Game Preview // K-State Returns Home to Face Oklahoma State Saturday

GAME 13
KANSAS STATE (5-7, 1-3 Big 12) vs. OKLAHOMA STATE (7-3, 1-3 Big 12)
Saturday, January 9, 2021 >> 5:05 p.m. CT >> Bramlage Coliseum (12,528) >> Manhattan, Kan.

TELEVISION
ESPN2 / WatchESPN

Rich Hollenberg (play-by-play)
Chris Spatola (analyst)
Bill Palladino (producer)

RADIO
K-State Sports Network
Flagships: // KMAN 1350 & WIBW 580
XM 84 // Internet 84
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.

COACHES
Kansas State: Bruce Weber (Wis.-Milwaukee '78)
Overall: 479-272/23^rd season
At K-State: 166-117/9^th season
vs. Oklahoma State: 11-7 (6-2 at home)

Oklahoma State: Mike Boynton, Jr. (South Carolina '03)
Overall: 58-52/4^th season
At Oklahoma State: 58-52/4^th season
vs. Kansas State: 2-4 (1-2 on the road)

PROJECTED STARTING LINEUP
Kansas State (5-7)
G: #24 Nijel Pack
G: #00 Mike McGuirl
G: #2 Selton Miguel
G: #3 DaJuan Gordon
F: #21 Davion Bradford

Oklahoma State (7-3)
G: #0 Avery Anderson III
G: #14 Bryce Williams
G: #13 Isaac Likekele
G: #2 Cade Cunningham
F: #22 Kalib Boone

SERIES HISTORY
Overall: K-State leads 82-55
Current Streak: Oklahoma State, 2
In Big 12 Play: Oklahoma State leads 20-16
In Manhattan: K-State leads 40-17
At Bramlage Coliseum: K-State leads 13-11
Last Meeting: L, 63-69 [3/4/20 in Stillwater, Okla.]
Weber vs. Boynton: 4-2 [2-1 at home]

OPENING TIP

Kansas State (5-7, 1-3 Big 12) starts a 2-game homestand on Saturday afternoon, as the Wildcats play host to Oklahoma State (7-3, 1-3 Big 12) at 5 p.m., CT at Bramlage Coliseum. K-State will be looking for its first Big 12 home win after dropping contests to No. 2/2 Baylor and TCU to start the league season. Saturday's game will air on ESPN2 with Rich Hollenberg (play-by-play) and Chris Spatola (analyst).
K-State is coming off an 82-71 loss at No. 18/19 Texas Tech on Tuesday night, in which, the Red Raiders blew open a tight contest with a strong start to the second half. After ending the half on an 8-2 run, Texas Tech scored 22 of the first 32 points coming out of the locker room to take a commanding 58-41 lead with just 12 minutes to play. The Wildcats twice closed the deficit to 7 points, including 78-71 with just under 40 seconds to play, but the Red Raiders finished strong from the free throw line to earn their seventh win at home in the series.
Despite the loss, 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 opponent 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 for the third time this season, including the second consecutive game, led by freshmen Nijel Pack and Selton Miguel, who each scored 17 points. 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.
K-State has started 3 true freshmen (Bradford, Selton Miguel and Pack) in 7 consecutive games, which includes all 4 Big 12 games. The Wildcats are one of 5 teams (Kentucky, Duke, James Madison and North Carolina) to start at least 3 true freshmen in at least one game, while the 27 combined starts by true freshmen rank second only to Kentucky's 31. The next closest schools with the most true freshmen starts are North Carolina (25), Montana (19), Auburn (18), Tennessee Tech (17) and LSU (16). The true freshmen have been pressed into early playing time, as 5 different players have combined to miss 35 games this season, including season-opening starters Kaosi Ezeagu and Montavious Murphy both missing 8 games each.
Since switching to the 4-guard lineup against Milwaukee on Dec. 11, K-State is averaging 68.6 points on 44.8 percent shooting (181-of-404), including 56.2 percent (127-of-226) from inside the 3-point line. Five Wildcats (Pack, Miguel, McGuirl, D. Gordon and Bradford) nearly averaging double figures in the 7-game span, including a team-best 11.1 points per game by Pack, while Miguel (10.6 ppg.) and McGuirl (10.1 ppg.) are averaging better than 10 points per game. In all,
underclassmen have combined for 310 of the team's 480 points on 47.4 percent (120-of-253) shooting in the last 6 games.

