Thank you to K-State Athletics Communications for the game notes for Kansas State's basketball season opener against North Dakota State.
KANSAS STATE (0-0) vs. NORTH DAKOTA STATE (0-0)
Tuesday, November 5, 2019 >> 7:02 p.m. CT >> Bramlage Coliseum (12,528) >> Manhattan, Kan.
TELEVISION
Big 12 Now on ESPN+
Ben Boyle (play-by-play)Stan Weber (analyst)Bridget Howard (sideline reporter)
RADIO
K-State Sports Network
Flagships // KMAN 1350 & WIBW 580
Online: TuneIn.com [free] / www.kstatesports.com/watch [free]
Satellite Channel 981 [internet only]
Wyatt Thompson (play-by-play)Matt Walters (analyst)
LIVE STATS
kstate.statbroadcast.com [media only]
TICKETS
(800) 221.CATS [2287]
Single Game: $10 (bench/GA)/$20 (chairback)
Group (12+): $3
COACHES
Kansas State: Bruce Weber (Wis.-Milwaukee ’78)
Overall: 463-244/22nd season
At K-State: 150-89/8th season
vs. NDSU: First meeting
North Dakota State: David Richman (NDSU ’02, ‘05)
Overall: 96-67/6th season
At NDSU: 96-67/6th season
vs. Kansas State: First meeting
PROJECTED STARTING LINEUP
Kansas State
G: #00 Mike McGuirl
G: #2 Cartier Diarra
G/F: #20 Xavier Sneed
F: #34 Levi Stockard III
F: #14 Makol Mawien
North Dakota State
G: #0 Vinnie Shahid
G: #11 Jared Samuelson
G: #24 Tyson Ward
F: #5 Sam Griesel
F: #34 Rocky Kreuser
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 2-0
Last Meeting: W, 83-81 [12/9/2006 in Fargo, N.D.]
Weber vs. Richman: First meeting
OPENING TIP
Kansas State (0-0) will officially open its 116th season on Tuesday night, as the Wildcats play host to preseason Summit League favorite and 2019 NCAA Tournament participant North Dakota State (0-0) at 7 p.m., CT at Bramlage Coliseum. It will mark the earliest season opener in school history, eclipsing the previous mark of Nov. 8, 2014 against Northern Colorado, and the second time that the Wildcats have opened a season against the Bison, a 70-61 victory on Nov. 19, 2004.
K-State will open a season against an NCAA Tournament opponent (from the previous season) for the first time in nearly 20 seasons since an 88-69 loss at Arizona on Nov. 16, 1999. It will be the first time that the Wildcats have opened a season at home against an NCAA Tournament opponent since hosting Purdue in the first-ever game at Bramlage Coliseum on Nov. 26, 1988. Current head coach Bruce Weber was an assistant coach on that Boilermaker staff for K-State alum Gene Keady.
K-State is 90-25 (.783) all-time in season openers dating back to the first season in 1903, including a 78-9 (.897) mark at home. The Wildcats have a 25-2 (.926) record in season openers played at Bramlage Coliseum, which includes a 16-game winning streak from 1995 to 2012. The two losses in that span have come to Southern Miss (74-60 on Nov. 27, 1993) and Northern Colorado (60-58 on Nov. 8, 2013). Overall, the team is 27-4 (.871) at Bramlage Coliseum in home openers. The Wildcats have won 29 consecutive games against non-conference opponents at Bramlage Coliseum since the start of the 2015-16 season.
Overall, the school has an 102-6 (.944) record at home in non-conference play since 2006-07, including 100-5 (.952) in the regular season, and has won 91 of its last 96 non-conference home games. The team went 10-3 in non-conference action in 2018-19, including 7-0 at home venues. The last non-conference home loss came to Tulsa, 61-54, on Dec. 9, 2017 in Wichita, while the last at Bramlage came to Georgia, 50-46, on Dec. 31, 2014.
