Game Preview // K-State Plays TCU in the Phillips 66 Big 12 Championship First Round Wednesday

Game Preview // K-State Plays TCU in the Phillips 66 Big 12 Championship First Round Wednesday

Mar 10, 2020 | Men's Basketball

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By: The Wildcats and Horned Frogs play in the tournament for the third straight year.

GAME 32
[10] KANSAS STATE (10-21, 3-15 Big 12) vs. [7] TCU (16-15, 7-11 Big 12)
Phillips 66 Big 12 Championship
Wednesday, March 11, 2020 // 8 p.m. CT // Sprint Center (18,972) // Kansas City, Mo.

TELEVISION
ESPNU / WatchESPN

Rich Hollenberg (play-by-play)
Chris Spatola (analyst)
Kris Budden (sideline reporter)
Andy Jacobson (producer)

RADIO
K-State Sports Network
Flagships: // KMAN 1350 & WIBW 580
Online: TuneIn.com [free] / www.kstatesports.com/watch [free]
Satellite Radio: Sirius 135 / XM 199

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

LIVE STATS
www.Big12Sports.com
big12.statbroadcast.com [media only]

TICKETS
www.sprintcenter.com
(816) 949.7100
Single Game: $195 (all-session)

COACHES
Kansas State: Bruce Weber (Wis.-Milwaukee '78)
Overall: 473-265/22^nd season
At K-State: 160-110/8^th season
vs. TCU: 13-6 (2-1 at neutral sites)

TCU: Jamie Dixon (TCU '87)
Overall: 412-179/17^th season
At TCU: 84-56/4^th season
vs. Kansas State: 5-6 (1-2 at neutral sites)

PROJECTED STARTING LINEUP
Kansas State (10-21)
G: #2 Cartier Diarra
G: #00 Mike McGuirl
G: #03 DaJuan Gordon
G/F: #20 Xavier Sneed
F: #14 Makol Mawien

TCU (16-15)
G: #1 Desmond Bane
G: #2 Edric Dennis
G: #5 Jaire Grayer
G: #22 R.J. Nembhard
C: #21 Kevin Samuel

CHAMPIONSHIP HISTORY
Overall: 35-41
Big 12 Championship: 15-23
As a No. 10 seed: 2-2 (last time: 2005)
First Round: 18-14
In Kansas City: 34-36
At Sprint Center: 8-11
Last Time: L, Iowa State, 59-63, 3/15/2019 (semifinals)
vs. TCU: 2-1 (last meeting: W, 70-61, 3/14/2019)

SERIES HISTORY
Overall: K-State leads 16-8
Current Streak: TCU, 2
In Kansas City: K-State leads 2-1
At Sprint Center: K-State leads 2-1
Last Meeting: L, 57-68 [2/15/2020 in Fort Worth]
Weber vs. Dixon: Weber leads 6-5 [2-1 at neutral sites]

