Game Preview // K-State Returns Home to Face 14/15 West Virginia Saturday

GAME 16
KANSAS STATE (5-10, 1-6 Big 12) vs. 14/15 WEST VIRGINIA (9-4, 2-3 Big 12)
Saturday, January 23, 2021 >> 3:05 p.m. CT >> Bramlage Coliseum (12,528) >> Manhattan, Kan.

TELEVISION
ESPN2 / WatchESPN

Anish Shroff (play-by-play)
Chris Spatola (analyst)
Paul Ervin (producer)

RADIO
K-State Sports Network
Flagships: // KMAN 1350 & WIBW 580
XM 384 // Internet 974
Online: TuneIn.com [free] / www.kstatesports.com/watch [free]

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

LIVE STATS
www.kstatesports.com
kstate.statbroadcast.com [media only]

TICKETS
Bramlage Coliseum will be open to approximately 15 percent capacity (1,879). There are no single-game tickets available.

SAFETY PRECAUTIONS
In accordance with City of Manhattan ordinance and Kansas State University policy, anyone entering Bramlage Coliseum must wear face coverings over their mouths and noses and continue wearing them inside the arena at all times.

COACHES
Kansas State: Bruce Weber (Wis.-Milwaukee '78)
Overall: 479-275/23^rd season
At K-State: 166-120/9^th season
vs. West Virginia: 7-10 (5-3 at home)

West Virginia: Bob Huggins (West Virginia '77)
Overall: 890-376/39^th season
Record at WVU: 300-165/14^th season
vs. K-State: 11-7 (3-5 on the road)

PROJECTED STARTING LINEUP
Kansas State (5-10)
G: #5 Rudi Williams
G: #00 Mike McGuirl
G: #2 Selton Miguel
G: #3 DaJuan Gordon
F: #21 Davion Bradford

West Virginia (9-4)
G: #4 Miles McBride
G: #22 Sean McNeil
F: #11 Emmitt Matthews, Jr.
F: #2 Jalen Bridges
F: #1 Derek Culver

SERIES HISTORY
Overall: West Virginia leads 11-8
Current Streak: West Virginia, 1
In Big 12 Play: West Virginia leads 10-7
In Manhattan: K-State leads 5-3
At Bramlage Coliseum: K-State leads 5-3
Last Meeting: L, 57-66 [2/1/20 at Morgantown, W.Va.]
Weber vs. Huggins: 9-10 [5-3 at home]

OPENING TIP

Kansas State (5-10, 1-6 Big 12) returns home to Bramlage Coliseum on Saturday afternoon, as the Wildcats play host to No. 14/15 West Virginia (9-4, 2-3 Big 12) at 3 p.m., CT. K-State has won consecutive games against WVU at home, including an 84-68 upset of the No. 12/13 Mountaineers last season. Saturday's game will air on ESPN2 with Anish Shroff (play-by-play) and Chris Spatola (analyst) on the call.
K-State welcomes back former head coach Bob Huggins, who served as the top man in Manhattan for one season in 2006-07 before departing for his alma mater. He helped guide the Wildcats to their first 20-win season and the first postseason appearance in eight seasons, as his squad posted a 23-12 record and advanced to the second round of the NIT. Huggins, who was recently nominated for the Naismith Hall of Fame for the third time, ranks sixth all-time, including fourth among all active Division I head coaches, with 890 victories, including 300 at West Virginia.
This will be the Wildcats' fourth matchup against a Top 25 opponent, including the third against a Top 15 foe. The team dropped a 100-69 decision to No. 2/2 Baylor in their first Big 12 home game on Dec. 19 before road losses to No. 18 Texas Tech (82-71) and No. 4 Texas (82-67) earlier this month. K-State is 119-265 all-time vs. ranked opponents, which includes a 6-10 mark vs. the AP's No. 14 ranked squad. Head coach Bruce Weber has a school-record 26 career wins against Top 25 foes.
K-State is coming off its fifth consecutive loss in Tuesday night's 76-50 setback at Oklahoma, as the Wildcats saw the Sooners grab the momentum with a 27-4 run over a near 11-minute span between the first and second halves. From the 5:19 mark of the first half to the 14:39 mark of the second half, the Sooners used the decisive run to flip a 5-point deficit (22-17) into an 18-point lead (44-26) that it would build to as many as 26. K-State could never get anything going offensively, posting season lows in 8 categories, including points (50), 3-pointers (3), free throws made (3) and attempted (6) and points off turnovers (6). Sophomore DaJuan Gordon (13) and freshman Selton Miguel (11) were the lone Wildcats to score in double figures.
K-State, which has seen seven players miss a combined 46 games this season, continues to add players back to its active roster from various reasons. Sophomore big man Kaosi Ezeagu performed well in his return to the lineup at Oklahoma on Tuesday after missing 10 games due to injury, posting 7 points and 3 rebounds in 12 minutes. This came on the heels of getting back sophomore Antonio Gordon and freshman Luke Kasubke back against Texas on Jan. 16. Gordon grabbed a career-best 11 rebounds against the Sooners, while Kasubke scored his first career points.
K-State has started 3 true freshmen (Davion Bradford, Selton Miguel and Nijel Pack) in 7 of 15 games, including 4 of 7 Big 12 games, while at least 2 true freshmen have started each of the last 10 games. The Wildcats are one of 6 teams (Kentucky, Duke, James Madison, North Carolina and Washington State) to start at least 3 true freshmen in at least one game, while the 33 combined starts by true freshmen rank second only to Kentucky's 41.