K-State, which has won 15 of its last 16 home openers, earned a 56-41 win over Kennesaw State in last season’s opener on Nov. 9, 2018, seniors Barry Brown, Jr., and Dean Wade scored a game-high 15 points. The Wildcats held the Owls to 32.7 percent shooting (17-of-52), including just 21.4 percent (6-of-28) in the second half, while also forcing 21 turnovers. The 41 points were the fewest allowed in a season opener at Bramlage Coliseum and the fewest allowed in a home opener since holding Northern Iowa to 38 points on Dec. 1, 1979.
Head coach Bruce Weber is 19-2 (.905) in his 21-year head coaching career in season openers (Southern Illinois, Illinois and K-State), including a 19-1 (.950) mark in home openers. He is 6-1 (.857) in season openers at K-State. K-State went 2-0 in exhibition play, knocking off Emporia State, 86-49, on Oct. 25 before a 66-56 win over Washburn on Oct. 30. The Wildcats have now won 26 consecutive exhibition games at Bramlage Coliseum since 2003, including 16 straight under Weber. Xavier Sneed (14.0 ppg.) was one of 4 Wildcats to average double figures in exhibition play, along with Antonio Gordon (11.0), Montavious Murphy (10.5) and Makol Mawien (10.0).
NOTES ON NORTH DAKOTA STATE
North Dakota State returns 10 lettermen, including all five starters (Vinnie Shahid, Tyson Ward, Rocky Kreuser, Jared Samuelson and Sam Griesel), from a squad that posted a 19-16 overall record en route to winning the Summit League Tournament Championship, defeating North Carolina Central (78-74) in the First Four and advancing to the first round of the NCAA Tournament, where they lost to top-seed Duke, 85-62.
North Dakota State was picked to win the nine-team Summit League in the preseason by the media, earning 23 of 34 first-place votes and 526 points over second-place South Dakota. It marked the first time since the 2013-14 season that the Bison were picked to win the league. Reigning Summit League Newcomer of the Year and senior Vinnie Shahid (13.1 ppg., 2.6 apg.) was selected to the preseason All-Summit League First Team, while senior Tyson Ward (12.4 ppg., 6.2 rpg.) was named to the second team.
North Dakota State played one exhibition game, overwhelming NAIA foe Dickinson State, 104-63, on the strength of 62.3 percent (38-of-61) shooting on Oct. 31 at home. Six different Bison (including all five starters) scored in double figures, including 20 points from Shahid in just 21 minutes, while junior Rocky Kreuser had a double-double with 10 points and a game-high 10 rebounds in just 20 minutes of action. NDSU connected 50 percent (14-of-28) from 3-point range and 73.7 percent (14-of-19) from the line.A season ago, the Bison averaged 73 points per game on 45.4 percent shooting, including 36.5 percent from 3-point range, with 31.5 rebounds, 11.5 assists, 4.6 steals and 2.5 blocks per game, while allowing opponents to average 72.6 points on 46.1 percent shooting, including 36.2 percent from long range. The team connected on 77.7 percent from the free throw line.
Shahid is one of two returners who averaged double figures in 2018-19, as he led the Bison at 13.1 points per game on 44 percent shooting, including 36.6 percent from 3-point range, with 3.0 rebounds and 2.6 assists in 29.5 minutes per game. He was named the Summit League Newcomer of the Year and the MVP of the Summit League Tournament. He also led in 3-point fielg goals (64) and assists (91). Ward also averaged double figures at 12.4 points on 48.8 percent shooting to go with a team-best 6.2 rebounds per game. Five others (Rocky Kreuser, Jared Samuelson, Cameron Hunter, Tyree Eady and Sam Griesel) averaged 6 or more points per game last season.
Head coach David Richman enters his sixth season as a head coach with a 96-67 (.589) overall record, as he has led the Bison to four seasons of 19 or more wins and two NCAA Tournament appearances (2015, 2019). He was promoted to the position on April 8, 2014 by then athletic director (and current K-State AD) Gene Taylor after serving 11 years as an assistant to head coaches Tim Miles and Saul Phillips from 2005-14. Richman has been a part of nearly 300 wins and all four NCAA Tournament appearances at NDSU.