OPENING TIP

Kansas State (10-21, 3-15 Big 12) will open play as the No. 10 seed in the 24th annual Phillips 66 Big 12 Championship on Wednesday night against No. 7 seed TCU (16-15, 7-11 Big 12) at the Sprint Center in Kansas City, Mo. The Horned Frogs won both regular season meetings with the Wildcats, first with a Kevin Samuel tip-in for a 59-57 win in Manhattan on Jan. 7 then a record-setting 3-point performance in a 68-57 win at home on Feb. 15. The game will follow the first game between No. 8 seed Oklahoma State (17-14, 7-11 Big 12) and No. 9 seed Iowa State (12-19, 5-13 Big 12) at around 8 p.m., CT on ESPNU with Rich Hollenberg (play-by-play), Chris Spatola (analyst) and Kris Budden (reporter) on the call.
K-State enters as the tournament's No. 10 seed for just the third time in program history and the first time since 2005. The Wildcats are 35-41 (.461) all-time in the Big Eight/12 Championship dating back to its inception in 1977, including a 15-23 (.385) mark in the Big 12 era. The school is 2-2 as a No. 10 seed in the Big Eight/12 Championship, while it is 8-2 vs. the No. 7 seed. The team is 2-1 all-time against the Horned Frogs, including a 70-61 win in the quarterfinals last season. The two teams also met in 2015 (a 67-65 TCU win) and 2018 (a 66-64 K-State overtime win).
Senior Xavier Sneed enjoyed a storybook ending to his stellar career at Bramlage Coliseum, as he scored 26 of his career-high 31 points in a dominant first-half effort that propelled K-State past a short-handed Iowa State team, 79-63, to end a 10-game losing streak. The Wildcats led by as many as 24 points in the second half, including 19 at the half, in earning their first win since a 61-53 win over Oklahoma on Jan. 29. The team connected on 51.8 percent (29-of-56) from the field, including 70 percent (21-of-30) from inside the 3-point line, for its highest field goal percentage since shooting 59.2 percent (29-of-49) in a win over 12/13 West Virginia on Jan. 18. For Sneed, it was his first 30-point game of his career and the first by a Wildcat since Barry Brown, Jr., scored 34 points at Baylor on Jan. 22, 2018.
Close games have been the story for K-State this season, as 17 of its 31 games have been decided by 10 points or less, including 16 by single digits. The Wildcats have lost 13 games by single digits (including 8 in Big 12 play) and 7 by 5 points or less. During its recent 10-game losing streak, the team lost 7 games by 10 points or less, including 6 by single digits. The 13 losses by single digits are the most in a single season since the 2002-03 team also lost 13 games by single digits.
Injuries have also been a big part of K-State's season, as 4 players have combined to miss 57 games, which has caused coach Bruce Weber to use 10 different starting lineups. The 10 lineups are the most since using 11 in 2014-15 with at least one true freshman starting in 27 of 31 games, including rookies Montavious Murphy and DaJuan Gordon starting together in 7 Big 12 games. The last time a pair of freshmen started together more came when Barry Brown, Jr., and Dean Wade started the last 9 games of the 2015-16 season.

AT BIG 12 CHAMPIONSHIP

K-State is 35-41 all-time in the Big Eight/12 Championship dating back to its inception in 1977, including a 15-23 mark in the 23-year history of the Phillips 66 Big 12 Championship. The Wildcats have won two championships (1977, 1980), while they have advanced to the finals on five other occasions (1978, 1981, 1993, 2010 and 2013), including twice in the Big 12 era. Overall, K-State is 34-36 when the championship is held in Kansas City.
This will mark the third time that K-State has been the No. 10 seed at the championship and the first time since 2005. The Wildcats are 2-2 as the 10th seed, beating No. 7 seed Nebraska (62-58) before losing to No. 2 Kansas (63-94) in 2001 and knocking off No. 7 seed Texas A&M (68-62) before losing to No. 2 Kansas (67-80) in 2005. In fairness, the program has twice been the lowest possible seed (No. 12) twice, going winless in 1997 and 2000.
K-State will play in the first round of the Big 12 Championship for the first time since 2016 after earning a bye to the quarterfinals in each of the last 3 seasons. Last season, as the tournament's No. 1 seed (for the first time since 1977), the Wildcats defeated No. 8 seed TCU, 70-61, before losing to No. 5 seed Iowa State, 63-59 in the semifinals.
K-State is 8-2 all-time (4-0 in the Big 12 era) vs. the No. 7 seed at the league championship with 10 appearances coming in 1978, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1988, 1993, 2001, 2005, 2010 and 2013. The team has won the last four meetings (Nebraska in 2001, Texas A&M in 2005, Oklahoma State in 2010 and Texas in 2013) with the No. 7 seed. The last win against a No. 7 seed came against Texas, 66-49, in the quarterfinals in 2013.
The Wildcats are 18-14 (6-6 in the Big 12 era) in the first round, including a 75-71 win over No. 9 seed Oklahoma State at the 2016 Championship.
Head coach Bruce Weber is 6-7 in the Big 12 Championship, including 4-3 in the quarterfinals.

