Game Preview // K-State to Meet 14/15 Illinois in Hall of Fame Classic Tuesday

Game Preview // K-State to Meet 14/15 Illinois in Hall of Fame Classic Tuesday

Nov 23, 2021 | Men's Basketball

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The Wildcats and Fighting Illini will meet for the first time since 2000

GAME 4
KANSAS STATE (2-1) vs. 14/15 ILLINOIS (2-2)
21^st Annual Hall of Fame Classic presented by Hotels.com / Consolation
Tuesday, November 23, 2021 >> 6 p.m. CT >> T-Mobile Center (18,972) >> Kansas City, Mo.

TELEVISION
ESPNews / WatchESPN
Link: espn.com/watch/player?id=a84ad1a1-af98-48d7-b1d9-506edd9af951

Mark Neely (play-by-play)
Mark Adams (analyst)

RADIO
K-State Sports Network
Flagships: // KMAN 1350 & WIBW 580
Satellite Radio: XM 387
Online: Varsity Network [free] / SXM 977 / www.kstatesports.com/watch [free]

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

LIVE STATS
www.kstatesports.com
http://www.statbroadcast.com/events/tournament.php?tid=870

TICKETS
www.t-mobilecenter.com/events/detail/hall-of-fame-classic-4
(816) 949.7100
Single Game: $15, $40, $80, $100

COACHES
Kansas State: Bruce Weber (Wis.-Milwaukee '78)
Overall: 485-286/24^th season
At K-State: 172-131/10^th season
vs. Illinois: 0-1 (0-0 at K-State)

Illinois: Brad Underwood (Kansas State '86)
Overall: 182-85/9^th season
School Record: 73-58/5^th season
vs. K-State: 1-1 (0-0 at Illinois)

SERIES HISTORY VS. ILLINOIS
Overall: Illinois leads 8-2
In Kansas City: First meeting
Active Streak: Illinois, 6
Weber vs. Illinois: 0-1
K-State vs. Big Ten: 167-153 [27-15 at neutral sites]
Weber vs. Brad Underwood: 1-1

HISTORY AT HALL OF FAME CLASSIC
Appearance: Third [2010, 2015, 2021]
Best Finish: Runner-up [2010, 2015]
Overall Record: 6-3 [4-0 at home]
In Kansas City: 2-3 [only championship rounds]
At T-Mobile Center: 2-3
Last Trip: 1-1 in 2015 [def. Missouri, 66-42; lost to No. 9 North Carolina, 80-70]
vs. Illinois: First meeting

PROJECTED STARTING LINEUP
Kansas State (2-1)
G: #3 Selton Miguel
G: #13 Mark Smith
G: #21 Nijel Pack
F: #25 Ismael [Ish] Massoud
F: #20 Kaosi Ezeagu

Illinois (2-2)
G: #1 Trent Frazier
G: #5 Andre Curbelo
G/F: #3 Jacob Grandison
F: #33 Coleman Hawkins
C: #21 Kofi Cockburn

K-STATE TO MEET 14/15 ILLINOIS IN CONSOLATION GAME OF HALL OF FAME CLASSIC

Kansas State (2-1) will meet a ranked opponent for the second consecutive day, as the Wildcats play No. 14/15 Illinois at 6 p.m., CT in the consolation game of the 21st annual Hall of Fame Classic presented by Hotels.com on Tuesday, November 23 at the T-Mobile Center.
Both teams lost in the semifinals of the tournament on Monday night with the Fighting Illini dropping the first game to Cincinnati, 71-51, before the Wildcats' rally fell short to Arkansas in the nightcap, 72-64. The Bearcats (5-0) and Razorbacks (4-0) will meet for Championship at 8:30 p.m., CT following the consolation game.
The storylines write themselves for Tuesday's game, as K-State head coach Bruce Weber will face his old team for just the second time, while Illinois head coach Brad Underwood will meet his alma mater for the third time with the previous 2 meetings coming while he was coach at Oklahoma State. Weber coached the Fighting Illini from 2003-12, guiding them to 210 wins, 6 NCAA Tournament and the 2005 NCAA Championship game. Underwood, a native of McPherson, Kansas, played for the Wildcats from 1984-86 before serving as a director of operations under Bob Huggins from 2006-07 then assistant/associate head coach from 2007-12 under Frank Martin.
K-State is in the midst of its third appearance in the Hall of Fame Classic, but the first time falling to the consolation game. The Wildcats advanced to the championship game in their previous 2 appearance before falling to Top 10 foes Duke (2010) and North Carolina (2015).

