015-19) for eighth place. He also jumped into the Top 10 for most games played against No. 1/1 Baylor (2/3/20) with his 127th. As long as he stays healthy, he should break into the Top 10 for career starts (currently at 95).

DIARRA PROVING TO BE SOLID

Junior Cartier Diarra is proving to be a solid guard for the Wildcats, averaging 13.2 points on 40.3 percent (106-of-263) shooting with 4.7 assists, 4.0 rebounds and 1.7 steals in 30.9 minutes per game. He has led the team in scoring 10 times, including 8 times in the last 16 games.
Diarra collected his team-leading fifth 20-point game with his game-high 24 points on 7-of-15 shooting at Iowa State on Saturday. He has the team's top-four scoring efforts, which includes 25 vs. Tulsa (12/29/19) and No. 12/11 West Virginia (1/18) and 23 vs. North Dakota State (11/5/19).
Diarra has scored in double figures in 13 times in the last 19 games, including team-highs vs. Marquette (14), Mississippi State (20), Tulsa (25), Texas (14), No. 23/23 Texas Tech (19) and No. 12/13 West Virginia (25).
Diarra became the 26th Wildcat to eclipse 200 career assists vs. 23/23 Texas Tech (1/14/20), while he became the 39th player to top 100 assists in a single season at No. 12/11 West Virginia (2/1/20). He has led the team in assists in 16 games, while he has at least 5 assists in 12 games, including a career-high 10 vs. Alabama State on Dec. 11. He became the first Wildcat with a 10-assist game since Marcus Foster (at Baylor) on Feb. 15, 2014.

DIARRA NAMED BIG 12 PLAYER OF THE WEEK DEC. 30

Junior Cartier Diarra earned his first career Phillips 66 Big 12 Player of the Week honor on Dec. 31 after scoring a career-best 25 points, including the game-winning 3-pointer with 22.4 seconds left, to help the Wildcats defeat Tulsa, 69-67, on Dec. 30.
Diarra is the first Wildcat to earn the Big 12's weekly honor since Barry Brown, Jr., and Dean Wade won the accolade in back-to-back weeks on January 14 and 21, 2019. Overall, it marks the school's 29th Player of the Week honor since the inception of the Big 12 in 1997, including the 13th under head coach Bruce Weber.
Diarra collected his third 20-point game of the season in Sunday's victory over the Golden Hurricane, connecting on 8-of-16 from the field, including 6-of-11 from beyond the arc, to go with a 3-of-4 effort from the line, a game-high 7 assists and 5 rebounds in 33 minutes of action. His 6 3-pointers were a career-high and the most by a Wildcat since teammate Xavier Sneed knocked down 6 triples against West Virginia on Jan. 1, 2018.

SLOAN CREATES A SPARK

K-State received a spark when junior David Sloan moved into the starting point guard role, allowing junior Cartier Diarra to move off the ball, in the win over 12/13 West Virginia on Jan. 18. He scored 9 points in the upset of the Mountaineers to go with 5 assists and 4 steals in 36 minutes.
The Wildcats averaged 67.2 points and 12.5 assists in that 6-game stretch after averaging 57.8 points and 8.8 assists in the previous 4 games. During this span, Sloan averaged 8.5 points, 3.7 assists, 1.8 rebounds and 1.3 steals in 25.9 minutes per game, which included a season-high 17 points at No. 3/3 Kansas (1/21/20) and a team-high 13-point effort at No. 12/11 West Virginia (2/1/20). Prior to the West Virginia game on Jan. 18, he was averaging 3.7 points and 1.9 assists in 15.5 minutes per game.

FRESHMEN PLAYING A MAJOR ROLE

Three freshmen (DaJuan Gordon, Antonio Gordon and Montavious Murphy) are playing major roles for the Wildcats, as each are averaging 19 or more minutes this season, including 13 starts by Murphy, 7 by Antonio Gordon and 6 by DaJuan Gordon. Murphy missed 7 games due to injury.
The 26 combined starts by the 3 true freshmen are the most starts by a freshman trio since 2015-16 when Dean Wade (31), Kamau Stokes (20) and Barry Brown, Jr. (11) combined to start 62 games. Both DaJuan Gordon and Murphy has started each of the last 5 games.
DaJuan Gordon has played in all 23 games, averaging 23.9 minutes per game. He has scored in double figures 5 times, including a 15-point effort against No. 12/13 West Virginia (1/18/20) and a 10-point output at Iowa State (2/8/20). He has connected on 44.7 percent (59-of-132) from the field and 34 percent (18-of-53) from 3-point range. He been solid since the start of Big 12 play, averaging 7.2 points on 45.6 percent shooting, including 34.8 percent from long range, with 4.2 rebounds in 27.5 minutes per game.
Murphy, who became the first true freshmen to start an opener since 2015, started each of the first 3 games of the season before his injury on Nov. 13. He returned to play 18 minutes against Saint Louis (12/29/19) before starting 10 of the last 12 games and averaging 25.7 minutes per game. He is averaging 5.3 points on 40 percent shooting with 4.1 rebounds per game, while his 3 double-digit scoring game this season have come in the last 8 games. He scored a season-high 11 points vs. No. 23/23 Texas Tech (1/14/20).
Antonio Gordon has seen action in 18 games, averaging 19.0 minutes per game. He is averaging 4.7 points and 3.7 rebounds per game. He made his return against No. 1/1 Baylor (2/3/20), playing 10 minutes, after serving a 3-game suspension for his actions against Kansas on Jan. 21.

