Game Preview // K-State Hosts Iowa State on Senior Day Saturday

GAME 31
KANSAS STATE (9-21, 2-15 Big 12) vs. IOWA STATE (12-18, 5-12 Big 12)
Saturday, March 7, 2020 // 3:01 p.m. CT // Bramlage Coliseum (12,528) // Manhattan, Kan.

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 382 / Internet 972

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]
Single Game: $25 (bench & GA)/$50 (chairback)
Wildcat 4-Pack: $75 ($18.75 each)

COACHES
Kansas State: Bruce Weber (Wis.-Milwaukee '78)
Overall: 472-265/22^nd season
At K-State: 159-110/8^th season
vs. Iowa State: 6-11 (4-3 at home)

Iowa State: Steve Prohm (Alabama '97)
Overall: 199-100/9^th season
At Iowa State: 95-71/5^th season
vs. Kansas State: 7-3 (3-1 on the road)

PROJECTED STARTING LINEUP
Kansas State (9-21)
G: #2 Cartier Diarra
G: #00 Mike McGuirl
G: #03 DaJuan Gordon
G/F: #20 Xavier Sneed
F: #14 Makol Mawien

Iowa State (12-18)
G: #11 Prentiss Nixon
G: #3 Tre Jackson
G: #45 Rasir Bolton
F: #12 Michael Jacobson
F: #33 Solomon Young

SERIES HISTORY
Overall: K-State leads 140-90
Current Streak: Iowa State, 3
In Manhattan: K-State leads 81-28
At Bramlage Coliseum: K-State leads 21-10
Last Meeting: L, 63-73, 2/8/2020 [Ames, Iowa]
Weber vs. Prohm: 3-7 (1-3 at home)

OPENING TIP

Kansas State (9-21, 2-15 Big 12) concludes the regular season with a visit from Iowa State (12-18, 5-12 Big 12) on Saturday, as the Wildcats celebrate Senior Day at Bramlage Coliseum. The Cyclones won the first meeting, 73-63, at home on Feb. 8 and will be looking to sweep the regular-season series for the first time since 2017. ISU has won 3 of the last 4 meetings in Manhattan. The athletics department will honor senior managers Jon Hoard, Collin Jasper, Regan Steele and Kyle Weide as well as senior players Pierson McAtee, Makol Mawien and Xavier Sneed in a pre-game ceremony. The game will tip at 3:01 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 locked into the 10-seed at next week's Phillips 66 Big 12 Championship and will play the still-to-be determined 7-seed on Wednesday night at 8 p.m., CT on ESPNU. The options for the 7-seed include Oklahoma (18-12, 8-9 Big 12), West Virginia (20-10, 8-9 Big 12) and TCU (16-14, 7-10 Big 12). This will be just the third time (2015 and 2016) since 2007 that the Wildcats will play on the first day of the tournament, while it will be the third time (2001 and 2005) as the 10-seed.
K-State saw its losing streak hit 10 games on Wednesday night, as Oklahoma State broke open a tight contest with a 10-0 run with just under 9 minutes to play in a 69-63 victory at Gallagher-Iba Arena. The Wildcats led 49-46 before OSU called what turned out to be a pivotal timeout with 8:59 to play. Out of the timeout, senior Cameron McGriff got loose for an easy dunk that sparked the 10-0 run, flipping the 3-point deficit into a 56-49 lead with 6:36 remaining. K-State was led by junior Cartier Diarra's game-high 16 points, which marked the third straight game he has led in scoring, while junior Mike McGuirl and senior Xavier Sneed added 11 and 10 points, respectively. The team connected on just 36.2 percent from the field.
The loss was yet another disappointing one for the Wildcats, which has now lost 13 games by single digits (including 8 in Big 12 play) and 7 by 5 points or less. During the current 10-game skid, the team has lost 7 games by 10 points or less, including 6 by single digits. The 13 losses by single digits are the most since the 2002-03 team also lost 13 games by single digits.
During the 10-game losing streak, K-State has allowed opponents to average 69.9 points on 47.1 percent shooting, including 37.5 percent from 3-point range, and 73.6 percent from the free throw line, while averaging just 61.1 points on 39.9 percent shooting, including 27.9 percent from long range, and 65.7 percent from the free throw line. Senior Xavier Sneed is averaging 13.7 points during that span, but is connecting on just 30.8 percent (37-of-120) from the field.
Injuries have been a big part of K-State's season, as 4 players have combined to miss 55 games, which has caused coach Bruce Weber to use 9 starting lineups. The 9 lineups are the most since using 11 in 2014-15 with at least one true freshman starting in 27 of 30 games, including rookies Montavious Murphy and DaJuan Gordon starting together in 7 Big 12 games. The last time a pair of freshmen started together in more than one game came when Barry Brown, Jr., and Dean Wade started the last 9 games of the 2015-16 season.