SERIES HISTORY
K-State and North Dakota State will meet for the fifth time on Tuesday night in a series that dates to 1967. The Wildcats are 4-0 in those previous meetings, including a 79-52 win at home on Dec. 19, 1967, a 70-61 win at home on Nov. 19, 2004, a 82-56 win at home on Jan. 2, 2006 and an 83-81 nail-biter in Fargo on Dec. 9, 2006. This will be first matchup for head coach Bruce Weber against NDSU, while David Richman was on the coaching staff for its last three meetings (2004, 2006 twice) but this will be his first as the Bison head coach.K-State is 33-2 all-time against teams from the Summit League, including a 32-0 mark at home. The Wildcats have played at least one Summit League foe (two in 2013-14) in each of Weber’s seven seasons, posting an 8-0 mark in those matchups. Weber’s first win at K-State came against Summit League opponent, North Dakota, 85-52, on Nov. 9, 2012.
LAST TIME OUT: K-STATE 66, WASHBURN 56
Seniors Makol Mawien and Xavier Sneed combined for 26 points and 18 rebounds, as K-State overcame a 3-point barrage by Washburn, 66-56, in the team’s final exhibition game on Oct. 30 at Bramlage Coliseum. With the win, K-State extends its winning streak in exhibition play at Bramlage Coliseum to 26 games, which dates to the second exhibition game of the 2003-04 season on November 15, 2003. The Wildcats are now a perfect 16-0 at home in exhibition play under head coach Bruce Weber.Mawien led the Wildcats with team-high 16 points on 6-of-11 field goals and a perfect 4-for-4 effort from the free throw line, while Sneed collected a solid stat line with 10 points, 9 rebounds, 4 assists and 4 steals in nearly 36 minutes. Freshman Montavious Murphy also notched double figures with 11 points on 4-of-6 shooting to go with 5 rebounds in 22 minutes. The streak stood a solid challenge from a Washburn team that has won 20 or more games in back-to-back seasons, including 24 wins and a trip to the NCAA Division II Tournament a season ago. The Ichabods tied an opponent exhibition high with 14 made 3-point field goals, matching the previous highs of the NBC Thunder on Nov. 11, 1999 and the EA Sports All-Stars on Nov. 7, 2002. The team’s 45 attempts were the most-ever by an opponent in an exhibition, surpassing the 40 by the NBC Thunder in 1999.With the score knotted at 39-all with 13:46 to play, the Wildcats put together a key 9-0 run over a more than 3-minute span to take control of the contest, which they built into a game-high 15-point lead (64-49) with 3:38 to play. The Ichabods could get no closer than 8 points the rest of the way.K-State connected on 45.1 percent (23-of-51) from the field, but just 15.4 percent (2-of-13) from 3-point range, and made just 18 of 30 attempts (60 percent) from the free throw line. In addition, the squad turned it over 21 times, which Washburn converted into 23 points. Despite the hot shooting, the Ichabods were just 29.4 percent (20-of-68) from the field, including 31.1 percent (14-of-45) from 3-point range.K-State is now 69-20 all-time in exhibition play, including 54-9 in home exhibition games dating back to 1964. The Wildcats are 48-9 in exhibition games at Bramlage Coliseum with 26 consecutive wins dating back to 2003. Overall, the team has won 9 straight exhibitions since 2016.
HISTORY IN SEASON OPENERS
K-State is 90-25 (.783) all-time in season openers dating back to the first season in 1903. The Wildcats have a 78-9 (.897) record in season openers played at home, including 25-2 (.926) at Bramlage Coliseum. K-State will open the season at home for the 17th consecutive season on Tuesday with the Wildcats holding a 15-1 (.938) record in that span. The lone loss in that span 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 squad played in the Paradise Jam, Nov. 23-25, 2002. K-State won 16 consecutive home openers from 1995 to 2012, which spanned the only 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 27-4 (.871) in openers at Bramlage Coliseum. Aside from the Southern Miss (1993) and Northern Colorado (2013) 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. Since the 2013 loss, K-State has won its last five home openers (Southern Utah, UMES, Western Illinois, American and Kennesaw State) by an average of 27.4 points per game, while averaging 79.8 points per game. Head coach Bruce Weber is 19-2 (.904) in season openers in his 21-year head coaching career (Southern Illinois, Illinois and K-State), which includes an 19-1 (.950) mark in home openers. His two losses have come at Murray State, 65-62, on Nov. 14, 1998 while at Southern Illinois and at home to Northern Colorado in 2013 at K-State. He is 6-1 (.857) in season openers at K-State, including five consecutive wins.
