Game Preview // K-State Hosts Texas on Throwback Back Saturday

GAME 27
KANSAS STATE (9-17, 2-11 Big 12) vs. TEXAS (15-11, 5-8 Big 12)
Saturday, February 22, 2020 // 1:06 p.m. CT // Bramlage Coliseum (12,528) // Manhattan, Kan.

PROMOTION
Throwback Game
The Wildcats will wear special two-tone lavender throwback uniforms, which were worn from 1973 to 1982, with the first 1,500 students receiving a lavender t-shirt.

TELEVISION
CBS Sports / CBS Sports App

Andrew Catalon (play-by-play)
Steve Lappas (analyst)
Jonathan Segal (producer)

RADIO
K-State Sports Network
Flagships: // KMAN 1350 & WIBW 580
Online: TuneIn.com [free] / www.kstatesports.com/watch [free]
Satellite Radio: XM 381 / Internet 971

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: $25 (bench & GA)/$50 (chairback)
Wildcat 4-Pack: $75 ($18.50 each)

COACHES
Kansas State: Bruce Weber (Wis.-Milwaukee '78)
Overall: 472-261/22^nd season
At K-State: 159-106/8^th season
vs. Texas: 9-7 (4-3 at home)

Texas: Shaka Smart (Kenyon College '99)
Overall: 249-133/11^th season
At Texas: 86-77/5^th season
vs. Kansas State: 4-5 (2-2 on the road)

PROJECTED STARTING LINEUP
Kansas State (9-17)
G: #2 Cartier Diarra
G: #4 David Sloan
G/F: #20 Xavier Sneed
F: #23 Montavious Murphy
F: #14 Makol Mawien

Texas (15-11)
G: #1 Andrew Jones
G: #3 Courtney Ramey
G: #4 Donovan Williams
F: #5 Royce Hamm, Jr.
F: #33 Kamaka Hepa

SERIES HISTORY
Overall: K-State leads 22-17
Current Streak: Texas, 1
In Manhattan: K-State leads 11-6
At Bramlage Coliseum: K-State leads 9-6
Last Meeting: L, 50-64 [1/11/20 in Austin]
Weber vs. Smart: Weber leads 5-4 [2-2 at home]

OPENING TIP

K-State (9-17, 2-11 Big 12) will host its first Saturday home game in more than a month, as the Wildcats return to play Texas (15-11, 5-8 Big 12) at Bramlage Coliseum. The Longhorns have won 2 of the last 3 meetings and will be attempting to sweep the season series for the first time since 2016 after a 64-50 victory on Jan. 11. The game will tip at 1:06 p.m., CT on CBS with Andrew Catalon (play-by-play) and Steve Lappas (analyst). This will be the first CBS game at Bramlage Coliseum and the first in the regular season since a 69-62 loss at Kansas on Jan. 17, 1998.
Saturday's contest will be Throwback Day at Bramlage Coliseum, as K-State will wear their two-tone lavender throwback uniforms, which were worn from 1973 to 1982, and made famous by the Purple Pop-Gun tandem of Mike Evans and Chuckie Williams during the 1974-75 and 1975-76 seasons and commemorated by Rolando Blackman on the cover of Sports Illustrated after the 1981 upset of No. 1 Oregon State in the NCAA Tournament. Overall, the Wildcats posted an 186-81 (.697) record during the period of the uniform (1973-82), including an 85-41 (.675) mark in Big Eight play, winning the 1977 Big Eight regular-season title and the 1977 and 1980 Big Eight Tournament crowns to go with five NCAA Tournament appearances.
Texas Tech extended K-State's misery in close games, as the Red Raiders swept the season series with a 69-62 victory on Wednesday night at United Supermarkets Arena. The loss was the Wildcats' sixth straight, which is the longest such streak in the Bruce Weber era and the longest by a Wildcat team since also dropping 6 in a row from Feb. 2-19, 2005. The team has now lost 11 games by single digits, including 6 in Big 12 play, and fell to 3-12 in games decided by 10 points or less.
Texas Tech was impressive on the offensive end, connecting on 50 percent from the field with 18 assists on 23 made field goals, but K-State still had opportunities, closing to within 44-42 after a layup by junior Cartier Diarra midway through the second half. However, a missed dunk by Diarra on the next possession ignited an 8-2 run by the Red Raiders, which provided the necessary cushion to flip the narrow 44-42 lead into a 52-44 advantage with 6:44 to play. The Wildcats could get no closer than 5 points (64-59 with 38 seconds left) the rest of the way. Despite the loss, the team was better offensively, connecting on 47.9 percent (23-of-48) from the field, including 61.3 percent (19-of-31) from inside the 3-point line. It was the highest field goal percentage since hitting on 59.2 percent (29-of-49) in a win at home over No. 12/13 West Virginia on Jan. 18 and the highest in a road game this season.
Injuries have been a big part of K-State's season, as 5 players have missed 49 games, which has caused coach Bruce Weber to use 7 starting lineups. The 7 lineups are the most since using 11 in 2014-15 with at least one true freshman starting in 23 of 26 games, including true freshmen DaJuan Gordon and Montavious Murphy starting together 8 times, including in 7 of the last 8 games. The last time a pair of freshmen started together in more than one game came when Barry Brown, Jr., and Dean Wade started the last 9 games of 2015-16.

