Game Preview // K-State Set for Opener Wednesday Night vs. Florida A&M

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GAME 1
KANSAS STATE vs. FLORIDA A&M
Wednesday, November 10, 2021 >> 7:01 p.m. CT >> Bramlage Coliseum (11,654) >> Manhattan, Kan.

TELEVISION
Big 12 Now on ESPN+ / WatchESPN

Ben Boyle (play-by-play)
Stan Weber (analyst)
Kelsey Bigelow (sideline reporter)

RADIO
K-State Sports Network
Flagships: // KMAN 1350 & WIBW 580
No satellite radio
Online: Varsity Network [free] / www.kstatesports.com/watch [free]

Wyatt Thompson (play-by-play)
Matt Walters (analyst)

LIVE STATS
www.kstatesports.com
kstate.statbroadcast.com

TICKETS
www.kstatesports.com/tickets
(800) 221.CATS [2287]
Single Game: $10, $15, $25

COACHES
Kansas State: Bruce Weber (Wis.-Milwaukee '78)
Overall: 483-285/24^th season
At K-State: 170-130/10^th season
vs. Florida A&M: 3-0 (1-0 at K-State)

Florida A&M: Robert McCullum (Birmingham-Southern '76)
Overall: 125-192/12^th season
Record at FAMU: 41-71/5^th season
vs. K-State: 0-1 (0-1 at FAMU)

SERIES HISTORY
Overall: K-State leads 4-0
Current Streak: K-State, 4
In Manhattan: K-State leads 4-0
At Bramlage Coliseum: K-State leads 4-0
Last Meeting: W, 76-58 [12/2/2019 in Manhattan]
Weber vs. McCullum: 1-0 [1-0 at home]

PROJECTED STARTING LINEUP
Kansas State
G: #00 Mike McGuirl
G: #13 Mark Smith
G: #21 Nijel Pack
F: #25 Ismael [Ish] Massoud
F: #20 Kaosi Ezeagu

K-STATE SET FOR OPENER WEDNESDAY NIGHT VS. FLORIDA A&M

Kansas State (0-0) will officially open its 118th season on Wednesday night, as the Wildcats play host to Florida A&M (0-0) at 7 p.m., CT at Bramlage Coliseum. This will mark the second time that K-State has opened a season against Florida A&M after knocking off the Rattlers, 96-57, on Nov. 14, 2008, to open the 2008-09 season.
K-State is 91-26 (.778) all-time in season openers dating back to the first season in 1903, including an 79-10 (.888) mark at home. The Wildcats have a 27-3 (.900) record in season openers played at Bramlage Coliseum, which includes a 16-game winning streak from 1995 to 2012. The 3 losses have come in 1993, 2013 and 2020.
Head coach Bruce Weber is 20-3 (.870) in his 23-year head coaching career in openers (Southern Illinois, Illinois and K-State), including a 20-2 (.909) mark in home openers. He is 7-2 (.778) in season openers at K-State.

OPENING TIP

K-State will open the season at home for the 19th consecutive season on Wednesday with the Wildcats holding a 16-2 (.889) record in that span. The team saw their 6-game winning streak in season openers end last season, as they lost 80-70 to Drake at the Little Apple Classic on Nov. 25, 2020. The tournament, which also included Colorado and South Dakota, was put together after COVID-19 restrictions caused the cancellation of a number of preseason tournaments.
The Wildcats went onto lose their first 2 games (Drake and Colorado) to start a season for the first time since the 2002-03 season and their first 2 home games for the first time since the 1965-66 season. In retrospect, those losses turned out to be not so bad as both teams advanced to the NCAA Tournament with Drake winning a school-record 26 games and the Missouri Valley regular-season title.
The loss to Drake was just third in a season opener at Bramlage Coliseum, following a 74-60 loss to Southern Miss on Nov. 27, 1993, and a 60-58 loss to Northern Colorado on Nov. 8, 2013.
Prior to last season, the last loss at Bramlage Coliseum in a season opener came in a 60-58 loss to Northern Colorado on Nov. 8, 2013, which snapped the school's 16-game winning streak (1994-2012) in home openers. K-State has won 16 of its last 18 home openers, which includes a 96-57 victory over Florida A&M on Nov. 14, 2008, to open the 2008-09 season.
Drake used a second-half rally to snap K-State's 6-game winning streak in home openers in 2020. The Wildcats led 47-40 less than 5 minutes into the second half
before the Bulldogs used several costly turnovers to ignite a 10-2 run and take a 50-49 lead with 11:01 to play. K-State rallied to within 3 points at 65-62 with just under 4 minutes to play, but Drake scored 7 of the next 8 points to build the lead back to 72-63 with 1:19 left and were never threatened the rest of the way.
The loss spoiled an impressive effort by senior Mike McGuirl, who collected his first career 20-point game with a game-high 22 points on 8-of-15 field goals, including 3 triples, and 6 rebounds. Kaosi Ezeagu and Nijel Pack each chipped in 9 points in their first career starts. Pack became just the 16th Wildcat true freshman to start a season opener and the fifth under head coach Bruce Weber.
Florida A&M posted an 8-12 overall record in 2020-21, including a 7-5 record in Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) play. The Rattlers return 11 players from that team in 2021-22, including their top-7 scorers. Senior MJ Randolph, who was a Preseason Second Team All-SWAC selection, averaged a team-best 15.9 points per game on 48 percent shooting with 6.6 rebounds per game.
The Rattlers are led by fifth-year head coach Robert McCullum, who spent one season (1989-90) as an assistant coach at K-State during Lon Kruger's last season as head coach in 1989-90. The Wildcats posted a 17-15 overall record and advanced to the NCAA Tournament, where they lost to Xavier, 87-79.
In addition to the McCullum connection, the Rattlers have a 6-foot-11 junior by the name of Wylie "Trey" Howard III, who is the son of former Wildcat Wylie Howard, who appeared in 72 games with 49 starts from 1989-92.