NON-CONFERENCE HISTORY
K-State has a 105-6 (.946) 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 96-5 (.951) mark at Bramlage Coliseum.The Wildcats have won 92 of their last 96 non-conference home games, including a 29-game winning streak at Bramlage Coliseum. The last home non-conference loss came against Georgia, 50-46, on Dec. 31, 2014.K-State has posted a 140-36 (.796) 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 three seasons and is 43-9 (.827) in non-conference play since the start of 2015-16 season.
A QUICK LOOK AT K-STATE
The Wildcats return nine lettermen, including four players (Xavier Sneed, Makol Mawien, Cartier Diarra and Mike McGuirl) who registered starts, in 2019-20 from a squad that posted a 25-9 overall record a year ago and earned a share of the Big 12 regular-season championship for the second time under head coach Bruce Weber. The 25-win season was the seventh in school history, including the first time in consecutive seasons. K-State is one of just 24 schools -- 15 in power conferences -- and 3 in the Big 12 (Kansas and Texas Tech) -- with 25 wins in each of the last 2 seasons.All-Big 12 honorable mention Xavier Sneed (10.6 ppg., 5.5 rpg.), fellow senior Makol Mawien (7.0 ppg., 4.9 rpg.) and key reserve and junior Cartier Diarra (6.8 ppg., 3.3 rpg.) form the core of a group returning for the Wildcats, who must replace their top three scorers in Barry Brown, Jr. (14.6 ppg.), Dean Wade (12.9 ppg.) and Kamau Stokes (11.0 ppg.). All three have played pivotal roles with the consecutive 25-win seasons, including 71 and 70 starts, respectively, by Mawien and Sneed and major minutes by Diarra.Sneed is the team’s top returner in nearly every stat category, including scoring (349), rebounding (182), assists (64), steals (45) and minutes (1014). He enters his senior season ranking 29th on the school’s all-time scoring list with 1,008 points having seen action in 105 career games with starts in 70 of the last 71 games. Mawien, who has started every game of his K-State career, has the fifth-highest career field goal percentage (56.1; 204-of-364) in school history after posting the sixth-highest (59.8; 104-of-174) field goal percentage in a single season as a junior in 2017-18. Diarra scored in double figures in four consecutive games, including three in Big 12 play, before missing eight games due to a broken finger. He did come back to play in the last three games with Wade out for the season, including a 15-point effort against Iowa State in the semifinals of the Phillips 66 Big 12 Championship and a 9-point effort in the NCAA Tournament. The Wildcats also return rising senior Pierson McAtee (0.5 ppg., 0.5 rpg.), juniors Mike McGuirl (3.6 ppg., 1.5 rpg.), Levi Stockard III (1.8 ppg., 1.5 rpg.) and James Love III (0.3 ppg., 0.4 rpg.), sophomores Nigel Shadd (0.2 ppg., 0.4 rpg.) and Shaun Williams [was Neal-Williams] (1.4 ppg., 1.1 rpg.).
‘CATS WELCOME FIVE NEWCOMERS
The Wildcats will welcome five newcomers in 2019-20, including a pair of junior college transfers (David Sloan and Joe Petrakis) and three true freshmen (Antonio Gordon, DaJuan Gordon and Montavious Murphy). Sloan was regarded as one of the top community colleges players in the country (and a Top 150 player out of high school) in 2018-19 after helping John A. Logan College to a 27-5 overall record as a sophomore. The NJCAA All-American twice led the NJCAA ranks in both total assists and assists per game, including 10.2 assists per game a year ago.The freshmen were all consensus Top 200 prospects, as the recruiting class was a consensus Top 40 class nationally by a number of recruiting services, ranking No. 39 by Rivals.com and No. 40 by 247Sports.com. DaJuan Gordon was a consensus Top 150 player by both recruiting services. Antonio Gordon scored nearly 1,600 points in his high school career at Eisenhower High School in Lawton, Okla., and averaged 26.3 points and 10.1 rebounds as a senior in 2018-19. DaJuan Gordon was the Chicago Sun-Times City Player of the Year after averaging 17.6 points in leading Curie to the school’s first city title. Murphy was one of the best players in Houston and a finalist for the Guy V. Lewis Award, averaging 19 points and 10 rebounds as a senior at Concordia Lutheran.