NOTES ON 14/15 WEST VIRGINIA

No. 14/15 West Virginia (9-4, 2-3 Big 12) will be playing for the first time in 2 weeks after having to pause activities due to COVID-19 related protocols. The Mountaineers, which won 7 of its first 8 games, have dropped 3 of their last 5 outings, including a 72-70 loss to Texas on Jan. 9.
West Virginia is averaging 74.9 points on 41.6 percent shooting, including 34.3 percent from 3-point range, to go with a Big 12-best 41.3 rebounds, 13.5 assists, 6.5 steals and 2.7 blocks per game, while allowing 69.7 points on 42.5 percent shooting, including 29.1 percent from 3-point range. They are connecting on 70.3 percent from the free throw line.
The Mountaineers are one of more balanced teams in the Big 12 with four players averaging in double figures led by Miles McBride's 15.1 points per game. McBride is connecting on 43.9 percent from the field, including 43.2 percent from 3-point range, to go with team-highs in assists (4.0 apg.) and steals (1.7 spg.). Big man Derek Culver averages a double-double with 13.8 points and a Big 12-best 10.8 rebounds per game.
West Virginia is led by Hall of Fame head coach Bob Huggins, who has posted a 890-376 (.703) record in 39 years of coaching. His 890 victories rank fourth among all active Division I head coaches and sixth all-time. He has a 300-165 (.645) mark in his 14th season with the Mountaineers.

SERIES HISTORY

K-State and West Virginia will meet for the 20th time in their histories on Saturday with the Mountaineers owning an 11-8 advantage, including a 10-7 mark since the start of the Big 12. The two schools met twice before the start of Big 12 play in 2013, including the first meeting in 1949.
West Virginia had won 10 of the last 14 meetings with K-State, as the teams split their 2 meetings in 2019-20 with the Wildcats winning 84-68 at home on Jan. 18 before the Mountaineers won 66-57 at home on Feb. 1.
K-State leads the series in Manhattan at 5-3, which includes back-to-back wins in 2019 and 2020. The Wildcats upset the No. 12/13 Mountaineers, 84-68, in the last meeting at home, connecting on 59.2 percent from the field. Sophomore DaJuan Gordon had 15 points off the bench in that contest.
Head coach Bruce Weber is 7-10 all-time against West Virginia, including a 5-3 mark at home, while Weber is 9-10 vs. WVU head coach Bob Huggins. Huggins is 11-7 all-time against K-State, including 3-5 in Manhattan.

LAST TIME OUT: OKLAHOMA 76, K-STATE 50

Oklahoma grabbed the momentum late in the first half, scoring 15 of the last 17 points, and never relented to hand K-State a 76-50 loss on Tuesday night in front of a limited capacity crowd of 1,934 at the Lloyd Noble Center.
The Sooners used a combined 27-4 run over a near 11-minute span from the 5:19 mark of the first half to the 14:39 mark of the second half to flip a 5-point deficit (22-17) into an 18-point lead (44-26). From there, they pushed the lead to many as 26 in the second half.
The Wildcats could not get anything going offensively, hitting on just 36.1 percent (22-of-61) from the field, including 20 percent (3-of-15) from 3-point range, while turning it over 20 times leading to 20 Sooner points.
With K-State leading 22-17 with 6:03 to play in the first half after a dunk by freshman Davion Bradford capped a 6-0 run, Oklahoma responded by scoring 13 consecutive points to seize the momentum over a 4-minute stretch. In all, the Sooners finished with 15 of the final 17 points of the first half to take a 32-24 lead into the break.
The Wildcats went without a field goal for more than 5 minutes during the decisive Sooner run before a layup by sophomore Antonio Gordon with 56 seconds left. Oklahoma carried its momentum into the early moments of the second half, scoring 12 of the first 14 points, including a 12-0 run, to build its lead to 18 points with just under 15 minutes to play.
The Sooners connected on 46 percent (29-of-63) from the field, as three players scored in double figures led by sophomore De'Vion Harmon's game-high 16 points, while senior Alondes Williams added 13 points.
Sophomore DaJuan Gordon was one of two Wildcats to score in double figures with 13 points on 6-of-14 field goals to go with 6 rebounds and 2 steals, while freshman Selton Miguel collected 11 points on 5-of-10 field goals with a season-high 7 rebounds.
Sophomore Kaosi Ezeagu added 7 points and 3 rebounds in his return after missing 10 games due to injury. Sophomore Antonio Gordon grabbed a career-high 11 rebounds to go with 4 points and 2 assists. Freshman Luke Kasubke scored his first career points with a 3-pointer on his first attempt and finished with 5 points.