NOTES ON OKLAHOMA STATE

Oklahoma State (7-3, 1-3 Big 12) is coming off an 87-84 loss to No. 14/16 West Virginia on Monday night, which was the Cowboys' third loss in their last 4 games after starting the season at 6-0. The Mountaineers overcame a 19-point deficit with 11:15 to play to earn the dramatic victory. OSU was led by its dynamic backcourt of freshman Cade Cunningham (25) and junior Isaac Likelele (22), who combined for 47 points.
Oklahoma State is averaging 78 points on 45 percent shooting, including 30.8 percent from 3-point range, to go with 40.9 rebounds, 13.3 assists, 7.2 steals and 3.4 blocks per game, while allowing 72.6 points on 40.1 percent shooting, including 34.2 percent from 3-point range. The team is connecting on 68.6 percent from the free throw line. OSU is averaging 79 points in the Big 12 play on 45.1 percent shooting, including 28.2 percent from 3-point range, to go with 38.3 rebounds, 12.5 assists, 8 steals and 2 blocks per game.
The Cowboys are a balanced scoring team with 7 players averaging 6 or more points, including a pair of double-digit scorers in Cunningham (19.1 ppg.) and Likekele (12.0 ppg.). A National Freshman of the Year candidate, Cunningham is averaging a Big 12-best 19.1 points per game on 45.5 percent shooting, including 36.6 percent from 3-point range, with 6.1 rebounds, 3.7 assists and 1.4 steals in 33.7 minutes per game. Likelele is averaging a near double-double with 12.0 points on 59 percent shooting with a team-best 8.0 rebounds per game to go with a team-tying 37 assists in 34.8 minutes per game. Freshman Rondel Walker - is averaging 8.6 points on 41.5 percent shooting, while transfer Bryce Williams (8.4 ppg.) and sophomore Avery Anderson III (8.1 ppg.) are each averaging a better than 8 points per game.
Oklahoma State is led by fourth-year head coach Mike Boynton, who has posted a 58-52 (.527) record, which includes trip to the quarterfinals of the NIT in his first season in 2017-18.

SERIES HISTORY

K-State and Oklahoma State will meet for the 138th time in their histories with the Wildcats holding an 82-55 advantage in a series that dates back to 1922. The Wildcats are 40-17 all-time at home, including a 13-11 mark at Bramlage Coliseum. The Cowboys have split the last 4 meetings in Manhattan, including a 64-59 win in the last matchup on Feb. 11, 2020.
OSU swept the season series for the first time in the round robin era a year ago, posting a 64-59 win at Bramlage Coliseum on Feb. 11 before a 69-63 victory at home on March 4. The victory in Manhattan snapped a 4-game winning streak by K-State in the series, which was the longest such streak since winning 5 straight from 1986-88.
Head coach Bruce Weber is 11-7 all-time against Oklahoma State, including a 6-2 mark at home, while he is 4-2 against head coach Mike Boynton. Boynton is 2-4 against K-State, including 1-2 on the road.

LAST TIME OUT: 18/19 TEXAS TECH 82, K-STATE 71

No. 18/19 Texas Tech blew open a tight game with a strong start to the second half, as the Red Raiders posted an 82-71 win over K-State on Tuesday night at the United Supermarkets Arena.
Texas Tech took the momentum from sophomore Terrence Shannon, Jr's shot at the buzzer to end the first half and carried it into a strong start in the second half, building as much as 17-point lead. After ending the half on an 8-2 run, the Red Raiders scored 22 of the first 32 points coming out of the locker room to take a commanding 58-41 lead with just 12 minutes to play. Shannon scored a game-high 22 points off the bench.
K-State twice closed the deficit to 7 points down the stretch, including after a dunk by freshman Seryee Lewis with 6:11 to play. However, Lewis was whistled for a technical after the dunk, which ignited 6 straight points by Tech and put the game back into double figures at 71-58 just over a minute later. The Wildcats did close to within 78-71 with just under 40 seconds to play, but the Red Raiders finished it off from the line.
Texas Tech, which hit on 45.3 percent (24-of-53) of its field goals, did take advantage of its opportunities at the free throw line, outscoring K-State by 21 points (30-9). The Red Raiders converted on 30-of-36 attempts at the line, including 22-of-27 after halftime. The 30 free throws were the most by opponent in head coach Bruce Weber's 9-year tenure.
K-State became the first team to eclipse 70 points in regulation against Texas Tech this season, connecting on 49.1 percent (27-of-55) from the field, including 61.2 percent (19-of-31) from inside the 3-point arc.
Four Wildcats scored in double figures for the second consecutive game led by 17 points each from freshmen Selton Miguel and Nijel Pack, while freshman Davion Bradford and McGuirl chipped in 10 points each. Miguel tied his season-high on 6-of-12 shooting, including 2-of-4 from 3-point range, to go with a game-high 6 assists in 30 minutes, while Pack scored a season-high 17 points on 7-of-11 field goals, including 3-of-7 from long range. McGuirl had an all-around game with a game-high 8 rebounds to go with 5 assists in nearly 39 minutes. He now has 38 assists in the last 7 games, including his fourth straight game with at least 5 assists.