NOTES ON TEXAS

Despite missing several key components, Texas showed its resiliency by snapping a 4-game losing streak with a 70-56 win over TCU at home to sweep the season series from the Horned Frogs. The Longhorns had lost 4 in a row at Kansas (58-69), Texas Tech (57-62), Baylor (45-52) and at Iowa State (52-81) before breaking through against TCU. Sophomore Andrew Jones paced four players in double figures with a game-high 21 points on 7-of-14 field goals in the victory, while freshman Will Baker had 20 points off the bench, which included 4 3-pointers. Texas connected on 51 percent (26-of-51) from the field, including 60 percent (9-of-15) from 3-point range.
Texas is averaging 64.3 points on 42.6 percent shooting, including 33.4 percent from 3-point range, to go with 32.3 rebounds, 12.3 assists, 5.4 steals and 4.4 blocks per game, while allowing 63.7 points on 42.5 percent shooting, including 32.8 percent from 3-point range. The team is connecting on 66.8 percent from the free throw line. In Big 12 play, Texas is averaging 59.8 points on 40.2 percent shooting, including 33.7 percent from 3-point range, while holding opponents to 65.9 points on 43.8 percent shooting.
One of the most balanced teams in the Big 12, the Longhorns are led by junior Matt Coleman III, who paces three players in double figures at 12.5 points on 43.9 percent shooting, including 41.7 percent from 3-point range, to go with team-bests in assists (3.8 apg.) and steals (1.4 spg.) in 33.3 minutes per game. Jones is averaging 10.9 points on 40.8 percent shooting and has 49 made 3-pointers on the season, while sophomore Courtney Ramey is averaging 10.5 points on 39 percent shooting. Fellow sophomore Jericho Sims is averaging a near double-double with 9.7 points on a team-best 65.8 percent shooting to go with a team-best 8.2 rebounds per game.
Texas is led by fifth-year head coach Shaka Smart, who has posted an 86-77 (.528) record, which includes 2 trips to the NCAA Tournament and an NIT title in 2019. He is 249-133 (.652) in his 11th season as a head coach, which includes 163 victories during a stint at VCU (2009-15).

SERIES HISTORY

K-State and Texas will meet for the 40th time in their histories with the Wildcats holding a 22-17 advantage in a series that dates to 1971. The series is tied at 17-all since the start of Big 12 play. K-State has an 11-6 edge at home, but the teams have split the last 4 meetings at Bramlage Coliseum.
Junior Cartier Diarra has averaged 11.3 points on 42.9 percent shooting in 4 career games against Texas, while senior Xavier Sneed has averaged 7.1 points in 7 games, including 5 starts, with the Longhorns.
Head coach Bruce Weber is 9-7 all-time against Texas, including a 4-3 mark at home, while he is 5-4 against head coach Shaka Smart. Smart is 4-5 against K-State, including 2-2 on the road.

HISTORY AT BRAMLAGE COLISEUM

K-State has posted a 386-123 (.758) 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 186-43 (.812) record at home over the past 14 seasons, including an 81-37 (.686) 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 101-27 (.789) 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 27 losses (23 of which have come in Big 12 play) have come by a grand total of 209 points or just 7.7 points per game.

