Game Preview // K-State Hosts 1/1 Kansas in 293rd Sunflower Showdown Saturday

GAME 29
KANSAS STATE (9-19, 2-13 Big 12) vs. 1/1 KANSAS (25-3, 14-1 Big 12)
Saturday, February 29, 2020 // 12:36 p.m. CT // Bramlage Coliseum (12,528) // Manhattan, Kan.

RIVALRY GAME
Dillons Sunflower Showdown
K-State and Kansas will meet for the 293rd time on Saturday in a rivalry that dates to 1907. It is the sixth-most played rivalry and eighth-most played in NCAA Division I history.

TELEVISION
CBS Sports / CBS Sports App

Brad Nessler (play-by-play)
Jim Spanarkel (analyst)
Evan Washburn (sideline reporter)
Ryan Galvin (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.kstatesports.com
kstate.statbroadcast.com [media only]

TICKETS
www.kstatesports.com/tickets
(800) 221.CATS [2287]
Gameday: $99 (bench & GA)/$175 (chairback)
Wildcat 4-Pack: $300 ($75 each)

Kansas State: Bruce Weber (Wis.-Milwaukee '78)
Overall: 472-263/22^nd season
At K-State: 159-108/8^th season
vs. Kansas: 3-16 (3-4 at home)

Kansas: Bill Self (Oklahoma State '85)
Overall: 705-214/27^th season
At Kansas: 498-109/17^th season
vs. Kansas State: 30-6 (11-5 on the road)

PROJECTED STARTING LINEUP
Kansas State (9-19)
G: #2 Cartier Diarra
G: #00 Mike McGuirl
G/F: #20 Xavier Sneed
F: #11 Antonio Gordon
F: #14 Makol Mawien

Kansas (25-3)
G: #1 Devon Dotson
G: #0 Marcus Garrett
G: #4 Isaiah Moss
G: #30 Ochai Agbaji
C: #35 Udoka Azubuike

SERIES HISTORY
Overall: Kansas leads 198-94
Current Streak: Kansas, 2
In Manhattan: Kansas leads 78-48
At Bramlage Coliseum: Kansas leads 26-5
Last Meeting: L, 60-81, 1/21/2020
Weber vs. Self: 4-17 (4-4 at home)

OPENING TIP

Kansas State (9-19, 2-13 Big 12) continues one of its most challenging stretches in school history on Saturday, as the Wildcats will play host to No. 1/1 Kansas (25-3, 14-1 Big 12) in the 293rd edition of the Dillon's Sunflower Showdown at Bramlage Coliseum. Following its 85-66 loss at No. 2/2 Baylor on Tuesday night, K-State will play the No. 1 and No. 2 in consecutive games for just the second time in school history and the first time since losing to No. 1 UCLA and No. 2 Michigan at the 1964 Final Four at Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City, Mo. The Wildcats are just the fifth Division I team since 1996-97 to play the nation's top two teams in the same week and the first since West Virginia in 2016. The game will tip at 12:36 p.m., CT on CBS with Brad Nessler (play-by-play), Jim Spanarkel (analyst) and Evan Washburn (sideline reporter) on the call. This will be the first time CBS has called a Sunflower Showdown since a 69-62 Kansas win at Allen Fieldhouse on Jan. 17, 1998.
K-State has 5 wins all-time (16 losses) against the nation's No. 1 team in its history with 4 of those coming in Bramlage Coliseum (Missouri in 1990, Texas in 2010, Kansas in 2011 and Oklahoma in 2016). The other win came against top-ranked Kansas in Allen Fieldhouse on Jan. 17, 1994. The Wildcats have dropped the last 3 meetings with the No. 1 team, including a 73-67 loss to top-ranked Baylor on Feb. 3. This will be 10th meeting with a No. 1 Kansas team and the first since an 85-63 loss to the Jayhawks in the quarterfinals of the Phillips 66 Big 12 Championship on March 11, 2016. The 5 wins over the No. 1 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 saw its losing streak hit 8 games on Tuesday night, as the Wildcats ran into a motivated Baylor team, who saw its Big 12 record 24-game winning streak end in its last outing on Feb. 22 against then No. 2/2 Kansas. The Bears connected on nearly 50 percent from the field, including 53.3 percent (16-of-30) in building a 26-point lead in the first half, to earn their first series sweep of the Wildcats since 2016. Five Baylor players scored in double figures led by reserve Matthew Mayer's game-tying 19 points, while junior Cartier Diarra led the Wildcats with 19 points on 7-of-11 field goals, including 3-of-6 from 3-point range, while freshman DaJuan Gordon and junior Mike McGuirl added 12 and 10 points, respectively.
Injuries have been a big part of K-State's season, as 5 players have combined to miss 53 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 25 of 28 games, including rookies DaJuan Gordon and Montavious Murphy starting together 8 times, including in 7 of the last 10 games, and Antonio Gordon starting the last 2 games against Texas and No. 1/1 Baylor. 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 1/1 KANSAS