NOTES ON IOWA STATE

Iowa State (12-18, 5-12 Big 12) has dropped 5 of its last 7 games since the season-ending injury to sophomore guard Tyrese Haliburton against K-State on Feb. 8, including back-to-back games at Oklahoma State and at home to West Virginia. The Mountaineers won a tight contest, in which, both teams shot nearly identical from the field (44.3 to 43.4 percent) and made just 4 more field goals. Sophomore Rasir Bolton (21 points) and senior Prentiss Nixon (19) combined for 40 of the Cyclones' 71 points.
Iowa State is averaging 72.3 points on 44.0 percent shooting, including 32.2 percent from 3-point range, to go with 34.2 rebounds, 14.3 assists, 7.5 steals and 4.4 blocks per game, while allowing 72.8 points on 44.9 percent shooting, including 36.4 percent from 3-point range. The team is connecting on 74.6 percent from the free throw line. The Cyclones ranks among the best in the Big 12 in scoring offense (second), field goal percentage (third), free throw percentage (third) and assists (third).
The Cyclones are a balanced scoring team with 6 players averaging 7 or more points, including a pair of double-digit scorers in sophomore guards Tyrese Haliburton (15.2 ppg.) and Rasir Bolton (14.7 ppg.), who combine to average more than 35 percent of the team's scoring and have accounted for more than half of their 3-pointers (97). One of the nation's top point guards, Haliburton led the team in a number of categories, including scoring, rebounding (5.9 rpg.), assists (6.5 apg.) and steals (2.5 spg.), before he got hurt. Bolton is connecting on 40.4 percent from the field and 84.8 percent from the free throw line. Four other players (Solomon Young, Prentiss Nixon, Michael Jacobson and George Conditt) are each averaging 7.0 or more points per game, while Jacobson (5.7 rpg.) and Conditt (4.8 rpg.) are averaging more than 4.5 rebounds per outing.
Iowa State is led by fifth-year head coach Steve Prohm, who has posted a 95-71 (.572) record, which includes 3 trips to the NCAA Tournament and 2 Phillips 66 Big 12 Championships. He is 199-100 (.666) in his ninth season as a head coach, which includes a stint at Murray State (2011-15).

SERIES HISTORY

K-State and Iowa State will meet for the 231st time in their histories with the Wildcats holding a 140-90 advantage in a series that dates back to 1909, including an 81-28 mark in games played at home. ISU has won in 3 of its last 4 visits to Bramlage Coliseum, including 78-64 in 2019.
Iowa State has won 3 straight in the series, including a 78-64 victory in Manhattan on Feb. 16, 2019, a 63-59 victory in the semifinals of the Big 12 Championship in Kansas City on March 15, 2019 and a 73-63 win at home earlier this season on Feb. 8.
Current senior Xavier Sneed has averaged 9.3 points and 5.4 rebounds in 8 career games (7 starts) against Iowa State, while junior Cartier Diarra is 11.4 points on 51.4 percent shooting in 5 games (3 starts) vs. the Cyclones.
Head coach Bruce Weber is 6-11 all-time against Iowa State, including a 4-3 mark at home, while he is 3-7 against head coach Steve Prohm. Prohm is 7-3 against K-State, including a 3-1 mark at Bramlage Coliseum.

HISTORY AT BRAMLAGE COLISEUM

K-State has posted a 386-125 (.755) 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 186-45 (.805) record at home over the past 14 seasons, including an 81-39 (.675) 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 101-29 (.777) 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 29 losses (25 of which have come in Big 12 play) have come by a grand total of 213 points or just 7.3 points per game.

LAST TIME OUT: OKLAHOMA STATE 69, K-STATE 63

Oklahoma State seized the momentum with a 10-0 run with just under 9 minutes to play, as the Cowboys won their fifth in a row at Gallagher-Iba Arena with a 69-63 victory over Kansas State on Wednesday night.
With the win, OSU snapped a 3-game losing streak to K-State at home and swept the season series for the first time in the Big 12 round-robin era.
With the Wildcats leading 49-46 after a free throw by freshman Antonio Gordon, OSU head coach Mike Boynton, Jr., called what became a pivotal timeout with 8:59 to play. Out of the timeout, Boynton called a play that allowed senior Cameron McGriff an easy dunk and ignited the 10-0 run, flipping the 3-point deficit into a 56-49 lead with 6:36 remaining. Following the McGriff dunk, senior Thomas Dziagwa connected on back-to-back 3-pointers and sophomore Isaac Likekele hit a pair of free throws.
Two free throws by senior Makol Mawien broke up the run and closed the gap to 56-51, but the Cowboys followed with 6 straight points to extend the lead to double digits at 62-51 with just under 4 minutes to play. All told, OSU scored 16 of the next 18 points after the timeout with 8:59 to play.
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.
The Cowboys were efficient on offense, connecting on 45.7 percent (21-of-46) from the field, including 35 percent (7-of-20) from 3-point range, and knocking down 20 of 27 attempts (74.1 percent) from the free throw line. Seven players had at least 7 points in the game, including 14 by McGriff and 11 from Dziagwa. Likekele finished with an impressive stat line of 9 points, a game-high 10 rebounds, 5 assists and 4 steals.
The Wildcats were led by junior Cartier Diarra's game-high 16 points, while McGuirl and Sneed added 11 and 10 points, respectively. The team hit on 36.2 percent (21-of-58) from the field, including 19 percent (4-of-21) from 3-point range, and made 17 of 21 attempts (81 percent) from the line.
With the loss, K-State finished winless on the road (0-9) in Big 12 play for the first time since the 2002-03 season.

