Game Preview // K-State Begins Challenging Week at No. 2/2 Baylor Tuesday

Tuesday, February 25

Waco, TX

7 p.m.

Kansas State University

Baylor

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Game Preview // K-State Begins Challenging Week at No. 2/2 Baylor Tuesday

Feb 24, 2020 | Men's Basketball

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By: The Wildcats defeated the Bears in the last meeting with No. 2 at the Ferrell Center

GAME 28
KANSAS STATE (9-18, 2-12 Big 12) at 2/2 BAYLOR (24-2, 13-1 Big 12)
Tuesday, February 25, 2020 // 7:01 p.m. CT // Ferrell Center (10,284) // Waco, Texas

TELEVISION
Big 12 Now on ESPN+ / WatchESPN

Mark Neely (play-by-play)
Lance Blanks (analyst)
Sean Jackson (producer)

RADIO
K-State Sports Network
Flagships: // KMAN 1350 & WIBW 580
Online: TuneIn.com [free] / www.kstatesports.com/watch [free]
Satellite Radio: XM 386 / Internet 976

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

LIVE STATS
www.baylorbears.com
baylor.statbroadcast.com [media only]

TICKETS
www.baylorbears.com/tickets
(254) 710.1000
General Admission: $20 (bench & GA)
Group (20+): $15

Kansas State: Bruce Weber (Wis.-Milwaukee '78)
Overall: 472-262/22^nd season
At K-State: 159-107/8^th season
vs. Baylor: 9-7 (4-3 on the road)

Baylor: Scott Drew (Butler '93)
Overall: 360-222/18^th season
At Baylor: 340-211/17^th season
vs. Kansas State: 12-16 (5-6 at home)

PROJECTED STARTING LINEUP
Kansas State (9-18)
G: #2 Cartier Diarra
G: #4 David Sloan
G/F: #20 Xavier Sneed
F: #11 Antonio Gordon
F: #14 Makol Mawien

Baylor (24-2)
G: #45 Davion Mitchell
G: #12 Jared Butler
G: #31 MaCio Teague
F: #11 Mark Vital
F: #33 Freddie Gillespie

SERIES HISTORY
Overall: K-State leads 23-19
Current Streak: Baylor, 1
In Waco: Tied 8-8
At Ferrell Center: Tied 7-7
Last Meeting: L, 67-73 [2/3/2020 in Manhattan]
Weber vs. Drew: Weber leads 9-7 [4-3 on the road]