No. 1/1 Kansas (25-3, 14-1 Big 12) ran its winning streak to 13 games on Monday night, as the Jayhawks defeated Oklahoma State, 83-58, behind senior Udoka Azubuike's 19-point, 16-rebound effort. After a sluggish first half and leading by just 10, the team connected on 53.1 percent from the field after halftime, including 50 percent from 3-point range, to post the 25-point win. Azubuike was one of five Kansas players in double figures.
Kansas is averaging 75.3 points on 48.7 percent shooting, including 35.2 percent from 3-point range, to go with 38.5 rebounds, 14.4 assists, 7.7 steals and 4.9 blocks per game, while allowing 60.6 points on 37.5 percent shooting, including 29.9 percent from 3-point range. The team is connecting on 67.0 percent from the free throw line. The Jayhawks rank among the Top 10 nationally in several categories, including fourth in field goal percentage defense, fifth in scoring margin (+14.8), seventh in scoring defense and 10th in field goal percentage.
One of the more balanced teams in the country, the Jayhawks are led by the Big 12's top scorer in sophomore Devon Dotson, who is averaging 17.9 points on 46.4 percent shooting, including 30.4 percent from 3-point range, to go with 4.2 assists, 4.0 rebounds and 2.1 steals in 34.6 minutes per game. Senior Udoka Azubuike averages a double-double (13.4 ppg.,10.4 rpg.) while hitting on a NCAA-best 74.4 percent from the field. Sophomore Ochai Agbaji also averages double figures at 10.1 points per game to go with 43 triples on the season, while junior Marcus Garrett averages 9.4 points and a team-best 4.8 assists per game. Senior transfer Isaiah Moss averages 8.2 points, including a team-best 47 3-point field goals.
Kansas is led by Hall of Fame head coach Bill Self, who has posted a 498-109 (.817) record in his 17th season, which includes the 2008 national title and 3 Final Fours. He is 705-214 (.764) in his 27th season as a head coach.

SERIES HISTORY

K-State and Kansas will meet for the 293rd time in their histories with the Jayhawks holding a 198-94 advantage in a series that dates to 1907. Kansas is 78-48 all-time in games played in Manhattan, including 26-5 at Bramlage Coliseum. The Jayhawks are 51-6 all-time in the Big 12 era.
K-State snapped an 8-game losing streak with a 74-67 victory over Kansas in the last meeting at Bramlage Coliseum on Feb. 5, 2019. It was the first win over the Jayhawks since a 70-63 at home on Feb. 23, 2015. Kansas extended its winning streak to 14 games against K-State at home with an 81-60 win on Jan. 21 with the last Wildcat victory coming in a 59-55 win on Jan. 14. 2006. The Jayhawks' last win at Bramlage Coliseum came on Jan. 29, 2018.
Senior Xavier Sneed has averaged 10.5 points on 36.7 percent shooting with 5.1 rebounds in 8 career games against Kansas with 6 starts, while junior Cartier Diarra has 10 points on 50 percent shooting in 5 career games with 4 starts. Junior David Sloan scored a season-best 17 points in his first career game at Allen Fieldhouse on Jan. 21.
Head coach Bruce Weber is 3-16 all-time against Kansas, including a 3-4 record at home, while he is 4-17 against head coach Bill Self.