NOTES ON FLORIDA A&M

Wednesday's game will also be the season opener for Florida A&M, which posted an 8-12 overall record in 2020-21, which included a 7-5 mark in Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) play. The Rattlers return 11 lettermen in 2021-22, including their top-7 scorers.
Florida A&M returns all but one start from 2020-21, including 5 players who started at least 16 games. Fifth-year seniors Bryce Moragne and Kamron Reaves started all 20 games a year ago.
The Rattlers also return 3 players who averaged double-digits points, including senior M.J. Randolph (15.9 ppg.), sophomore Jalen Speer (11.9 ppg.) and fifth-year senior D.J. Jones (11.5 ppg.) as well as their top-3 rebounders in Moragne (7.3 rpg.), Randolph (6.6 rpg.) and Jones (6.5 rpg.). Randolph was also the leader in assists (71) and steals (30).
Florida A&M was picked sixth in the 12-team Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) preseason poll with 138 points. Senior M.J. Randolph was a Preseason Second Team All-SWAC selection.
A year ago, Florida A&M averaged 65.7 points on 44.4 percent shooting, including 31.4 percent from 3-point range, with 35.5 rebounds, 13.3 assists, 6.5 steals and 2.5 blocks per game, while allowing 68.5 points on 42.7 percent shooting, including 28.5 percent from 3-point range. The team connected on 65.2 percent from the free throw line.
Florida A&M, which annually plays one of the toughest non-conference schedules in the country, will also play at Miami (Fla.), UTEP, UC Riverside, Akron, Cincinnati, Santa Clara, UC Santa Barbara, Arizona State and Illinois.
Head coach Robert McCullum is his 12th season as a head coach, which includes stints at Western Michigan (2000-03) and South Florida (2003-07). He has a 125-192 overall record, including a 41-71 mark at Florida A&M.

SERIES HISTORY

K-State and Florida A&M will meet for the fifth time on Wednesday with the Wildcats winning the previous 4 meetings by an average of 32.3 points. The teams first met at Bramlage Coliseum on Nov. 27, 1990, a 93-48 Wildcat win, followed by victories on Dec. 17, 2007 (87-60) at the T-Mobile Center in Kansas City and at Bramlage on Nov. 14, 2008 (96-57) and on Dec. 2, 2019 (76-58).
Six players return from the last meeting in 2019, including five from Florida A&M. M.J. Randolph scored 10 points in that previous meeting, while Wildcat Mike McGuirl posted 16 points on 6-of-8 shooting.
This will be the fourth meeting for head coach Bruce Weber against Florida A&M, including his second at K-State. His previous two wins came at Illinois, including a 91-60 win on Nov. 21, 2004, and an 84-63 win on Nov. 19, 2006.
Florida A&M changed conferences in the off-season and will now compete in the Southwestern Athletic (SWAC) in 2021-22. K-State is 18-1 all-time against teams from the SWAC with all 19 games coming at home.