INJURIES, YOUTH DEFINE SEASON SO FAR FOR K-STATE

Very few teams in the country has had to deal with the mixture of injuries, COVID-19 protocols and youth quite like K-State has in 2020-21. Already one of the country's most inexperienced teams with just 4 returning lettermen (only 4 schools have fewer) and 11 underclassmen (only 6 schools have more), the Wildcats have seen 7 different players combined to miss 46 games this season, while senior Mike McGuirl is the only player to start all 15 games with 6 different starting lineups.

GAMES MISSED IN 2020-21 [46]

Luke Kasubke - 13 (saw first action at Texas)
Montavious Murphy - 11 (expected to miss rest of season)
Kaosi Ezeagu - 10 (saw first action at Oklahoma)
Antonio Gordon - 4 (missed 4 games but back now)
Carlton Linguard, Jr. - 4 (missed first 4 games but back now)
Nijel Pack - 3 (has not played since 1/5/21)
Seryee Lewis - 1 (missed 1 game but back now)

K-State is one of just 6 schools nationally (Duke, Kentucky, James Madison, North Carolina and Washington State) to start at least 3 true freshmen in one game this season, while the 33 combined starts by Wildcat true freshmen are second only to Kentucky's 41.

IRON 'CATS

Due to low numbers caused by injuries and COVID-19 protocols, K-State had just 8 available players - including 6 on scholarship - for its outing against Oklahoma State at home on Saturday, Jan. 9. To make the situation worse, sophomore Carlton Linguard, Jr., was on a minutes' limit due to a back injury (playing just over 14 minutes), while freshman Davion Bradford ended up playing just over 12 minutes due to foul issues.
This caused the remaining 6 to play the bulk of the minutes, including walk-on Joe Petrakis logging a career-high 15 minutes of action. Senior Mike McGuirl and junior Rudi Williams each played all 40 minutes, setting career-highs, while two others - sophomore DaJuan Gordon and freshmen Selton Miguel - each registered 39 minutes, also career-highs. All told, those 4 players were responsible for 158 of K-State's 200 total minutes.
McGuirl and Williams are the first Wildcats to play all 40 minutes of a regulation game since Barry Brown, Jr., played all 40 against Baylor on March 2, 2019. It marked the first time two teammates played all 40 minutes in a regulation game in more than 30 years since Steve Henson and LaKeith Humphrey accomplished the feat against Oklahoma State in a 69-62 win at home on Feb. 5, 1989.

YOUNG JOE HAS A BIG NIGHT

Sophomore walk-on Joe Petrakis took advantage of his opportunity with just 8 available players against Oklahoma State on Jan. 9, outscoring freshman All-American candidate Cade Cunningham (6 points to 5 points), while logging a career-high 15 minutes of action.
Petrakis, who redshirt his first season in 2019-20 after playing one season at Dodge City College, scored his first career points with 6:13 left in the first half and finished with a career-high 6 points on 2-of-5 field goals, including his first 3-pointer, to go with 2 rebounds.

YOUNG 'CATS PERFORM WELL AT TECH

Despite dropping an 82-71 loss at No. 18/19 Texas Tech on Jan. 5, K-State became the first team to eclipse 70 points in regulation against Texas Tech this season, including posting the highest field goal percentage by a Red Raider foe this season at 49.1 percent (27-of-55) from the field, including 61.2 percent (19-of-31) from inside the 3-point line. Texas Tech had entered the game, allowing a Big 12-best 56.3 points on 37.4 percent shooting.
Four Wildcats scored in double figures against Texas Tech, including a team-leading 17 points each by freshmen Nijel Pack and Selton Miguel. Miguel tied his season-high on 6-of-12 field goals, including 2-of-4 from 3-point range, to go with a game-high 6 assists, while Pack collected a season-high 17 points on 7-of-11 shooting, including 3-of-7 from long range. Fellow freshmen Davion Bradford and senior Mike McGuirl each added 10 points.