HISTORY AT BRAMLAGE COLISEUM

K-State has posted a 386-124 (.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 186-44 (.812) record at home over the past 14 seasons, including an 81-38 (.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 101-28 (.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 28 losses (24 of which have come in Big 12 play) have come by a grand total of 209 points or just 7.9 points per game.

LAST TIME OUT: 2/2 BAYLOR 85, K-STATE 66

No. 2/2 Baylor responded to its first loss in 2020 with a near flawless first-half performance, as the Bears led from start to finish in an 85-66 win over Kansas State on Tuesday night before 7,939 fans at the Ferrell Center.
The 85 points scored by the Bears were the most against the Wildcats since Arizona State netted 92 points on Nov. 23, 2017, while the 50 first-half points were the most given up since Iowa State scored 50 on Dec. 29, 2017.
Baylor connected on nearly 50 percent of its field goals, including 53.3 percent (16-of-30) in building a 26-point lead (50-24) in the first half, to sweep the regular-season series with K-State for the first time since 2016. For the game, the Bears hit on 49.1 percent (28-of-57) from the field, which included 46.4 percent (13-of-28) from 3-point range, and a near stellar 16 of 18 effort (88.9 percent) from the free throw line.
K-State was paced in the game by junior Cartier Diarra, who scored 19 points on 7-of-11 shooting, including a trio of 3 pointers. Freshman DaJuan Gordon and junior Mike McGuirl joined Diarra in double figures with 12 and 10 points, respectively. McGuirl was a perfect 3-for-3 from beyond the arc, while Gordon went 5-for-8 from the field.
Facing a stout Baylor defense, K-State still connected on 44.9 percent (22-of-49), including 41.2 percent (7-for-17) from 3-point range, and made 15 of 19 free throw attempts. The Wildcats out-rebounded Baylor, 31-30, in the game and limited their turnovers in the second half with just 5 after 13 in the first 20 minutes. K-State kept showing fight throughout the entire game, as it outscored the Bears, 16-1, over the final 4:06.
Many of K-State's first-half turnovers came early, which fueled Baylor's first-half blitz as the Bears went into the break with a 50-24 lead. The Bears had 3 double-digit scorers and shot 53.3 percent in the stanza, including 8 3-pointers and a perfect 10-for-10 mark from the free throw line. The 26-point halftime deficit was the fourth-largest in school history and the largest since trailing by 27 points against Kansas in the 2000 Big 12 Championship.
The loss was K-State's eighth straight, which is the longest such streak in the Bruce Weber era and the longest by a Wildcat team since also dropping 11 in a row from Jan. 12 to Feb. 19, 2000.

LEADING WITH DEFENSE

K-State has continued its reputation as a strong defensive team under head coach Bruce Weber, holding its 28 opponents to 65.6 points on 43.2 percent shooting (627-of-1452), including 34 percent (199-of-585) from 3-point range, while posting a Big 12-leading 8.6 steals and forcing the league's second-most turnovers (16.3) per game.
K-State ranks among Top 25 in 3 defensive categories, including 17th in steals per game, 18th in total steals (241) and 25th in turnovers forced.
K-State has held 27 of its last 62 opponents to 60 points or less with just 11 eclipsing 70 (with 10 occurring in the last 29 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 10 of the last 14 games, but has found a way to rally 9 times 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 16.3 turnovers per game, including a Big 12-best 8.6 steals per game, while averaging 17.1 points per game off those opponent turnovers. The team has scored 478 points off 455 opponent turnovers in 28 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 241) 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 (4,153) 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 (31.1; 120-of-386), 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 (442-of-933) 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 (398-of-1017) of their field goals in the 19 losses, including 44.1 percent (278-of-631) 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 12.8 points on just 31.7 percent (70-of-221) shooting in the 19 losses, including 34.5 percent (38-of-110) 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 12.7 points on 37.7 percent (75-of-199) shooting, including 48.5 percent (49-of-101) from inside the arc, in the 19 losses.