OPENING TIP

The Hall of Fame Classic field might be one of the best of any of the preseason tournaments, as the 4 schools all rank in the Top 20 for NCAA Tournament all-time appearances - combining for 128 - with each advancing to 31 or more such appearances in their respective histories. Arkansas and Cincinnati are tied with 5 others with the 13th-most appearances at 33, while K-State and Illinois are tied with Georgetown and Purdue for the 20th-most appearances at 31.
K-State and Illinois will meet for the 11th time and the first time since 2000 in a series that dates nearly 100 years and includes a NCAA Tournament matchup in 1981. The teams last met on Dec. 2, 2000, when the Fighting Illini completed the sweep of a home-and-home series (1999 and 2000) with a 76-56 win over the Wildcats at Bramlage Coliseum.
Ironically, a K-State graduate was the head coach at Illinois for the last 2 meetings in the series, as recently retired Lon Kruger led the Fighting Illini to the wins in 1999 and 2000.
Overall, Illinois owns an 8-2 advantage over K-State in the all-time series, including 6 straight wins dating back to 1981. This will be the first meeting on a neutral court since the Wildcats knocked off the Fighting Illini, 57-52, in the NCAA Tournament on March 19, 1981 in Salt Lake City, which K-State's last win in the series.
No. 14/15 Illinois enters Tuesday's game with a 2-2 record, starting the season with home wins over Jackson State (71-47) and Arkansas State (92-53) before loses on the road at Marquette (66-67) and to Cincinnati (51-71). The Fighting Illini are a balanced team with 5 players averaging in double figures led by preseason All-American Kofi Cockburn, who scored a team-high 18 points in his first game of the season against Cincinnati on Monday night. He missed the first 3 games due to an NCAA suspension.
In addition to the head coaches, there are a number of connections between the schools. Illinois assistant Chester Frazier played for Weber at Illinois and served as his assistant at K-State from 2012-19, while K-State assistant Shane Southwell and graduate assistant Curtis Kelly played while Underwood was an assistant at K-State. Fifth-year senior Mark Smith played his freshman season at Illinois for Underwood before transferring to Missouri then K-State.

AGAINST RANKED OPPONENTS

K-State has played nearly 400 games vs. ranked teams in their history, posting a 120-275 (.305) record, including 25-82 (.234) vs. the top-5, 49-141 (.258) vs. the top-10 and 72-195 (.271) vs. top-15.
K-State is 6-11 all-time vs. the AP's No. 14-ranked team, including 2-3 under head coach Bruce Weber. The Wildcats have won 2 of the last 3 vs. No. 14.
Head coach Bruce Weber has a 27-64 record vs. ranked foes at K-State, owning school records for Top 25 wins (27), Top 10 wins (10) and home Top 25 wins (20).

LONG HISTORY IN KANSAS CITY

K-State has a long history in Kansas City, which dates back to a 45-26 loss to the Kansas City Athletic Club on Feb. 23, 1926. Overall, the school has played in 200 games in the city with a 115-85 (.578) mark in those contests.
The Wildcats have played in-season tournament games in Kansas City on a number of occasions, including the Kansas City Holiday Tournament (1943-45), the Big Six/Seven/Eight Holiday Tournament (1946-78), BMA Holiday Classic (1990, 1991) as well as the Hall of Fame Classic (2010, 2015).

HISTORY AT HALL OF FAME CLASSIC

K-State will be playing in the Hall of Fame Classic for third time, advancing to the championship game in its previous 2 appearances (2010, 2015).
The Wildcats made their first appearance in 2010, defeating James Madison (75-61) and Presbyterian (76-67) at home before knocking off No. 18 Gonzaga in the semifinals, 81-64, then losing to No. 1 Duke, 82-68.
In 2015, K-State defeated UMES (80-53) and Columbia (81-71) at home before beating Missouri, 66-42, in the semifinals and ultimately losing to No. 9 North Carolina, 80-70, in the championship game.
The Hall of Fame Classic was created by the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) in 2001 as the Guardians Classic and was later known as the CBE Classic before being rebranded as the Hall of Fame Classic in 2017.

BREAKDOWN
Appearance: Third [2010, 2015, 2021]
Best Finish: Runner-up [2010, 2015]
Overall Record: 6-3 [4-0 at home]
In Kansas City: 2-3 [only championship rounds]
At T-Mobile Center: 2-3
Last Trip: 1-1 in 2015 [def. Missouri, 66-42; lost to No. 9 North Carolina, 80-70]
vs. Illinois: First meeting

HISTORY AT THE T-MOBILE CENTER

K-State will be playing its 39th game in the T-Mobile Center since the arena opened in 2007, including its sixth in the Hall of Fame Classic. The Wildcats have a 20-18 all-time record in the arena, including a 2-3 mark in the Hall of Fame Classic (2010, 2015, 2021).
A majority of the 38 previous meetings in the T-Mobile Center have come in the annual Phillips 66 Big 12 Championship (2008, 2010-present).
The Wildcats have also played in the T-Mobile Center in the Wildcat Classic (2007-12, 2014, 2016, 2018-19) and the 2013 NCAA Tournament.
This will the be first meeting with a Big Ten team at the T-Mobile Center.