McGUIRL DOING WHATEVER IT TAKES

Mike McGuirl is making the most of his senior season, as he is among the team leaders in nearly every category, including first in scoring (11.7 ppg.), double-digit scoring games (10), field goals made (60) and attempted (163), 3-point field goals made (33) and attempted (94), assists (53) and minutes (34.0). He is second in steals (16) and fourth in rebounding (3.7 rpg.).
McGuirl ranks in the Top 15 in several categories in the Big 12, including 13th in assists (3.5 apg.), seventh in 3-point field goals made (2.2) and fourth in minutes (34.0 mpg.). He is just outside the Top 20 in scoring.
McGuirl has led the team in scoring a team-best 5 times, while he has led in rebounding twice, in assists 7 times and in steals on 5 occasions.
McGuirl's 10 double-digit scoring games equal his entire total (10) that he had entering the season. He opened the year with his first career 20-point game vs. Drake on Nov. 25 with 22 points on 8-of-15 shooting, including 3-of-8 from 3-point range. He equaled that total with 22 points vs. Fort Hays State (12/8/20). He had scored in double figures in a career-best 6 consecutive games before his season-low 3 points at Oklahoma (1/19/21).
In addition to his scoring, McGuirl has also set up his teammates, dishing out a team-best 53 assists (to 32 turnovers). He has 6 games at least 5 assists this season, including a career-best 8 vs. Milwaukee (12/11/20).

MR. DO-EVERYTHING

Sophomore DaJuan Gordon has proved to be K-State's Mr. Do Everything, as he is second on the team in scoring at 10.7 points per game, while leading the way in both rebounding (6.7 rpg.) and steals (1.3 spg.). He is also first in free throws made (34), attempted (44) and percentage (77.3).
Gordon is one of just 2 guards (OSU's Isaac Likekele) to rank in the Big 12's Top 10 in rebounding, as he places eighth with 6.7 rebounds per game, while he is seventh in the league in defensive rebounds (5.00).
Gordon's 3 double-doubles tie 3 others (David McCormack, Kevin Samuel and Jalen Wilson) for the third-most among Big 12 players and are only surpassed by WVU's Derek Culver (7) and Texas' Greg Brown (4).
Gordon's 3 career double-doubles have all come in the last 9 games, including 2 in Big 12 play. He posted his first career double-double in the win at Iowa State (12/15/20), scoring 15 points and grabbing 11 rebounds. He followed that with a 13-point, 12-rebound effort vs. Jacksonville (12/21/20) before his latest double-double vs. Oklahoma State (1/9/21) with 14 points and a game-high 11 rebounds in a career-best 39 minutes.
Overall, Gordon has grabbed double-digit rebounds in 4 games (all in the last 9 games), including in consecutive games against Jacksonville (12/21/20) and Omaha (12/29/20). He is the first Wildcat to post double-digit rebounds in back-to-back games since Wesley Iwundu in March 2017.
Gordon has scored in double figures in 9 games this season, including a career-best 18 points on 7-of-13 shooting vs. TCU (1/2/21). Six of those 9 double-digit scoring games have come in the last 9 games.
Gordon is also the leader on the Wayne McClain Play Hard Chart with 109 points, which includes leading the team in deflections/blocks (32), steals (20), loose balls (20), offensive rebounds (25) and charges (3).

PACK OFF TO IMPRESSIVE START

Freshman Nijel Pack is off to an impressive start, averaging 10.7 points on 43.2 percent shooting, including 37.7 percent from 3-point range, to go with 3.6 assists, 3.4 rebounds and 1.3 steals in 32.3 minutes per game.
Pack is second on the team in scoring, field goals made (51), 3-point field goals made (23) and assists (43), while he is third in double-digit scoring games (6), steals (15) and minutes played (387).
Pack became the first Wildcat true freshmen to start the first 12 games of the season since Kamau Stokes started the first 17 games in 2015-16.
Pack ranks first in the Big 12 with a 2.69 assist/turnover ratio, while he is 11th in minutes (32.25), 12th in assists (3.58) and tied for 13th in steals (1.25). He is second in minutes per game among freshmen.
Before missing the Oklahoma State game on Jan. 9, Pack had started to hit his scoring groove, scoring in double figures in 3 of 4 games, including a season-high 17-point effort at No. 18/19 Texas Tech (1/5/21).