LEADING WITH DEFENSE

K-State has continued its reputation as a strong defensive team under head coach Bruce Weber, holding its 30 opponents to 65.6 points on 43.2 percent shooting (666-of-1541), including 33.9 percent (210-of-620) from 3-point range, while posting a Big 12-leading 8.6 steals and forcing the league's second-most turnovers (16.4) per game.
K-State ranks among Top 25 in 3 defensive categories, including 16th in steals per game, 17th in total steals (257) and 20th in turnovers forced.
K-State has held 27 of its last 64 opponents to 60 points or less with just 11 eclipsing 70 (with 10 occurring in the last 31 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 current 9-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 16.4 turnovers per game, including a Big 12-best 8.6 steals per game, while averaging 17.4 points per game off those opponent turnovers. The team has scored 521 points off 492 opponent turnovers in 30 games.
K-State has scored 20 or more points off opponent turnovers 11 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), Iowa State (23) and Oklahoma State (24). The team has 19 points off turnovers in 4 other games.
K-State has forced 6 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 257) 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 (4,196) 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; 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 47.3 percent (470-of-993) 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 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 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 12.7 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 streak, he is averaging 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 12 times this season, averaging a team-best 13.9 points on 36.4 percent shooting (128-of-352), including 30.3 percent (54-of-178) from 3-point range. He has scored in double figures in a team-best 23 games (including 4 20-point games), while he has double-digit points in 16 of the last 20 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 (106) and attempted (156). He is also tops in defensive rebounds (116) and second in field goals (128), rebounding (4.7 rpg.) and steals (54).
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 1,424 points in 135 career games to go with 602 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 1,424 points, needs 3 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

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 (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 1,424 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 (211) and ranking second in career attempts (635). 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. Only Jacob Pullen (828) has attempted more 3-pointers in school history.
Sneed also continues to move up the steals chart with his 191 ranking third in school history, recently passing Steve Henson (190/1986-90). He needs 9 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 (3,787) with his 35 minutes vs. No. 1/1 Kansas (2/29/20). He currently is tied for second in games played (135) in school history with Jacob Pullen and Rodney McGruder and should finish second behind all-time leader Barry Brown, Jr. (139).

DIARRA PROVING TO BE SOLID

Junior Cartier Diarra is proving to be a solid guard for the Wildcats, averaging 13.2 points on 41.1 percent (138-of-336) shooting with a team-best 4.2 assists, 3.9 rebounds and 1.8 steals in 31.1 minutes per game. He has led the team in scoring 13 times, including each of the last 3 games.
Diarra collected his team-leading fifth 20-point game with his game-high 24 points on 7-of-15 shooting at Iowa State (2/8/20). He has the team's top-four scoring efforts, which includes 25 vs. Tulsa (12/29/19) and No. 12/11 West Virginia (1/18) and 23 vs. North Dakota State (11/5/19).
Diarra has scored in double figures in 19 times in the last 26 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 (16).
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 20 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.

MAK ATTACK

Senior Makol Mawien is the team leader in both rebounding (5.5 rpg.) and blocked shots (0.9 bpg.), while averaging 7.7 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 13 games, where he is averaging 8.7 points on 48.8 percent (42-of-86) shooting with 6.8 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 18 or more minutes, including 16 starts by Murphy, 10 by DaJuan Gordon and 9 by Antonio Gordon. Murphy has missed 11 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 12 games, while Antonio Gordon earned back-to-back starts since December vs. Texas and No. 2/2 Baylor.
DaJuan Gordon has played in all 30 games, averaging 24.4 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 (75-of-169) from the field and 31.9 percent (22-of-69) from 3-point range. He been solid since the start of Big 12 play, averaging 6.5 points on 44.7 percent shooting, including 30.8 percent from long range, with 3.5 rebounds in 26.8 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 4 games after reinjuring the same knee.
Antonio Gordon has seen action in 25 games, averaging 17.6 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.).

UP NEXT: BIG 12 CHAMPIONSHIP

K-State is locked into the 10-seed at the Phillips 66 Big 12 Championship and will play the still-to-be-determined 7-seed on Wednesday night at 8 p.m., CT on ESPNU.

Game Preview // K-State Hosts Iowa State on Senior Day Saturday

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Players Mentioned

Barry Brown, Jr.

Cartier Diarra

Kaosi Ezeagu

Antonio Gordon

DaJuan Gordon

Makol Mawien

Pierson McAtee

Mike McGuirl

Montavious Murphy

David Sloan

Xavier Sneed

Kamau Stokes

Dean Wade

Kansas State University Athletics

Game Preview // K-State Hosts Iowa State on Senior Day Saturday

Related News

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Barry Brown, Jr.

Cartier Diarra

Kaosi Ezeagu

Antonio Gordon

DaJuan Gordon

Makol Mawien

Pierson McAtee

Mike McGuirl

Montavious Murphy

David Sloan

Xavier Sneed

Kamau Stokes

Dean Wade

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