NOTES ON TCU

TCU (16-15, 7-11 Big 12) enters Wednesday's game with consecutive losses to No. 1/1 Kansas (66-75) and at home to Oklahoma (76-78). Since snapping a 7-game losing streak against K-State on Feb. 15, the Horned Frogs have won 3 of their last 7 games, including a 75-72 win over No. 2/2 Baylor.
Three players are averaging in double digits for the Horned Frogs led by All-Big 12 First Team selection and senior Desmond Bane's 16.6 points per game average on 45.3 percent shooting, including 44.1 percent from 3-point range, and 78.9 percent from the free throw line. He also adds averages of 6.3 rebounds, 3.9 assists and 1.5 steals in 35.9 minutes per game. He is joined in double figures by sophomores R.J. Nembhard (11.8 ppg.) and Kevin Samuel (10.1 ppg.). Samuel has a team-best 8.4 rebounds per game.
TCU is led by fourth-year head coach Jamie Dixon, who has posted an 84-56 (.600) record, which an NCAA Tournament trip in 2018 and bids to the NIT in both 2017 and 2019. He is 412-179 (.697) in his 17th season as a head coach, which includes a stint at Pittsburgh (2003-16).

HISTORY AT THE SPRINT CENTER

K-State is 18-16 all-time in the Sprint Center, including a 8-11 mark at the Phillips 66 Big 12 Championship (2008, 2010-present).
K-State has played at least one game in the Sprint Center for 14 straight seasons since its opening in 2007. The Wildcats are 8-2 in the Wildcat Classic, which has been played in 2007-12, 2014, 2016, 2018-19, while they are 2-2 in the CBE Hall of Fame Classic (appearances in 2010 and 2015).
K-State has already played one game in the Sprint Center in the calendar year, losing 66-63 to Saint Louis on Dec. 21, 2019. The Wildcats were led by junior Levi Stockard III, who scored a game-high 17 points on 5-of-5 field goals, while senior Xavier Sneed added 11 points on 3-of-7 shooting. The Billikens connected on 51.1 percent from the field in the win.
Twice K-State has advanced to the Phillips 66 Big 12 Championship game in the Sprint Center, losing to Kansas in 2010 and 2013.

LAST TIME OUT: K-STATE 79, IOWA STATE 63

Senior Xavier Sneed scored 26 of his career-high 31 points in a dominant first-half effort by Kansas State, as the Wildcats ended their losing streak with a 79-63 win over Iowa State on Senior Day before 8,439 fans at Bramlage Coliseum on Saturday afternoon.
K-State led by as many as 24 points in the second half, including 19 at the half, in earning its first win since late January, as the Wildcats connected on 51.8 percent (29-of-56) from the field, including 70 percent (21-of-30) from inside the 3-point line. It was the highest field goal percentage since shooting 59.2 percent (29-of-49) against No. 12/13 West Virginia on Jan. 18. 2020.
Sneed, who became the first Wildcat with a 30-point game since Barry Brown, Jr., scored 34 points at Baylor on Jan. 22, 2018, was nearly perfect in helping K-State build its largest halftime lead (19 points) in Big 12 play, as he connected on 8-of-11 field goals, including 4-of-7 from 3-point range, and was a perfect 6-of-6 from the free throw line in scoring 26 points. Sneed was responsible for more than 63 percent of the Wildcats' 41 first-half points, as the team hit on 52 percent (13-of-25) from the field.
K-State kept the momentum going in the second half, pushing the lead out to as many as 24 points, including 76-52 on back-to-back jumpers by junior Mike McGuirl with 4:28 to play. The Wildcats would connect on 51.6 percent (16-of-31) after halftime, including 61.9 percent (13-of-21) inside the arc, to hit on 50 percent or better in both halves for the first time since that West Virginia game in January.
K-State continued to fight all the way until the end, closing to within 64-58 on a 3-point play by junior Mike McGuirl with 2:27 to play and then again at 67-63 on a 3-pointer by senior Xavier Sneed with 40 seconds, but each time OSU answered from the free throw line to stay ahead.
Sneed finished with 31 points on 10-of-21 field goals, including 4-of-11 from 3-point range, and 7-of-8 free throws to go with 4 rebounds, 4 assists and 3 steals in 33 minutes. He was joined in double figures by junior Cartier Diarra (14) and McGuirl (10). Senior and former walk-on Pierson McAtee enjoyed a dream end to his home playing career by tying or eclipsing career-highs in 6 categories in first career start, including points (6), rebounds (5), field goals made (3) and attempted (8) and minutes played (25).