LAST MEETING:
K-STATE 76, FLORIDA A&M 58 (Dec. 2, 2019, in Manhattan)

K-State connected on a season-high 53.7 percent from the field, as the Wildcats used a 15-2 run to start the second half to build a significant lead en route to posting a 76-58 win over Florida A&M in the last meeting between the schools on Dec. 2, 2019, at Bramlage Coliseum.
Florida A&M took a 2-0 lead 68 seconds into the contest before senior Xavier Sneed gave K-State the lead for good with the first of two 3-pointers. A 14-4 run midway through the first half gave the Wildcats a 24-12 with 8:37 before halftime.
Leading 39-25 at the break, K-State erupted for 9 consecutive points to start the second half en route to a 15-2 start to the half, as the Wildcats led 54-27 after a dunk by Cartier Diarra with 15:59 remaining.
Sneed was one of three Wildcats to score in double figures, as he posted a team-high 18 points on 7-of-10 shooting.

K-STATE/FLORIDA A&M CONNECTIONS

Florida A&M head coach Robert McCullum spent one season at K-State as an assistant coach to Lon Kruger during the 1989-90 season. He helped the Wildcats to a 17-15 overall record, including a 7-7 mark in the Big Eight, and a fourth consecutive trip to the NCAA Tournament.
McCullum would follow to Kruger to Florida the next season in 1991-92, spending the next 9 seasons on his coaching staffs with the Gators (1991-96) and Illinois (1996-2000) before becoming head coach at Western Michigan.
McCullum was also part of the staff at Southern Illinois (1987-89) that recruited current K-State associate head coach Chris Lowery to SIU.
In addition to the McCullum connection, the Rattlers have a 6-foot-11 junior by the name of Wylie "Trey" Howard III, who is the son of former Wildcat Wylie Howard, who appeared in 72 games with 49 starts from 1989-92.

LAST TIME OUT:
K-STATE 78, PITTSBURG STATE 59

Sophomore Selton Miguel led three Wildcats in double figures with a game-high 18 points, as K-State used a late first-half run to pull away from Pittsburg State, 78-59, in the team's lone exhibition game on Nov. 4 before 5,180 fans at Bramlage Coliseum.

With the win, K-State extends its winning streak in exhibition play at Bramlage Coliseum to 27 games, which dates to the second exhibition game of the 2003-04 season on November 15, 2003. The Wildcats are now a perfect 15-0 at home in exhibition play under head coach Bruce Weber.
K-State was able to break open an early back-and-forth contest with a pivotal 10-1 run over a 3-minute span late in the first half. Moments after Pitt State tied the game at 18-all with just over 8 minutes to play before halftime, sophomore Ish Massoud ignited the 10-1 run with a pull-up jumper. It was followed by a 3-pointer from junior Markquis Nowell, layups by fifth-year

Mark Smith and Miguel and a 3-pointer by fifth-year senior Mike McGuirl.

In all, the Wildcats outscored the Gorillas, 19-8, to end the half to take a 37-26 lead at the break.
The momentum continued to start the second half, as K-State scored the first 6 points to push the lead to 43-26 and force a Pitt State timeout with 17:39 to play. The lead never fell below 12 points the rest of the way, ballooning to as many as 24 (73-49) after a dunk by freshman Logan Landers with 5:15 to play.
Miguel came off the bench to lead the Wildcats with a game-high 18 points on 6-of-9 field goals, including 2-of-3 from 3-point range, to go with 6 rebounds, 2 steals and an assist in nearly 24 minutes. He was joined in double figures by Landers, who had a near double-double with 11 points and 8 boards in his debut, and Massoud, the Wake Forest transfer, who posted 10 points on 3-of-9 shooting with 4 rebounds in nearly 29 minutes.
Smith had an impressive all-around effort in his first game in a Wildcat uniform, as he had a game-high 13 rebounds, including 11 on the defensive end, to go with team-highs in both assists (5) and steals (2) and 6 points.
K-State is now 70-20 all-time in exhibition play, including 55-9 in home exhibition games dating back to 1964. The Wildcats are 49-9 in exhibition games at Bramlage Coliseum with 27 consecutive wins dating back to 2003. Overall, the team has won 10 straight exhibition since 2016.