SNEED LEADING THE WAY

Senior Xavier Sneed has led the Wildcats in scoring 12 times this season, averaging 14.0 points on 37.1 percent shooting (121-of-326), including 31.1 percent (51-of-164) 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 18 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 (100) and attempted (148). He is also tops in defensive rebounds (108) and second in field goals (121), rebounding (4.6 rpg.) and steals (50).
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 1,401 points in 133 career games to go with 590 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 1,401 points, needs 15 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 (fifth), games played (fifth), 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 1,401 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 former teammate Kamau Stokes for fourth in career makes (208) and ranking third in career attempts (621). 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 4 3-point field goal attempts to pass Askia Jones on the all-time list.
Sneed also continues to move up the steals chart with his 187 ranking fourth in school history. He needs just 4 steals to pass Steve Henson (190/1986-90) and 13 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 moved into fifth place (3,713) with his 23 minutes at No. 2/2 Baylor on Tuesday. 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 100).

DIARRA PROVING TO BE SOLID

Junior Cartier Diarra is proving to be a solid guard for the Wildcats, averaging 13.1 points on 41.2 percent (128-of-311) shooting with a team-best 4.4 assists, 4.0 rebounds and 1.9 steals in 31.0 minutes per game. He has led the team in scoring on 11 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 17 times in the last 24 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, 9 by Antonio Gordon and 8 by DaJuan Gordon. Murphy missed 7 games due to injury.
The 33 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 10 games, while Antonio Gordon has earned back-to-back starts since December vs. Texas and No. 2/2 Baylor.
DaJuan Gordon has played in all 28 games, averaging 23.6 minutes per game. He has scored in double figures 6 times, including a 15-point effort against No. 12/13 West Virginia (1/18/20) and a 12-point output at No. 2/2 Baylor Tuesday. He has connected on 44.3 percent (70-of-158) from the field and 30.2 percent (19-of-63) from 3-point range. He been solid since the start of Big 12 play, averaging 6.5 points on 44.6 percent shooting, including 27.3 percent from long range, with 3.4 rebounds in 25.7 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 11 Big 12 games and averaging 25.2 minutes per game. He has missed the last 2 games after reinjuring the same knee. He is averaging 5.2 points on 40.7 percent shooting with 3.7 rebounds per game.
Antonio Gordon has seen action in 23 games, averaging 18.5 minutes per game. He is averaging 4.6 points and 3.9 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: AT OKLAHOMA STATE (14-14, 4-11 Big 12)

K-State begins the last week of the regular season in Stillwater, Okla., as the Wildcats take on Oklahoma State (14-14, 4-11 Big 12) on Wednesday night at 8 p.m., CT on ESPNU. The Cowboys won the first meeting, 64-59, on Feb. 11 and will be looking for the season sweep for the first time in the Big 12 round-robin era.

Game Preview // K-State Hosts 1/1 Kansas in 293rd Sunflower Showdown Saturday

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Barry Brown, Jr.

Cartier Diarra

Kaosi Ezeagu

Antonio Gordon

DaJuan Gordon

Makol Mawien

Mike McGuirl

Montavious Murphy

David Sloan

Xavier Sneed

Kamau Stokes

Dean Wade

Kansas State University Athletics

Game Preview // K-State Hosts 1/1 Kansas in 293rd Sunflower Showdown Saturday

Related News

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Barry Brown, Jr.

Cartier Diarra

Kaosi Ezeagu

Antonio Gordon

DaJuan Gordon

Makol Mawien

Mike McGuirl

Montavious Murphy

David Sloan

Xavier Sneed

Kamau Stokes

Dean Wade

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