LAST TIME OUT:
12/13 ARKANSAS 72, K-STATE 64

K-State nearly dug itself out of an 18-point deficit with a gritty second-half effort, however, No. 13/12 Arkansas made the right plays down the stretch to hold off the rally in a 72-64 win in the semifinals of the Hall of Fame Classic before 9,409 fans at the T-Mobile Center.
Down by as many as 18 points, including 45-27 just under 2 minutes into the second half, the Wildcats closed to within 62-54 on a pair of free throws by sophomore Nijel Pack with 1:53 to play then to 66-60 on a Pack 3-pointer with under a minute to play. However, reserve guard Chris Lykes was a perfect 10-of-10 from the free throw line in the last 1:46 to stave off any further attempts at a comeback.
Pack tied for the game-high lead with 14 points on 5-of-12 field goals and 3-of-3 free throws, while fellow sophomore Selton Miguel had a near double-double with a game-tying 14 points on 5-of-11 shooting to go with a career-best 9 rebounds. Junior Markquis Nowell added 10 points off the bench, eclipsing 1,000 points in college in a career that started at Little Rock in 2018-19 before arriving at K-State this season.
K-State dug itself into its double-digit deficit with a poor offensive start, as the Wildcats connected on just 25.9 percent (7-of-27) from the field, including 0-of-10 from 3-point range, in the first half to go with 8 turnovers. The team flipped the switch in the second half, scoring 40 points on 46.9 percent (15-of-32) shooting.
The teams were nearly identical shooting the ball with K-State connecting on 37.3 percent (22-of-59) from the field compared to Arkansas' 36.2 percent (21-of-58), as they combined to hit just 6 of 44 3-point attempts (13.6 percent). However, the Razorbacks took advantage of the 45 personal fouls to convert on 27 of 34 free throw attempts (79.4 percent), which was 10 more than the Wildcats (17-of-23; 73.9 percent).
K-State held Arkansas to 12 points under its scoring average (84.3 ppg) and more than 12 percentage points under its field goal percentage (48.4 percent).
The loss ended a unique streak for K-State, as the Wildcats entered the game a perfect 4-0 against SEC opponents in the T-Mobile Center, including 3-0 vs. ranked SEC foes (No. 23 Alabama in 2011, No. 8 Florida in 2012 and No. 21 Texas A&M in 2014). The team fell to 20-18 all-time in the T-Mobile Center.

NEWS AND NOTES FOR THE ARKANSAS GAME

K-State scored 64 points on 37.3 percent shooting (22-of-59), including 13.6 percent (3-of-22) from 3-point range, and connected on 73.9 percent (17-of-23) from the free throw line… The team shot 46.9 percent (15-of-32) in the second half after hitting on just 25.9 percent (7-of-27) in the first half.
K-State had a season-low 7 assists on 22 made field goals.
K-State held advantages in points off turnovers (17-13), points in the paint (34-30) and bench points (28-24), while Arkansas held a 16-8 edge in second-chance points.
Nine of the 10 players scored in the contest, while seven had at least 2 field goals made.
27 of Arkansas' 72 points came from the free throw line, as the Razorbacks shot a season-low 36.2 percent (21-of-58) from the field, including 13.6 percent (3-of-22) from 3-point range.
Sophomore Selton Miguel nearly collected his first career double-double with a game-tying 14 points on 5-of-11 field goals and 4-of-6 free throws to go with a career-best 9 rebounds, 1 assist and 1 steal in 29 minutes… It marked the second time he has led the team in scoring… He has now scored in double figures in 9 games, including twice this season.
Sophomore Nijel Pack tied for the team lead with 14 points on 5-of-12 field goals and 3-of-3 free throws to go with 2 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 steals in 28 minutes… He has now tied or led the team in scoring in each of the first 3 games… He has now led the team in scoring in 14 career games… He has now scored in double figures in 19 career games.
Junior Markquis Nowell registered his second consecutive double-digit scoring game at K-State with 10 points off the bench on 3-of-7 field goals and 3-of-4 free throws… He also added 3 rebounds and 2 steals in 18 minutes… He scored his 1,000th career point with his layup with 22 seconds left.
Sophomore Luke Kasubke had a season-high 5 points on 2-of-4 shooting in 16 minutes.
Freshman Logan Landers scored his first career points with a 3-of-4 effort from the free throw line.
K-State used a starting lineup of sophomore Nijel Pack, fifth-year senior Mark Smith, sophomore Selton Miguel, sophomore Ismael (Ish) Massoud and junior Kaosi Ezeagu… This marked the second time using this lineup this season… Ezeagu, Massoud, Pack and Smith each started the first game… Pack has now started in all 27 games in his K-State career… Ezeagu earned a start in his 11th career game at K-State… Massoud now has 11 starts in his college career… Smith now has 83 starts in his college career.

UP NEXT: NORTH DAKOTA (2-3)

K-State returns home on Sunday afternoon, as the Wildcats play host to North Dakota (2-3) at 4 p.m., on Big 12 Now on ESPN+. The Fighting Hawks will play at FIU on Friday morning before traveling to Manhattan.