OPENING TIP

Kansas State (9-18, 2-12 Big 12) will face one of its most challenges stretches in school history this week, as the Wildcats will face the nation's top 2 teams in back-to-back games starting on Tuesday night at the Ferrell Center against No. 2/2 Baylor (24-2, 13-1 Big 12). The Bears saw their Big 12 record 24-game winning streak end at home on Saturday against the Wildcats' next opponent, No. 1/1 Kansas (24-3, 13-1 Big 12). After having played top-ranked Baylor at home on Feb. 3 (a 73-67 loss), this will be the first time that K-State has played two different No. 1 teams in the same season. The game will tip at 7:01 p.m., CT on Big 12 Now on ESPN+ with Mark Neely (play-by-play) and Lance Blanks (analyst) on the call.
K-State is 7-15 (.318) all-time against the nation's No. 2 team, including a 56-54 win against No. 2 Baylor, in the last such meeting on Feb. 4, 2017. D.J. Johnson blocked Johnathan Motley's game-tying jumper with 1 second remaining in that game to help the Wildcats earn their first over a Top 5 team on the road since a 78-68 win on Feb. 21, 2012 and the highest since upsetting top-ranked Kansas, 68-64, on Jan. 17, 1994. The 7 wins over the No. 2 team are among 25 against Top 5 teams in school history, which includes 3 by head coach Bruce Weber (No. 1 Oklahoma in 2016, No. 2 Baylor in 2017 and No. 4 Oklahoma in 2018). Overall, Weber's 27 wins over Top 25 teams are the most by any head coach in school history.
K-State rallied from an early 16-point deficit in the first meeting with Baylor on Feb. 3, but could never quite get that pivotal run in a 73-67 loss, which extended the Bears' then school-record winning streak to 19 games. The Wildcats' 67 points are the third-most Baylor (No. 3 scoring defense) has allowed in Big 12 play this season, following the 68 and 70 points, respectively, by Oklahoma State. The team connected on 45.8 percent (22-of-48) of their field goals, including 38.1 percent (8-of-21) from 3-point range, and 78.9 percent (15-of-19) from the free throw line, as 4 Wildcats (Xavier Sneed, Cartier Diarra, Makol Mawien and Montavious Murphy) scored in double figures in a league game for the first time this season. Sneed led all scorers with a game-high 23 points on 7-of-12 field goals, including 4-of-8 from 3-point range, to go with team-highs in rebounds (8) and assists (3) in 36 minutes. It marked the eighth 20-point game of Sneed's career, including his fourth this season.
Aided by Courtney Ramey's career day, Texas extended K-State's losing streak to 7 games on Saturday with a 70-59 victory to sweep the season series for the first time since 2016. The Longhorns connected on an opponent-high 52.3 percent (23-of-44) from the field, including 62.5 percent (15-of-24) in the first half, to build a 42-23 lead at halftime. The Wildcats could get no closer than 11 points, as Sneed (15 points) led the way in scoring for the 12th time this season.
Injuries have been a big part of K-State's season, as 5 players have missed 50 games, which has caused coach Bruce Weber to use 8 starting lineups. The 8 lineups are the most since using 11 in 2014-15 with at least one true freshman starting in 24 of 27 games, including true freshmen DaJuan Gordon and Montavious Murphy starting together 8 times, including in 7 of the last 9 games, and Antonio Gordon starting against Texas. 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 2/2 BAYLOR

No. 2/2 Baylor (24-2, 13-1 Big 12) saw its Big 12-record 24-game winning streak come to an end on Saturday at home, as the nation's new No. 1/1 Kansas held on for a 64-61 win after Jared Butler's 3-point attempt was just off the mark. Despite shooting 39.7 percent (23-of-58) from the field, including 35 percent (7-of-20) from 3-point range, the usually strong Bears made just 8 of 15 free throw attempts. Butler led the way with 19 points on 7-of-18 field goals, to go with 6 assists and 6 rebounds, while senior Freddie Gillespie and reserve Matthew Mayer added 10 points each.
Baylor is averaging 70.8 points on 43.0 percent shooting, including 35.0 percent from 3-point range, to go with 37.6 rebounds, 13.8 assists, 7.9 steals and 4.5 blocks per game, while allowing a Big 12-best 58.4 points on 38.6 percent shooting, including 30.1 percent from 3-point range. The team is connecting on 69.0 percent from the free throw line. The Bears rank among the Top 15 in scoring defense (third), offensive rebounds (13.00/14th) and field goal percentage defense (14th).
Baylor is averaging 65.8 points in league action on 41.6 percent shooting, including 32.7 percent from 3-point range, while allowing a Big 12-best 56.8 points on 38.7 percent shooting, including 29.2 percent from 3-point range.
The Bears are balanced offensively with 5 players averaging better than 7.5 points per game led by Big 12 Player of the Year candidate Jared Butler, who averages a team-best 15.7 points on 41.9 percent shooting, including 38.1 percent from 3-point range, with 3.2 assists, 2.9 rebounds and 1.6 steals in 29.8 minutes per game. Junior transfer MaCio Teague averages 14.2 points on 40.6 percent shooting to go with 4.8 rebounds and 2.0 assists in a team-best 32.7 minutes per game, while fellow transfer Davion Mitchell averages 9.4 points on 40.4 percent shooting to go with a team-best 3.6 assists and 1.6 steals per game. Butler, Teague and Mitchell have combined for 150 made 3-pointers. Senior Freddie Gillespie averages a near double-double with 9.6 points and 8.7 rebounds per game.
Baylor is led by the Big 12's longest-tenured head coach in Scott Drew, who has posted a 340-211 (.617) record in his 17th season, which includes 8 NCAA Tournaments and 4 Sweet 16s.

