Game Preview: K-State vs. Saint Louis

KANSAS CITY - Check out a preview of tonight's game between Kansas State and Saint Louis from @ksu_FAN and K-State Athletics Communications.

K-State faces old Oklahoma State coach Travis Ford and his Saint Louis Billikens in Kansas City. Saint Louis is coming off of an NCAA trip last year, but lost its top two scorers - and three of the top five - from last year's team. The Billikens are off to a solid start this year with losses to good Seton Hall and Auburn teams and solid wins over Belmont and Boston College.

Saint Louis features a good defensive team, ranking No. 56 in defensive efficiency and No. 52 in eFG% defense. Most impressive is a 39.9% two-point defense, especially with K-State's major struggles from two in losses to Pitt, Marquette, and Mississippi State. Besides that, the Billiken defense is average to below average in most other categories.

The Saint Louis offense is best on the offensive glass and getting to the free throw line, though they shoot only 52.5% from the foul line, one of the worst marks in the country. They are are solid 3-point shooting team, though Ford's teams don't shoot a ton of threes.

Saint Louis' best two players are returners Jordan Goodwin and Hasahn French. Both started and averaged nearly 10 points per game their first two years at Saint Louis, and Goodwin was nearly a top 50 recruit out of high school. However, French was injured last week vs Auburn and did not play in their latest game vs D2 Maryville. Jimerson is the Billiken's 3rd leading scorer as a freshman and also missed the game. Saint Louis was tied into the second half, and little used freshman Terrance Hargrove scored 27 points to help avoid the embarrassing loss.

The Billikens feature a lot of new players, with three of their top seven this season being freshmen, and a fourth in that group is junior college transfer Javonte Perkins.

GAME 11

KANSAS STATE (6-4) vs. SAINT LOUIS (9-2)

Saturday, December 21, 2019 >> 6:02 p.m. CT >> Sprint Center (18,972) >> Kansas City, Mo.

10th Wildcat Classic

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]

Internet 977

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

LIVE STATS

www.kstatesports.com

kstate.statbroadcast.com [media only]

TICKETS

www.kstatesports.com/tickets

(800) 221.CATS [2287]

Gameday: $15 (ends/upper side)/$20-$50 (lower level)

Wildcat 4-Pack: $50 / $75

Group (10+): $5

COACHES

Kansas State: Bruce Weber (Wis.-Milwaukee ’78)

Overall: 469-248/22nd season

At K-State: 165-93/8th season

vs. Saint Louis: 5-2 (3-0 at home)

Saint Louis: Travis Ford (Kentucky ‘94)

Overall: 406-309/23rd season

At Saint Louis: 61-52/4th season

vs. Kansas State: 7-10 (1-6 on the road)

PROJECTED STARTING LINEUP

Kansas State (6-4)

G: #00 Mike McGuirl

G: #2 Cartier Diarra

G/F: #20 Xavier Sneed

F: #11 Antonio Murphy

F: #14 Makol Mawien

Saint Louis (9-2)

G: #1 Yuri Collins

G: #15 Demarius Jacobs

G: #0 Jordan Goodwin

F: #11 Hasahn French

F: #32 Jimmy Bell, Jr.

SERIES HISTORY

Overall: K-State leads 10-9

Current Streak: K-State, 2

In Kansas City: First meeting

At Sprint Center: First meeting

Last Meeting: W, 84-53 [12/3/16 in St. Louis]

Weber vs. Ford: Weber leads 7-4

OPENING TIP

Kansas State (6-4) makes the familiar trek to Kansas City on Saturday night, as the Wildcats play host to defending Atlantic 10 Tournament champion and NCAA Tournament participant Saint Louis (9-2) at 6 p.m., CT in the 10th Wildcat Classic at the Sprint Center. Despite its distance from the K-State campus, the contest will count as a home game, as the school controls the tickets and game operations.

This will be the 10th Wildcat Classic (2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2014, 2016 and 2018) and the first since a 69-58 victory over Vanderbilt on Dec. 22, 2018. K-State is 8-1 in the Wildcat Classic at the Sprint Center, earning wins over Florida A&M (87-60) in 2007, Southern Miss (74-55) in 2008, IUPUI (70-57) in 2009, Alabama (71-58) in 2011, Florida (67-61) in 2012, Texas A&M (71-64) in 2014 and Washington State (70-56) in 2016. The lone loss came to UNLV, 63-59 on Dec. 21, 2010.

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 195 games in the city with a 113-82 (.580) mark in those contests. The Wildcats are 18-15 all-time in the Sprint Center, which includes the Phillips 66 Big 12 Championship, the CBE Hall of Fame Classic (2010, 2015) and the 2013 NCAA Tournament.