LAST TIME OUT: TEXAS TECH 69, K-STATE 62

A key 8-2 run by Texas Tech midway through the second half provided the necessary cushion, as the Red Raiders earned a 69-62 win on Wednesday night before 14,695 fans at United Supermarkets Arena.
Texas Tech, which has lost its 2 home games by a combined 7 points to top-ranked Baylor and Top 10 Kentucky, connected on 50 percent (23-of-46) from the field, including in each half, while its five starters accounted for 67 of its 69 points led by junior Davide Moretti's game-high 18 points.
Despite the impressive effort by the Red Raiders, K-State still had ample of opportunities in yet another close loss, as the team fell to 3-12 in games decided by 10 points or less.
After falling behind 37-29 less than 2 minutes into the second half after a 7-2 run by Texas Tech, K-State followed with its own run to rally to within 44-42 after a layup by junior Cartier Diarra with 10:10 to play. Diarra stole the ball on the next possession and had a breakaway dunk that would have tied it at 44-all, but the ball hit the rim on the attempted dunk and was rebounded by sophomore Kyler Edwards who then dished it to Moretti for a wide open 3-pointer for a 47-42 lead with 9:46 to play.
The 3-pointer by Moretti ignited the pivotal 8-2 run that flipped a narrow 44-42 lead into a 52-44 advantage, as coach Bruce Weber called his final timeout with 6:44 left. The lead grew to as many as 13 points (64-51) after a personal 5-0 run by Moretti at the 1:37 mark, but the Wildcats continued to fight, using an 8-0 run, to close to within 64-59 with 38 seconds remaining. However, they could get no closer the rest of the way, as freshman Jahmi'us Ramsey scored the Red Raiders' last 5 points on a dunk and 3 free throws.
Senior Xavier Sneed paced three Wildcats in double figures with 15 points on 5-of-12 field goals, including 2-of-5 from 3-point range, and a 3-of-4 effort from the free throw line to go with a game-tying 4 steals, 2 rebounds and 2 assists in 37 minutes. Freshman Antonio Gordon tallied a near double-double with a season-high 14 points on 6-of-7 field goals, including 2-of-2 from beyond the arc, to go with a game-high 8 rebounds.
With the win, the Red Raiders swept the season series from the Wildcats for the second time in 3 seasons.

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 26 opponents to 64.5 points on 42.6 percent shooting (576-of-1351), including 33.1 percent (179-of-562) from 3-point range, while posting a Big 12-best 8.7 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 55th in scoring defense, 17th in steals per game and 23rd in turnovers forced.
K-State has held 27 of its last 60 opponents to 60 points or less with just nine eclipsing 70 (with 8 occurring in the last 27 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 face early deficits in 8 of the last 12 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 by 19 at Iowa State (2/8/20). The Wildcats got down 21-12 at TCU before rallying for a 27-26 halftime lead.
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 8.7 steals per game, while averaging 17.3 points per game off those opponent turnovers. The team has scored 449 points off 426 opponent turnovers in 26 games.
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). The team has 19 points off turnovers in 3 other games, including most recently at TCU.
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 topped 200 or more steals (currently 225) for the 13th time in the last 14 seasons, including the seventh time in head coach Bruce Weber's eight seasons (including the fifth consecutive season).
K-State has scored over 4,000 points (4,124) 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 (31.0; 110-of-355), 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 47.8 percent (410-of-857) 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 39.1 percent (356-of-910) of their field goals in the 17 losses, including 44.3 percent (246-of-555) from inside the arc.
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 13.1 points on just 33.3 percent (66-of-198) shooting in the 17 losses, including 37.5 percent (36-of-96) 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 12.3 points on 39.7 percent (71-of-179) shooting, including 47.3 percent (43-of-91) from inside the arc, in the 17 losses.