LEADING WITH DEFENSE

K-State has continued its reputation as a strong defensive team under head coach Bruce Weber, holding its 31 opponents to 65.5 points on 43 percent shooting (687-of-1596), including 33.1 percent (212-of-641) from 3-point range, while leading the Big 12 in steals (8.6 spg.) and turnovers forced (16.5) per game.
K-State ranks among Top 20 in 3 defensive categories, including 15th in steals per game, 17th in total steals (268) and 18th in turnovers forced.
K-State has held 27 of its last 65 opponents to 60 points or less with just 11 eclipsing 70 (with 10 occurring in the last 32 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 a number of games in 2020, but has found a way to rally from those deficits before losing down the stretch especially during its 10-game losing streak. The Wildcats have lost 13 games by single digits, including 7 by 5 points or less.
K-State was down 7-0 to start vs. TCU (1/7/20) 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 it 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 it at 57-all on David Sloan's 3-pointer before losing on a tip-in. In the second meeting, the team got down 21-12 at TCU before rallying for a 27-26 halftime lead.
K-State trailed 9-2 to start against Texas (1/11/20) 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, the Bears 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. After K-State responded with 5 straight to close to within 42-37, Baylor took control with a 14-4 run that extended the lead to 56-41 with 8:46 left.
Down by as many as 21 to Iowa State (2/8/20) 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.
K-State was down by as many as 9 points in the first half against top-ranked Kansas on Saturday before using a 12-5 run to close to within 35-34 at the half. The Wildcats continued their momentum with a 9-4 run coming out of halftime that extended the lead to 43-39 with 15:10 to play. However, with the score knotted at 48-all with 7:23 remaining, the Jayhawks seized the final momentum with 8 straight points out of the third media timeout.

POINTS OFF TURNOVERS

K-State is once again using its defense to generate offense, as the Wildcats are forcing 16.5 turnovers per game, including a Big 12-best 8.6 steals per game, while averaging 17.6 points per game off those opponent turnovers. The team has scored 546 points off 511 opponent turnovers in 31 games.
K-State has scored 20 or more points off opponent turnovers 12 times this season, including a season-high 28 in the win over No. 12/13 West Virginia (1/18/20). 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), 23/23 Texas Tech (20), Iowa State (23 and 25) and OSU (24). The team has 19 points off turnovers in 4 other games.
K-State has topped 200 or more steals (currently 268) 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). The 268 steals currently rank sixth on the school's single season list, while the 8.6 per game average ranks third and the highest since averaging 8.7 steals in 1990-91.
K-State has scored over 4,000 points (4,221) 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 (33.0; 77-of-233) as in losses (30.6; 132-of-432), 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 48 percent (491-of-1023) from inside the 3-point line.
K-State is connecting on 46.4 percent (262-of-565) of its field goals in the 10 wins, including 55.7 percent (185-of-332) from inside the arc, while the team is hitting just 39 percent (438-of-1123) of their field goals in the 21 losses, including 44.3 percent (306-of-691) from inside the arc.
Senior Xavier Sneed is averaging a team-best 17.9 points on 48.4 percent (61-of-126) shooting, including 61.3 percent (38-of-62) from inside the arc, in the 10 wins, while he is averaging 12.7 points on 31.2 percent (77-of-247) shooting in the 21 losses, including 32.8 percent (44-of-134) from inside the arc. During the 10-game losing skid, he averaged 12.5 points on 30.8 percent (37-of-120), including 35.5 percent (22-of-62) from inside the arc.