HISTORY IN SEASON OPENERS

K-State is 91-26 (.778) all-time in season openers dating back to the first season in 1903. The Wildcats have a 79-10 (.888) record in season openers played at home, including 27-3 (.900) at Bramlage Coliseum.
K-State will open the season at home for the 19th consecutive season on Wednesday with the Wildcats holding a 16-2 (.888) record in that span. Prior last season's 80-70 loss to Drake, the previous setback in a season opener came in a 60-58 loss to Northern Colorado on Nov. 8, 2013, which snapped the school's 16-game winning streak in home openers.
The last time K-State opened the season away from home came in 2002-03 when the Wildcats played in the Paradise Jam, Nov. 23-25, 2002.
K-State won 16 consecutive home openers from 1995 to 2012, which spanned the previous two season-opening losses at Bramlage Coliseum history. The Wildcats lost a 74-60 decision to Southern Miss on Nov. 27, 1993, to start the 1993-94 campaign before the Northern Colorado loss in 2013.
Overall, K-State is 28-5 (.849) in openers at Bramlage Coliseum. Aside from the Southern Miss (1993), Northern Colorado (2013) and Drake (2020) defeats, the Wildcats lost to Fresno State, 60-58, on Dec. 2, 1989, and to Northwestern, 59-55, on Nov. 30, 2002, but each of those were not in a season opener.

Prior to last season's loss to Drake, K-State had won its last 6 home openers (Southern Utah, UMES, Western Illinois, American, Kennesaw State and NDSU) by an average of 25 points per game, while averaging 77.7 points per game.
Head coach Bruce Weber is 20-3 (.870) in season openers in his 23-year head coaching career (Southern Illinois, Illinois and K-State), which includes a 20-2 (.909) mark in home openers. His 3 losses have come at Murray State, 65-62, on Nov. 14, 1998, while at SIU and at home to Northern Colorado in 2013 and Drake in 2020 at K-State. He is 7-2 (.778) in season openers at K-State.

NON-CONFERENCE HISTORY

K-State has a 115-13 (.898) 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 106-11 (.906) 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 113 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 151-47 (.763) record in non-conference play since the 2006-07 season. Prior to the 2020-21, the team had posted double-digit non-conference wins in 12 of the last 13 seasons.
Head coach Bruce Weber is 82-31 (.726) in non-conference play since he arrived at K-State, including a 63-11 (.851) mark at home.
K-State finished 2020-21 non-conference season with a 4-5 record after dropping the SEC/Big 12 Challenge game to Texas A&M on Jan. 30. After starting the season with losses in 4 of the first 5 games, the Wildcats rebounded to win 3 of their last 4 non-conference. Despite the momentum to end the season, the team still suffered their first non-conference losing record in 50 years since the 1970-71 season.

HOME SWEET HOME // BRAMLAGE COLISEUM (1989-present)

K-State has posted a 393-137 (.742) all-time record at Bramlage Coliseum since its opening during the 1988-89 season. The 393 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 193-57 (.772) record at home over the past 15 seasons, including an 84-46 (.646) mark in Big 12 play. The 193 wins rank fourth among all Big 12 schools in that span, while the 84 league victories at home are among the top in the Big 12. In all, the program has double-digit victories in 26 of its 33 seasons in the arena.
K-State has a 254-79 (.763) record at home, including a 148-16 (.902) 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 recorded a 108-41 (.725) record at Bramlage Coliseum since taking over at K-State in 2012-13 with just 11 non-conference home losses. The 41 losses (30 of which have come in Big 12 play) have come by a total of 418 points or 10.2 points per game. Weber has posted a 49-32 (.6050) record in Big 12 play at Bramlage Coliseum.

A QUICK LOOK AT K-STATE

K-State returns 9 lettermen, including 4 players (Davion Bradford, Mike McGuirl, Selton Miguel and Nijel Pack) who registered starts during its COVID-19 challenging 2020-21 campaign, which resulted in the Wildcats' second consecutive non-winning season at 9-20 overall and 4-14 in Big 12 play. In addition to these 4 players, the team will get back the services of several key lettermen, including juniors Kaosi Ezeagu and Carlton Linguard, Jr., sophomores Luke Kasubke and Seryee Lewis and walk-on Drew Honas.
The biggest headliner from the returners might be McGuirl, who opted to return for an extra season in 2021-22 after his senior season was hampered by the COVID-19 pandemic. He earned All-Big 12 Honorable Mention honors in 2020-21 after leading the Wildcats in 12 categories, including points (342), double-digit scoring games (20), field goals (112), 3-point field goals (60), assists (103), steals (30) and minutes (34.3).
The freshmen trio of Bradford, Miguel and Pack had to grow up fast in their first season, starting together in 17 games with 12 of those coming in Big 12 play. The 71 combined starts by the three true freshmen in 2020-21 ranked second nationally only to Kentucky (72). The three combined to average 25.4 points, 10.4 rebounds, 5.6 assists and 2.0 steals in 2020-21, as Pack (12.7 ppg.) became the first true freshman to lead the Wildcats in scoring since 2013-14. Bradford (7.7 ppg.) and Miguel (7.2 ppg.) were fourth and fifth in scoring.
Ezeagu started early on for K-State before an injury forced him to miss 10 games. He returned in mid-January as mostly a reserve, averaging 5.2 points on 67.7 percent (21-of-31) in his last 10 games. Linguard and Lewis each showed flashes in their first seasons, playing in 17 and 18 games, respectively, while Kasubke recovered from a preseason injury that forced him to miss the first 13 games to be a key contributor in the final 16 games.