SERIES HISTORY

K-State and Baylor will meet for the 43rd time in their histories with the Wildcats holding a 23-19 advantage in a series that dates to 1948. The series is tied 8-all in games played in Waco, including 7-7 at the Ferrell Center.
K-State had won 6 consecutive games in the series before Baylor's 73-67 win at Bramlage Coliseum on Feb. 3. The Wildcats have won 3 in a row at the Ferrell Center, including a 70-63 victory last season. The last Bears' win at home came 79-72 in double overtime on Jan. 20, 2016.
Head coach Bruce Weber is 9-7 all-time against Baylor, including a 4-3 mark on the road, while he is also 9-7 against head coach Scott Drew.

ON THE ROAD

K-State has a 60-137 (.306) all-time record on the road since the start of Big 12 play in 1997. However, the Wildcats have been considerably better on the road since the 2006-07 season, having posted a 48-66 (.425) record away from home after going 10-70 (.125) from 1997-2006. The team is 32-53 (.381) under Bruce Weber on the road, including 25-43 (.373) in the Big 12.
K-State posted a 7-2 mark on the road in Big 12 play a season ago, which was the best mark by a Wildcat team since going 6-1 in 1975-76. This year, the team is 1-8 on the road, including 0-7 in Big 12 play.

LAST TIME OUT: TEXAS 70, K-STATE 59

Sophomore Courtney Ramey scored 21 of his game-high 26 points in the first half, as Texas rode a red-hot first-half shooting performance to a 70-59 win over K-State on Saturday before 9,700 fans at Bramlage Coliseum.
Buoyed by Ramey's career-best day, Texas connected on an opponent-high 52.3 percent (23-of-44) from the field, including 62.5 percent (15-of-24) in the first half, to build a 42-23 lead at halftime. The 19-point lead was the largest by an opponent at Bramlage Coliseum in more than 15 years since Kansas held a 21-point advantage at the break on Feb. 4, 2002.
After trailing by 10 points early, K-State was able to close to within 26-20 on 2 free throws by senior Xavier Sneed with 6:46 to go before halftime. A layup by Ramey on the next possession ignited what would become a 13-0 run, as the Longhorns extended their lead to 39-20 at the 1:49 mark. The Wildcats were able to close to within 39-23 on a free throw by junior Cartier Diarra with 60 seconds to play, but Ramey ended the half with a 3-pointer at the buzzer for a 42-23 lead.
Ramey's 21 first-half points came on 8-of-11 field goals, including 3-of-6 from 3-point range. He finished with 26 points on 10-of-16 shooting, including 4 3-pointers, to go with a game-high 5 steals and 6 rebounds.
The Wildcats opened the second half with back-to-back buckets by senior Makol Mawien, including a monstrous dunk just 21 seconds into the half, but they could never sustain any momentum, as the Longhorns seemed to answer every run with a key jumper or 3-pointer to keep a sizeable cushion. Mawien pulled K-State to within 66-55 after a 3-point play with 1:44 to play, but the Wildcats could get no closer, as junior Matt Coleman III answered with 4 consecutive free throws to push the lead back to 15 points.
The loss spoiled a solid day by Mawien, who collected his fifth double-double, including his third this season, with 14 points on 6-of-13 field goals to go with a game-high 10 rebounds in 30 minutes. Sneed also registered double figures with a team-high 15 points, most of which came from the free throw line on 8-of-11 attempts, to go with 7 rebounds and 3 assists in 38 minutes. Diarra led the Wildcats with 6 assists and 4 steals, but managed just 9 points on 3-of-9 shooting, including 1-of-4 from long range.