MIGUEL HITS THE GAME-WINNER

Freshman Selton Miguel connected on a 3-pointer with 9.7 seconds left to lift K-State to a 60-58 win over Omaha on Dec. 29. It was the rookie's first game-winner of his career, as he capped his 11-point effort with his third trey of the contest in 35 minutes.
Miguel, a starter in each of the last 10 games, is having a solid start to his freshman campaign, averaging 8.5 points on 35 percent shooting, including 9.1 points on 33.8 percent shooting in Big 12 play. He ranks fourth on the team in scoring and steals (11), while his third in 3-pointers (15).
Miguel's 5 double-digit scoring games have come in the last 11 outings, including a team-tying 17 points at No. 18/19 Texas Tech (1/5/21). He also scored a season-tying 17 points vs. Milwaukee (12/11/20) on 7-of-14 field goals, while he had 14 vs. No. 2/2 Baylor (12/19/20).

IMPRESSIVE YOUNG BIG MAN

With sophomore Kaosi Ezeagu out for an extended time, freshman Davion Bradford has had an opportunity to display his skills, earning starts in each of the last 10 games. He is averaging 6.9 points on a team-best 61.8 percent shooting (42-of-68) with 3.9 rebounds in 18.6 minutes per game.
Bradford has scored in double figures in 5 games thus far, including scoring a season-high 18 points vs. Milwaukee (12/11/20). He also played a major role in the win at Iowa State (12/15/20) with 14 points on 5-of-7 field goals and a 4-of-4 effort from the line. He has posted double digits in 3 of the last 5 games, including team-high 14 points at No. 4/4 Texas (1/16/21).
Bradford has already shown the ability to finish at the rim, totaling a team-high 21 dunks, which in comparison surpasses Makol Mawien's entire total of 17 in 32 games played in 2019-20 season.

AGORDON STRONG OFF BENCH

Despite missing 4 games due to COVID-19 protocols, sophomore Antonio Gordon has shown the ability to provide some scoring off the bench, as he collected a career-high 23 points on 9-of-9 field goals with a team-tying 6 rebounds vs. No. 2/2 Baylor (12/19/20) in just 21 minutes of action.
Gordon's 23 points tied for the eighth-most by reserve in a conference game in school history and were the most since Marcus Foster had 23 against TCU on Jan. 7, 2015. He also became the eighth Wildcats to go 9-of-9 or better from the field and the first since Dean Wade also went 9-of-9 at Oklahoma State on Feb. 2, 2019 and the first at home since 2002.

MURPHY EXPECTED TO MISS SEASON

Sophomore Montavious Murphy has elected to have what is expected to be season-ending surgery to fix his ailing knee, which has caused him to miss 11 games this season. Murphy, who was the opening day starter vs. Drake (11/25/20), saw action in 4 games, including the first 3.
Murphy, who became just the fourth true freshman to start an opener under Bruce Weber in 2019-20, has now missed 22 games in his career due to injury, including the last 6 games of his freshman season.
Murphy had a solid freshman season in 2019-20, averaging 5.2 points on 40.7 percent shooting with 3.7 rebounds in 25.1 minutes per game.

UP NEXT: AT 2/2 BAYLOR (13-0, 6-0 Big 12)

K-State hits the road for the third time in the last 4 games on Wednesday night, as the Wildcats travel to Waco, Texas to take on No. 2/2 Baylor (13-0, 6-0 Big 12) at 8 p.m., CT on ESPN2. The Bears have won the last 3 meetings in the series, including a 100-69 victory in Manhattan on Dec. 19. The 100 points were the most-ever given up by a Bruce Weber-coached team. Last season, Baylor won 85-66 at home on Feb. 25, 2020.

Game Preview // K-State Returns Home to Face 14/15 West Virginia Saturday

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Davion Bradford

Barry Brown, Jr.

Kaosi Ezeagu

Antonio Gordon

DaJuan Gordon

Luke Kasubke

Seryee Lewis

Carlton Linguard, Jr.

Makol Mawien

Mike McGuirl

Selton Miguel

Montavious Murphy

Nijel Pack

Joe Petrakis

Kamau Stokes

Dean Wade

Rudi Williams

Kansas State University Athletics

Game Preview // K-State Returns Home to Face 14/15 West Virginia Saturday

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Davion Bradford

Barry Brown, Jr.

Kaosi Ezeagu

Antonio Gordon

DaJuan Gordon

Luke Kasubke

Seryee Lewis

Carlton Linguard, Jr.

Makol Mawien

Mike McGuirl

Selton Miguel

Montavious Murphy

Nijel Pack

Joe Petrakis

Kamau Stokes

Dean Wade

Rudi Williams

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