Bragging rights will be on the line for St. Louis natives Xavier Sneed and Levi Stockard III as well as recent prep signees Davion Bradford and Luke Kasubke, as K-State and Saint Louis meet for the 20th time. The Wildcats hold a narrow 10-9 edge in the series, which dates to 1929. The team has won 6 of the last 7 matchups with the Billikens, including a sweep of a home-and-home series in 2015 and 2016. This will be the first meeting in a location other than Manhattan and St. Louis.

K-State had its first extended break between games this week with finals week, as the Wildcats are coming off a 67-61 loss to Mississippi State at the fourth annual Never Forget Tribute Classic at the Prudential Center in Newark, N.J., on Dec. 14. The Wildcats led for nearly 23 minutes before a 7-0 run by the Bulldogs out of the last media timeout gave them the necessary push to earn the first victory in the series.

With K-State’s 3-point field goal percentage consistent in both wins (32.1) and losses (32.9), it has been the Wildcats’ ability to knock down shots inside the arc that has played the biggest difference. The Wildcats are connecting on 46.7 percent (158-of-338) from the field in their wins, including 56.4 percent (115-of-204) of their 2-point field goals, while they are hitting on just 36.3 percent (81-of-223) of their field goals in losses, including 38.3 percent (54-of-141) from inside the arc.

With the offense continuing to develop, K-State has had to rely on its defensive foundation. The Wildcats are allowing a Big 12-best 59.0 points on 39.5 percent shooting, including 31.1 percent from 3-point range, while posting league-bests in steals (9.7 spg.) and turnovers forced (18.3). The team ranks 21st in scoring defense, while they place 15th in turnovers forced, 16th in steals and 33rd in turnover margin.

NOTES ON SAINT LOUIS

Saint Louis (9-2) enters Saturday’s contest with wins in 6 of its last 7 games, including a 82-69 victory over Maryville on Tuesday night at home. The lone 2 losses have come to 2019 NCAA Tournament teams in Seton Hall (66-83) at home on Nov. 17 and Auburn (61-67) at a neutral site on Dec. 14. The Billikens are 7-1 at home and 1-0 on the road (Boston College).

Saint Louis is averaging 73.4 points on 44.4 percent shooting, including 34.6 percent from 3-point range, with 42.7 rebounds, 14.6 assists, 7.5 steals and 4.4 blocks per game, while allowing 63.8 points on 39.5 percent shooting, including 35.4 percent from 3-point range. The team has connected on 55.4 percent from the free throw line.

The Billikens are one of the top rebounding teams in the country, ranking eighth nationally in offensive rebounds (14.73), 11th in rebounds per game (42.73), 26th in total rebounds (470) and 31st in rebounding margin (+7.7). They have 2 players (Jordan Goodwin and Hasahn French) who ranks among the top 20 nationally in rebounds per game at 11.5 and 10.5 rebounds per game, while Goodwin is also ninth in defensive rebounds (8.18), 10th in offensive rebounds (4.00) and 11th in double-doubles (6).

Three players (Jordan Goodwin, Hasahn French, Gibson Jimerson) are averaging in double figures this season, as Goodwin and French are both averaging a double-double. Goodwin is averaging a team-best 15.6 points on 49.3 percent shooting to go with 11.5 rebounds and 2.3 steals per game, while French is averaging 13.8 points on 53.6 percent shooting to go with 10.5 rebounds and 2.6 rebounds per game. Jimerson, who is averaging 10.8 points per game, has a team-high 24 made 3-point field goals. Saint Louis returns 7 lettermen, including 2 starters, from a team that posted a 23-13 overall record, including a 10-8 mark in Atlantic 10 play, and lost in the first round of the NCAA Tournament to Virginia Tech. The Billikens played in the same regional site (San Jose, Calif.) as the Wildcats in 2019.

Head coach Travis Ford is in his 23rd season as a head coach, including his fourth at Saint Louis. He has a 406-309 record in his career, including a 61-52 mark at SLU. He also been a head coach at Campbellsville (1997-2000), Eastern Kentucky (2000-05), Massachusetts (2005-08) and most notably, Oklahoma State (2008-16), which he led to 6 postseason appearances.

NEXT UP VS. TULSA (8-3)

K-State will wrap up the 2019 portion of its schedule on Sunday, December 29, as the Wildcats will play host to Tulsa (8-3) at 5 p.m., CT at Bramlage Coliseum. The game will air on Big 12 Now on ESPN+. Tickets are available through the K-State Athletics Ticket Office.