EZEAGU JOINS TEAM JAN. 17

Head coach Bruce Weber announced on January 17 that transfer forward Kaosi Ezeagu (Brampton, Ontario/GTA Prep/UTEP) has signed a scholarship agreement to join the men's basketball team. He will have three years of eligibility once he sits out the required time as a Division I transfer.
Ezeagu will enroll at K-State for the spring semester and will be able to start practicing with the team. He will have to sit out for the reminder of the 2019-20 season and the first semester of the 2020-21 season before being eligible in mid-December 2020.
A 6-foot-10, 245-pound forward from Brampton, Ontario, Ezeagu played one season at UTEP for head coach Rodney Terry in 2018-19. He played in all 29 games for the Miners as a true freshman, averaging 3.2 points on a team-best 56.9 percent shooting (37-of-65) with 3.4 rebounds and 0.8 blocks in 12.4 minutes per game. He led the team with 24 blocked shots with at least 2 blocks in eight contests. Twice he scored in double figures, including 10 in his first game against UTPB on Nov. 16, 2018 and a season-best 12 against Middle Tennessee State on March 6, 2019.
Ezeagu was born in the Bahamas but went to prep school in Brampton, Ontario, where he was rated one of the top prep players in Canada after averaging 11.4 points and 10.4 rebounds at GTA Prep in 2017-18.

RECAPPING NON-CONFERENCE HISTORY

K-State concluded non-conference play with the 77-74 loss at Alabama in the Big 12/SEC Challenge on Jan. 25. Despite the setback, the Wildcats finished with a winning record in non-conference play for 14th season in a row.
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, 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 10-3 (.769) mark in 2018-19. The team has posted double-digit non-conference wins in 12 of the last 13 years.
Since going 7-6 in non-conference in 2014-15, which included back-to-back losses to Texas Southern and Georgia, the Wildcats has won double-digit non-conference games each of the past four seasons and is 50-15 (.781) in non-conference play since the start of 2015-16 season.

WEBER NAMED USA BASKETBALL CO-NATIONAL COACH OF THE YEAR

After leading Team USA to a gold medal at the FIBA U19 World Cup this past summer, K-State men's basketball coach Bruce Weber was selected as the co-recipient of the 2019 USA Basketball National Coach of the Year award.
Weber shared the honor with Louisville women's basketball coach Jeff Walz, who also led the USA Women's U19 World Cup Team to a gold medal on July 20-28 in Bangkok, Thailand.
Since 1996, USA Basketball has awarded its National Coach of the Year honor to a USA Basketball head coach, who during the year of the award, made a significant impact on the success of the individual athlete and team performance at the highest levels of competition in a manner consistent with the highest ethical, professional and moral standards.
Weber, who served as a head coach in the USA Basketball system for the first time in his career, led Team USA to their seventh gold medal at the FIBA (International Basketball Federation) U19 World Cup, including the first since 2015, with a perfect 7-0 record. Team USA capped their perfect performance with a 93-79 win over Mali in the gold-medal game in Greece on July 7.
Team USA averaged better than 100 points per game and won the tournament by an average of 28.7 points per game, including victories over New Zealand (111-71), Lithuania (102-84) and Senegal (87-58) to capture Group A then wins over Latvia (116-66) in the group of 16, Russia (95-80) in the medal round, Lithuania (102-67) in the semifinals and Mali (93-79) in the finals. The team ranked first in points per game (100.9), field goal percentage (.475), assists per game (28.6 apg.) and steals per game (15.9 spg.).

UP NEXT: AT TCU (13-10, 4-6 Big 12)

K-State returns to action on Saturday when the Wildcats travel to Fort Worth, Texas to take TCU (13-10, 4-6 Big 12) at Schollmaier Arena at 4 p.m., CT on Big 12 Now. The Horned Frogs won the first meeting, 59-57, on Jan. 7.