SNEED LEADING THE WAY

Senior Xavier Sneed has led the Wildcats in scoring 13 times this season, averaging a team-best 14.4 points on 37 percent shooting (138-of-373), including 30.7 percent (58-of-189) from 3-point range. He has scored in double figures in a team-best 24 games (including 5 games of at least 20 points), while he has double-digit points in 17 of the last 21 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 (113) and attempted (164). He is also tops in defensive rebounds (120) and second in field goals (138), rebounding (4.7 rpg.) and steals (57).
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 1,455 points in 136 career games to go with 606 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 passed Chuckie Williams (1972-76) for 11th on the all-time scoring list with 1,455 points, recently cracked the Top 15 in career rebounds (606) against Iowa State (3/7/20), making him the seventh Wildcat to rank among the Top 15 in both career scoring and rebounding. He joins a list that includes Ed Nealy, Bob Boozer, Jamar Samuels, Dean Wade, Rodney McGruder and Rolando Blackman.

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 (second), steals (third), minutes played (fourth), games (second), double-digit scoring games (ninth) 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 is currently 11th with 1,455 points, closing to within 55 points of former teammate Wade for 10th.
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 (215) and ranking second in career attempts (646). With his 4 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. Only Jacob Pullen (828) has attempted more 3-pointers in school history.
Sneed also continues to move up the steals chart with his 194 ranking third in school history, recently passing Steve Henson (190/1986-90). He needs 6 to become just the third Wildcat with 200 steals.
Sneed just cracked the school's Top 10 list for minutes played with 3,690 minutes and moved into fourth place (3,820) with his 35 minutes vs. No. 1/1 Kansas (2/29/20). He is now second in career games played with 136, 3 shy of former teammate and all-time leader Barry Brown, Jr. (139), while he is now 10th in career games started with 103.

DIARRA PROVING TO BE SOLID

Junior Cartier Diarra is proving to be a solid guard for the Wildcats, averaging 13.3 points on 41.4 percent (143-of-345) shooting with a team-best 4.2 assists, 3.8 rebounds and 1.8 steals in 31.0 minutes per game. He has led the team in scoring 13 times, including 3 of the last 4 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 four of the Top 5 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 20 times in the last 27 games, including team-highs vs. Marquette (14), Mississippi State (20), Tulsa (25), Texas (14), 23/23 Texas Tech (19), 12/13 West Virginia (25), Alabama (17), Iowa State (24), 2/2 Baylor (19), 1/1 Kansas (15) and Oklahoma State (18).
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 21 games, while he has at least 5 assists in 14 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.

MAK ATTACK

Senior Makol Mawien is the team leader in both rebounding (5.4 rpg.) and blocked shots (0.9 bpg.), while averaging 7.5 points on 46 percent (86-of-187) shooting. He has scored in double figures in 11 games, including 3 double-doubles (vs. NDSU, at Alabama and vs. Texas).
Mawien has been particularly impressive in the last 14 games, where he is averaging 8.1 points on 48.8 percent (42-of-86) shooting with 6.5 rebounds per game. He has 6 double-digit scoring games in that span.

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 17 or more minutes, including 16 starts by Murphy, 10 by DaJuan Gordon and 9 by Antonio Gordon. Murphy has missed 12 games due to injury.
The 35 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 13 games, while Antonio Gordon earned back-to-back starts since December vs. Texas and No. 2/2 Baylor.
DaJuan Gordon has played in all 31 games, averaging 24.2 minutes per game. He has scored in double figures 6 times, including a 15-point effort against 12/13 West Virginia (1/18/20) and a 12-point output at 2/2 Baylor (2/25/20). He has connected on 44.4 percent (77-of-173) from the field and 32.4 percent (23-of-71) from 3-point range. He performed well in Big 12 play, averaging 6.4 points on 44.9 percent shooting, including 31.7 percent from long range, with 3.4 rebounds in 26.4 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 11 Big 12 games and averaging 25.2 minutes per game. He has missed the last 5 games after reinjuring the same knee.
Antonio Gordon has seen action in 26 games, averaging 17.3 minutes per game. He is averaging 4.2 points and 3.7 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.).