‘CATS PICKED NINTH IN BIG 12 POLL; SNEED NAMED HONORABLE MENTION ALL-BIG 12
K-State was picked to finish ninth by the league coaches in the annual Big 12 Preseason poll released on Oct. 17, as the Wildcats received 23 points. Kansas was selected first for the ninth consecutive season, while Baylor, Texas Tech, Texas and West Virginia rounded out the Top 5.The ninth-place selection tied for the lowest by a K-State team in the history of the 10-team poll, joining the 2016-17 team which was also picked to finish ninth by the league coaches. The team has been picked to finish eighth or worse 13 times in the history of the 24-year poll, including eighth in 2001-02, 2003-04, 2008-09, 2015-16 and 2017-18, ninth in 1996-97, 2004-05, 10th in 1999-2000, 11th in 2002-03 and 2005-06 and 12th in 1997-98 and 2000-01.Senior Xavier Sneed was one of eight players to be selected to the honorable mention All-Big 12 preseason team, along with Oklahoma’s Kristian Doolittle, Oklahoma State’s Yor Anei, Texas’ Matt Coleman, Texas Tech’s Chris Clarke, Davide Moretti and Jahmi’us Ramey and West Virginia’s Derek Culver. Kansas’ Udoka Azubuike and Devon Dotson, along with Baylor’s Tristan Clark, Iowa State’s Tyrese Haliburton and TCU’s Desmond Bane were named to the Preseason All-Big 12 team. Azubuike was the Preseason Player of the Year, while Chris Clarke was the Preseason Newcomer of the Year and West Virginia’s Oscar Tshiebwe was the Preseason Freshman of the Year.
SNEED NAMED CANDIDATE FOR JULIUS ERVING AWARD
Senior Xavier Sneed was named one of 20 watch list members for the 2020 Julius Erving Small Forward of the Year Award, as announced by the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame on Oct. 16. Sneed was one of two Big 12 players named to the watch list, including Texas Tech transfer Chris Clarke. Other candidates include Arizona’s Josh Green, Duke’s Matthew Hurt, Florida’s Scottie Lewis, Gonzaga’s Corey Kispert, Harvard’s Seth Towns, Kentucky’s Kahlil Whitney, Louisville’s Jordan Nwora, Memphis’ Precious Achiuwa, Oregon State’s Tres Tinkle, Providence’s Alpha Diallo, Purdue’s Nojel Eastern, St. John’s L.J. Figueroa, Syracuse’s Elijah Hughes, Vermont’s Anthony Lamb, Villanova’s Saddiq Bey, Washington’s Jaden McDaniels, Washington State’s C.J. Elleby and Xavier’s Naji Marshall.Wade is the first K-State player to be a preseason candidate for the Wooden Award since Rodney McGruder in 2012. Jacob Pullen, who was a preseason candidate in 2010, was the last Wildcat to earn recognition to the Wooden All-American team, while Michael Beasley (2008) was the last finalist. The 20-member watch list for the Erving Award will be narrowed to just 10 by mid-February. In March, five finalists will be presented to Julius Erving and the Hall of Fame’s selection committee. The winner will be presented at The College Basketball Awards presented by Wendy’s on April 10, 2020.
NEXT UP: AT UNLV
K-State will hit the road this weekend to take on UNLV on Saturday at 3 p.m., CT at the Thomas & Mack Center. It will be the earliest road game in school history and the first at UNLV since 2009. The game will air on ESPN+.
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