LEADING WITH DEFENSE

K-State has continued its reputation as a strong defensive team under head coach Bruce Weber, holding its 27 opponents to 64.3 points on 42.9 percent shooting (599-of-1395), including 33.4 percent (186-of-557) from 3-point range, while posting Big 12 bests in both steals (8.7 spg.) and turnovers forced (16.4) per game.
K-State ranks among Top 55 in 3 defensive categories, including 55th in scoring defense, 17th in steals per game and 20th in turnovers forced.
K-State has held 27 of its last 61 opponents to 60 points or less with just 10 eclipsing 70 (with 9 occurring in the last 28 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 9 of the last 13 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 17.0 points per game off those opponent turnovers. The team has scored 460 points off 444 opponent turnovers in 27 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 234) 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 (4,135) 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 (30.6; 113-of-369), 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 47.4 percent (427-of-901) 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 38.8 percent (376-of-968) of their field goals in the 18 losses, including 43.9 percent (263-of-599) 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 (69-of-210) shooting in the 18 losses, including 37.5 percent (38-of-104) 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 39.4 percent (74-of-188) shooting, including 46.9 percent (45-of-96) from inside the arc, in the 18 losses.

SNEED LEADING THE WAY

Senior Xavier Sneed has led the Wildcats in scoring 12 times this season, averaging 14.3 points on 38.1 percent shooting (120-of-315), including 31.4 percent (50-of-159) from 3-point range. He has scored in double figures in a team-best 21 games (including 4 20-point games), while he has double-digit points in 14 of the last 17 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 (96) and attempted (144). He is also tops in steals (49) and defensive rebounds (106) and second in field goals (120) and rebounding (4.7 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 1,394 points in 132 career games to go with 587 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 1,394 points, needs 18 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 (fourth) and attempted (third), steals (fourth), minutes played (seventh), games played (sixth), double-digit scoring games (10th) and field goals attempted (10th).
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 1,394 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, tying former teammate Kamau Stokes for fourth in career makes (207) and ranking third in career attempts (616). 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 Stokes last season. He needs just 2 3-pointers to pass Stokes on the all-time list.
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 3,690 minutes and needs just 4 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 99).

DIARRA PROVING TO BE SOLID

Junior Cartier Diarra is proving to be a solid combo guard for the Wildcats, averaging 12.9 points on 40.3 percent (121-of-300) shooting with a team-best 4.4 assists, 3.9 rebounds and 1.9 steals in 30.9 minutes per game. He has led the team in scoring on 10 occasions.
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 23 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 19 games, while he has at least 5 assists in 13 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 9-game stretch after averaging 57.8 points and 8.8 assists in the previous 4 games. During this span, Sloan averaged 8.6 points, 2.9 assists, 1.7 rebounds and 1.4 steals in 24.6 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 and 8 each by DaJuan Gordon and Antonio Gordon. Murphy missed 7 games due to injury.
The 32 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 9 games, while Antonio Gordon earned his first start since December against Texas (2/22/20).
DaJuan Gordon has played in all 27 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 43.3 percent (65-of-150) from the field and 31.1 percent (19-of-61) from 3-point range. He been solid since the start of Big 12 play, averaging 6.1 points on 42.7 percent shooting, including 29.0 percent from long range, with 3.5 rebounds in 25.4 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 games have come in the last 12 games.
Antonio Gordon has seen action in 22 games, averaging 18.7 minutes per game. He is averaging 4.8 points and 4.0 rebounds per game. He had his best game of the season at Texas Tech (2/19/20), 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: 1/1 KANSAS (24-3, 13-1 Big 12)

K-State returns home on Saturday afternoon, as the Wildcats play host to No.1/1 Kansas (24-3, 13-1 Big 12) before a national audience on CBS in the 293rd edition of the Dillons Sunflower Showdown. The Jayhawks won the first meeting, 81-60, at home on Jan. 21 and will be looking to sweep the regular-season series for the first time since 2018.