McGUIRL UTILIZES EXTRA SEASON

K-State received some good news on March 23 when senior Mike McGuirl announced that he was utilizing his extra season and returning to the Wildcats for the 2021-22 season. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the NCAA announced in October that they had agreed to grant players an additional year of eligibility.
An All-Big 12 Honorable Mention selection, McGuirl is coming off solid senior season in 2020-21, in which, he either led or was tied for the team lead in 12 categories, including points, field goals, 3-pointers, assists and steals. He was second in scoring (11.8 ppg.) to freshman teammate Nijel Pack.
McGuirl's 20 double-digit scoring games doubled his entire career total (10) that he had entering the 2020-21 season. He opened the season with his first career 20-point game vs. Drake on November 25 with 22 points then equaled it against Fort Hays State on December 8, while he had a team-high 19 points in the upset of No. 7/8 Oklahoma on February 23. Of his 705 career points, 542 have come in the last two seasons in 58 games played with 49 starts (9.3 ppg.).
The only player to start all 29 games, McGuirl showed his versatility by leading the Wildcats in scoring a team-best 11 times, while he also paced the team in rebounding 4 times, in assists 14 times and in steals on 10 occasions. He led the team in scoring (16), rebounding (9) and assists (5) in the win over TCU on February 20, a win which started the team's late surge to end the season (four wins in the last 6 games).

THE 'CATS INK 3 HIGH-PROFILE TRANSFERS

K-State got an infusion of experience with the addition of 3 high-profile Division I transfers in fifth-year Mark Smith (Missouri), junior Markquis Nowell and sophomore Ismael (Ish) Massoud (Wake Forest). All 3 took advantage of the new transfer rules and are immediately eligible in 2021-22.
Like McGuirl, Smith earned a second senior season due to the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and will bring 100 games of experience to the court after playing at Illinois (2017-18) and Missouri (2018-21). Nowell, who was a Lou Henson All-American at Little Rock, averaged double figures in each of his three seasons as a Trojan. Massoud played in all 53 games of his Wake Forest career, averaging 8.3 points per game as a sophomore in 2020-21.
The transfers presumably fill the Wildcats' greatest need from the 2020-21 season, which was a lack of production from the 3-point line. The team ranked 319th (out of 340 teams) in 3-point field goal percentage (29.6), while they were 126th in total 3-point field goals made (191) and 243rd in 3-point field goals per game (6.6). The trio have combined for nearly 400 triples (383) in their respective careers on 36.1 percent shooting.

EDWARDS JOINS LANDERS IN ROOKIE CLASS

Prep school standout Maximus Edwards joins Logan Landers in the Wildcats' rookie class in 2021-22. Edwards averaged 19.9 points per game at Our Saviour Lutheran in the Bronx, while Landers averaged 19.3 points, 7.2 rebounds and 4.2 assists as a senior at Cedarburg High School in Cedarburg, Wis.

UP NEXT: OMAHA (0-0, 0-0 Summit League)

K-State will continue its homestand next Wednesday (Nov. 17) when the Wildcats play host to Omaha (0-0) at 7 p.m., CT at Bramlage Coliseum. The Mavericks open the season at home on Tuesday (Nov. 9) against Hastings College before traveling to Ball State on Saturday (Nov. 13).

Kansas State University Athletics

Game Preview // K-State Set for Opener Wednesday Night vs. Florida A&M

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Players Mentioned

Davion Bradford

Maximus Edwards

Kaosi Ezeagu

Drew Honas

Luke Kasubke

Logan Landers

Seryee Lewis

Carlton Linguard, Jr.

Mike McGuirl

Selton Miguel

Markquis Nowell

Nijel Pack

Mark Smith

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