SNEED LEADING THE WAY

Senior Xavier Sneed has led the Wildcats in scoring 11 times this season, averaging 14.3 points on 38.6 percent shooting (117-of-303), including 31.6 percent (49-of-155) from 3-point range. He has scored in double figures in a team-best 20 games (including 4 20-point games), while he has double-digit points in 13 of the last 16 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 (88) and attempted (133). He is also tops in steals (49) and defensive rebounds (99) and second in field goals (117) and rebounding (4.6 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 1,379 points in 131 career games to go with 580 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 just passed Chuckie Williams (1972-76) for 11th on the all-time scoring list with 1,379 points, needs 25 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 (11th), 3-point field goals (fifth) and attempted (third), steals (fourth), minutes (seventh) and games (eighth).
With his 16-point effort in the win over No. 12/13 West Virginia (1/18/20), 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 11th with 1,379 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 (206) and ranking third in career attempts (612). 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 2 3-pointers to pass Stokes on the all-time list, while he needs 11 to jump into the school's Top 10 for field goals attempted.
Sneed also continues to move up the steals chart with his 186 ranking fourth in school history. He needs just 5 steals to pass Steve Henson (190/1986-90) and 14 to become just third Wildcat with 200 steals.
Sneed just cracked the school's Top 10 list for minutes played with 3,615 minutes and needs just 43 minutes to pass Dean Wade (3,694/2015-19) for seventh 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 98).

DIARRA PROVING TO BE SOLID

Junior Cartier Diarra is proving to be a solid guard for the Wildcats, averaging 13.0 points on 40.5 percent (1118-of-291) shooting with a team-best 4.4 assists, 4.0 rebounds and 1.8 steals in 30.7 minutes per game. He has led the team in scoring 10 times, including 8 times in the last 19 games.
Diarra collected his team-leading fifth 20-point game with his game-high 24 points on 7-of-15 shooting at Iowa State (2/8/20). 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 16 times in the last 22 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 18 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 65.7 points and 12.0 assists in that 8-game stretch after averaging 57.8 points and 8.8 assists in the previous 4 games. During this span, Sloan averaged 8.5 points, 3.3 assists, 1.6 rebounds and 1.5 steals in 25.5 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 18 or more minutes, including 16 starts by Murphy, 8 by DaJuan Gordon and 7 by Antonio Gordon. Murphy missed 7 games due to injury.
The 31 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 7 times in the last 8 games.
DaJuan Gordon has played in all 26 games, averaging 23.4 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 43.4 percent (62-of-143) from the field and 31 percent (18-of-58) from 3-point range. He been solid since the start of Big 12 play, averaging 6.0 points on 42.6 percent shooting, including 28.6 percent from long range, with 3.6 rebounds in 25.6 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 13 of the last 15 games and averaging 24.7 minutes per game. He is averaging 5.2 points on 40.7 percent shooting with 3.7 rebounds per game, while his 3 double-digit scoring game this season have come in the last 11 games. He scored a season-high 11 points vs. No. 23/23 Texas Tech (1/14/20).
Antonio Gordon has seen action in 21 games, averaging 18.5 minutes per game. He is averaging 5.0 points and 3.8 rebounds per game. He had his best game of the season at Texas Tech on Wednesday, scoring a season-high 14 points on 6-of-7 field goals to go with a game-high 8 rebounds.

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 1/1 BAYLOR (24-1, 13-0 Big 12)

K-State returns to road on Tuesday night, as the Wildcats travel to Waco, Texas to take on top-ranked Baylor (24-1, 13-0 Big 12) at the Ferrell Center. The Bears won the first meeting, 73-67, on Feb. 3 at Bramlage Coliseum and will be looking to sweep the series for the first time since 2016.

Game Preview // K-State Hosts Texas on Throwback Back Saturday

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Players Mentioned

Barry Brown, Jr.

Cartier Diarra

Kaosi Ezeagu

Antonio Gordon

DaJuan Gordon

Makol Mawien

Montavious Murphy

David Sloan

Xavier Sneed

Kamau Stokes

Dean Wade

Kansas State University Athletics

Game Preview // K-State Hosts Texas on Throwback Back Saturday

Related News

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Barry Brown, Jr.

Cartier Diarra

Kaosi Ezeagu

Antonio Gordon

DaJuan Gordon

Makol Mawien

Montavious Murphy

David Sloan

Xavier Sneed

Kamau Stokes

Dean Wade

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