Hoops announces non-con schedule

Reigning Big 12 men's basketball champion Kansas State will host nine non-conference games at Bramlage Coliseum in 2013-14, including matchups with Oral Roberts, Long Beach State, Ole Miss and George Washington, athletics department officials announced Wednesday.

Under second-year head coach Bruce Weber, the Wildcats will play 18 games at home in 2013-14. Of the nine home non-conference contests at Bramlage Coliseum, five will take place on Friday nights or Sunday afternoons to accommodate fans from across the region. In addition, the Wichita Wildcat Classic at INTRUST Bank Arena against NCAA Tournament participate and reigning West Coast Conference champion Gonzaga will occur on Saturday, December 21.

"We think that we have built a strong non-conference schedule in 2013-14," said Weber. "It is always our goal to challenge our team in the preseason to adequately prepare them for what should be another outstanding year in the Big 12. Match-ups with Oral Roberts, Long Beach State, Ole Miss and Gonzaga as well as the Puerto Rico Tip-Off will give our team the opportunity to grow and gain more experience before the start of conference play in January. It should also be an attractive schedule for our fans, as they will be able to see us compete against several postseason teams, including two NCAA Tournament teams, right in our own backyard."

K-State previously announced its participation in the Puerto Rico Tip-Off November 21-24 in San Juan, P.R., to go with its home game vs. Ole Miss in the Big 12-SEC Challenge on Thursday, December 5 and neutral site contests with Gonzaga in Wichita and Tulane in Brooklyn, N.Y., on Saturday, December 28. The squad will play three games in Puerto Rico against the likes of Charlotte, Florida State, Georgetown, Long Beach State, Michigan, Northeastern or VCU with matchups to be determined later. The Wildcats and Green Wave will play in the Brooklyn Hoops Winter Festival at the world-renowned Barclays Center on the final Saturday in 2013.

Kansas State opens its 111th season of basketball when the Wildcats host Pittsburg State in their lone exhibition game on Friday, November 1. The season officially gets underway a week later on Friday, November 8 when the squad hosts Northern Colorado for the first time since 1937.

The exhibition with Pittsburg State will be the first of four straight home games for the Wildcats, which also includes the opener with Northern Colorado and contests against Oral Roberts on Wednesday, November 13 and Big West champion Long Beach State on Sunday, November 17. It will be the first meeting since 1985 with the Golden Eagles, who won 20 games and advanced to the quarterfinals of the CollegeInsider.com Tournament last season. The game with the 49ers could be the first of two meetings in 2013-14, as both teams will participate in the Puerto Rico Tip-Off.

Following its trip to Puerto Rico, K-State opens the month of December with four consecutive home games before its contest with Gonzaga at INTRUST Bank Arena. The Wildcats play Central Arkansas on Sunday, December 1 before hosting NCAA Tournament participant Ole Miss four days later on December 5. The squad then concludes the homestand with South Dakota on Tuesday, December 10 and Troy on Sunday, December 15.

After trips to Wichita and Brooklyn, the Wildcats wrap up non-conference play on Tuesday, December 31 with a home game against the Atlantic 10's George Washington. The contest marks the end of a three-game contract with the Colonials with K-State posting a 69-56 win in Manhattan in 2011 and a 65-62 victory in Washington, D.C., last season.

The complete Big 12 schedule, along with game times and the television schedule will be released at a later date. In addition to its non-conference slate, the Wildcats will again face an 18-game, round-robin Big 12 schedule with visits from NCAA Tournament teams Iowa State, Kansas, Oklahoma and Oklahoma State and NIT champion Baylor.

Season tickets for the 2013-14 season are currently on sale with a variety of ticket packages available. Season-ticket holders will have until Friday, August 2 to arrange payment and retain their seats for the upcoming season. New full season-ticket requests will be handled utilizing the K-State Priority Points system, which rewards fans for their history of season ticket purchases and contributions to the Ahearn Fund.

A variety of ticket packages, including the new Wildcat Victory Ticket Plan, are available with ticket prices remaining the same for the third consecutive season. In addition to its usual ticket offerings, there are also a limited number of Young Alumni packages priced at $200, which are available for all K-State undergraduate degree recipients in the past five years (May 2009 to May 2013). The Wildcat Victory Ticket Plan, available in limited quantities, is a new option for the 2013-14 season and includes all non-conference and all-midweek conference games (excluding Big Monday and the Kansas game) in general admission seating (sections 24-25) for only $169.

Season ticket holders and Ahearn Fund members will have the opportunity to pre-order priority seating for the Gonzaga game at INTRUST Bank Arena. Tickets for the Wichita Wildcat Classic are priced at $200 for courtside, $150 for lower-level VIP, $75 for lower-level midcourt, $35 for lower-level ends and upper-level midcourt, $20 for upper-level corners and $12 for upper-level ends. The courtside and lower-level VIP packages also include access to a pre-game lounge. For more information on the Wichita Wildcat Classic, including a seating diagram, please log onto www.PaintWichitaPurple.com. Tickets go on sale to the public Friday, September 13.

The Wildcats continue to possess one of the top home atmospheres in the country as Bramlage Coliseum has been sold out each of the past three seasons. K-State is one of just 13 schools nationally to draw more than 12,000 in paid attendance for every regular season home game over the last three seasons, while the school has won more than 75 percent of its games in Bramlage Coliseum's 25-year history, including a record-tying 16 victories in 2012-13.

Kansas State enjoyed one of its best men's basketball seasons in 2012-13, posting a 27-8 overall record and 14-4 mark in league play en route to their first-ever Big 12 regular season championship and a fourth consecutive trip to the NCAA Tournament. The 27 wins were the second-most in school history, while the 14 in league play tied the school record held by the 1958-59 team. The league championship was the 18th in school history and the first since the 1976-77 season.

Weber's squad returns eight lettermen, including four players with starting experience, in 2013-14. The group is headlined by All-Big 12 honorable mention selection Shane Southwell (8.4 ppg., 3.8 rpg.) and fellow senior Will Spradling (7.4 ppg., 2.4 apg.). The team will also have seven new players, including five freshmen, led by PARADE High School All-American Marcus Foster.

Fans can purchase season tickets in a variety of ways, including toll free at (800) 221.CATS (2287), online at www.kstatesports.com/tickets and in-person at the Athletics Ticket Office located in Bramlage Coliseum.

2013-14 K-STATE MEN'S BASKETBALL NON-CONFERENCE SCHEDULE

Day, Date Opponent

Friday, Nov. 1 PITTSBURG STATE (Exh.)

Friday, Nov. 8 NORTHERN COLORADO

Wednesday, Nov. 13 ORAL ROBERTS

Sunday, Nov. 17 LONG BEACH STATE

Puerto Rico Tip-Off (Coliseo Rueben Rodriguez, San Juan, P.R.)

Thursday, Nov. 21 vs. TBA

Friday, Nov. 22 vs. TBA

Sunday, Nov. 24 vs. TBA

Sunday, Dec. 1 CENTRAL ARKANSAS

Big 12-SEC Challenge

Thursday, Dec. 5 OLE MISS

Tuesday, Dec. 10 SOUTH DAKOTA

Sunday, Dec. 15 TROY

Wichita Wildcat Classic (INTRUST Bank Arena, Wichita, Kan.)

Saturday, Dec. 21 vs. Gonzaga

Brooklyn Hoops Winter Festival Presented by Honda (Barclays Center, Brooklyn, N.Y.)

Saturday, Dec. 28 vs. Tulane

Tuesday, Dec. 31 GEORGE WASHINGTON