HISTORY AT BRAMLAGE COLISEUM

K-State has posted a 391-131 (.749) all-time record at Bramlage Coliseum since its opening during the 1988-89 season. The 391 wins are the most at a home venue for the Wildcats, surpassing the 378 wins at Ahearn Field House (1950-88). It is the school's third home venue.
K-State has registered a 191-51 (.789) record at home over the past 15 seasons, including an 82-41 (.667) mark in Big 12 play. The 191 wins rank fourth among all Big 12 schools in that span, while the 82 league victories at home are among the top in the Big 12. In all, the program has double-digit victories in 26 of its 32 seasons in the arena.
K-State has a 252-73 (.775) record at home, including a 148-15 (.907) mark in non-conference action, since the 2001-02 season for an average of just over 13 home wins (13.1) per season in that span.
Head coach Bruce Weber has tallied a 106-35 (.752) record at Bramlage Coliseum since taking over at K-State in 2012-13 with just 10 non-conference home losses. The 35 losses (26 of which have come in Big 12 play) have come by a grand total of 341 points or just 9.7 points per game.

NON-CONFERENCE SUCCESS

K-State has a 115-12 (.906) record at home venues (includes home games played at Bramlage Coliseum, INTRUST Bank Arena in Wichita and the T-Mobile Center in Kansas City) in non-conference play dating back to the 2006-07 season, including a 106-10 (.914) mark at Bramlage Coliseum
Despite seeing their 33-game winning streak end at Bramlage Coliseum with a loss to Marquette on Dec. 7, 2019, the Wildcats have still won 102 of their last 112 non-conference home games.
K-State has posted a 151-46 (.767) record in non-conference play since the 2006-07 season. Prior to last season, the team had posted double-digit non-conference wins in 12 of the last 13 seasons.
Head coach Bruce Weber is 82-30 (.732) in non-conference play since he arrived at K-State, including a 63-10 (.863) mark at home.
K-State is 4-4 in non-conference play in 2020-21 with one scheduled game left on the slate at home against Texas A&M on Saturday, Jan. 30. The Wildcats have had a winning non-conference record every season since 1971-72.

UP NEXT: IOWA STATE (2-6, 0-4 Big 12)

K-State continues its homestand on Wednesday night, as the Wildcats play host to Iowa State (2-6, 0-4 Big 12) at 6 p.m., CT at Bramlage Coliseum on ESPNU. K-State won the first meeting between the schools in 2020-21 with a 74-65 victory at Hilton Coliseum on Dec. 15, 2020 and will attempt to sweep the series for the first time since 2017-18. The Wildcats also won the last meeting at Bramlage Coliseum with a 79-63 victory on March 7, 2020.

Game Preview // K-State Returns Home to Face Oklahoma State Saturday

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Davion Bradford

Kaosi Ezeagu

DaJuan Gordon

Seryee Lewis

Mike McGuirl

Selton Miguel

Montavious Murphy

Nijel Pack

Kansas State University Athletics

Game Preview // K-State Returns Home to Face Oklahoma State Saturday

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Davion Bradford

Kaosi Ezeagu

DaJuan Gordon

Seryee Lewis

Mike McGuirl

Selton Miguel

Montavious Murphy

Nijel Pack

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