Non-conference hoops slate announced
Four weekend home games at Bramlage Coliseum, the Paradise Jam Tournament in the U.S. Virgin Islands and the return of the Wildcat Classic at the Sprint Center, highlight the 2018-19 Kansas State men’s basketball non-conference schedule released by athletic department officials on Wednesday (June 20).
The 116th season of K-State men’s basketball officially gets underway on Friday, November 9 when the Wildcats host Kennesaw State in the first of back-to-back regular-season home games at Bramlage Coliseum.
“As I have said many times that scheduling is just as important as recruiting and we think that we have put together a strong non-conference schedule,” said head coach Bruce Weber. “It has a good combination of home games as well as some road and neutral site challenges that will get us ready for the Big 12.”
K-State previously announced several components of its non-conference schedule, including the Paradise Jam on Friday-Monday, November 16-19, a road date at Marquette on Saturday, December 1 in the start of a home-and-home series, the Wildcat Classic contest with Vanderbilt at the Sprint Center on Saturday, December 22 and a road tilt with Texas A&M in the sixth annual SEC/Big 12 Challenge on Saturday, January 26, 2019.
In all, the Wildcats will play at least 16 home games in 2018-19, including the nine-game Big 12 schedule with visits from NCAA Tournament teams Kansas, Oklahoma, TCU, Texas, Texas Tech and West Virginia as well as NIT participants Baylor and Oklahoma State. The complete Big 12 schedule will be released later.
“With such an experienced team coming back, we wanted to make sure we provided enough challenges to continue to build on what we have accomplished the last two seasons (NCAA Tournament bids),” said Weber. “The Paradise Jam field has a really solid group of teams, including a possible match-up with Missouri. We will have back-to-back road games in early December against NCAA Tournament-caliber teams in Marquette and Tulsa plus we host Vanderbilt – which will have one of the top recruiting classes in the country – at the Sprint Center and play another NCAA Tournament squad in Texas A&M in the SEC/Big 12 Challenge.”
K-State will play at least one exhibition prior to the start of the regular season before hosting Kennesaw State (Friday, November 9) and Denver (Monday, November 12) in back-to-back home games. Dates and opponents for those possible exhibitions will be released later in the summer.
The Wildcats will travel to the U.S. Virgin Islands and the Paradise Jam for the first time since 2002 where they will play three games, beginning with Eastern Kentucky on Friday, November 16. The team will play either Northern Iowa or Penn on Saturday, November 17 before wrapping up the tournament on Monday, November 19. Other possible matchups include former conference rival Missouri, Old Dominion or Oregon State. The 19th annual event will return to the UVI Sports and Fitness Center in St. Thomas after being relocated to Lynchburg, Virginia and Liberty University this past November due to hurricane damage.
The squad will return home to host first-time opponent Lehigh on Saturday, November 24 before consecutive road games at Marquette on Saturday, December 1 and at Tulsa on Saturday, December 8. It will be the first in a home-and-home series with the Golden Eagles and the second in a three-game series with Golden Hurricane. Both schools will visit Bramlage Coliseum during the 2019-20 season.
The Wildcats will play three of their next four games at Bramlage Coliseum with visits from reigning Sun Belt Conference Tournament champion Georgia State on Saturday, December 15, Conference USA’s Southern Miss on Wednesday, December 19 and the Atlantic 10’s George Mason on Saturday, December 29. All three schools won at least 16 games a season ago, including 24 wins by Georgia State.
K-State will host the Wildcat Classic at the Sprint Center for the eighth time and the first time since 2016 when the team play Vanderbilt on Saturday, December 22. It is the return of a two-game series between the schools, which began with the Wildcats’ 84-79 win over the Commodores in Nashville on December 3, 2017.
The non-conference schedule will conclude on Saturday, January 26, as the Wildcats travel to College Station, Texas to take on Texas A&M in the sixth annual SEC/Big 12 Challenge. The Aggies advanced to the Sweet 16 for the second time in three seasons a year ago before losing to eventual national runner-up Michigan. It will be the 27th all-time meeting between the schools and the first in the Challenge series.
All-Big 12 selections Dean Wade (16.2 ppg., 6.2 rpg.) and Barry Brown, Jr. (15.9 ppg., 3.1 rpg.) form the core of a veteran group returning for the Wildcats, who won 25 games for just the sixth time en route to the school’s first NCAA Elite Eight in eight seasons. Wade and Brown were among the top scoring tandems, ranking seventh and eighth, respectively, in scoring in the Big 12 and accounting for nearly 44 percent of the team’s scoring. The Wildcats also return rising juniors Xavier Sneed (11.1 ppg., 5.1 rpg.) and Makol Mawien (6.8 ppg., 3.4 rpg.) as well as point guards, senior Kamau Stokes (9.0 ppg., 3.4 apg.) and sophomore Cartier Diarra (7.1 ppg., 2.0 apg.).
Season tickets for the 2018-19 season went on sale June 11 with a variety of pricing options available, including the return of the Pick 5 Mini-Plan. Current season-ticket holders should receive their renewal information in the mail this upcoming week and have until Friday, July 20 to arrange payment and retain their seats. 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.
2018-19 Non-Conference Schedule
Day Date Opponent
Friday Nov. 9 KENNESAW STATE
Monday Nov. 12 DENVER
Paradise Jam (UVI Sports and Fitness Center, St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands)
Teams: Eastern Kentucky, Kennesaw State, Missouri, Northern Iowa, Old Dominion, Oregon State, Penn
Friday Nov. 16 vs. Eastern Kentucky
Saturday Nov. 17 vs. Northern Iowa/Penn
Monday Nov. 19 vs. TBD
Saturday Nov. 24 LEHIGH
Saturday Dec. 1 at Marquette
Saturday Dec. 8 at Tulsa
Saturday Dec. 15 GEORGIA STATE
Wednesday Dec. 19 SOUTHERN MISS
Wildcat Classic (Sprint Center, Kansas City, Mo.)
Saturday Dec. 22 vs. Vanderbilt
Saturday Dec. 29 GEORGE MASON
SEC-Big 12 Challenge
Saturday Jan. 26 at Texas A&M
News and Notes from the 2018-19 Non-Conference Schedule
The 16 potential non-conference opponents combined to win 283 games on a .546 winning percentage in 2017-18 with an average of 17.7 wins per team and includes seven schools (Georgia State, Marquette, Missouri, Old Dominion, Penn, Texas A&M and Tulsa) that won 19 or more games.
Five of the non-conference opponents advanced to the NCAA Tournament (Georgia State, Missouri, Penn and Texas A&M) or the NIT (Marquette).The collective 2017-18 RPI of the opponents is 147 with 10 of the 16 boasting an RPI in the Top 150, including four (Marquette, Missouri, Old Dominion and Texas A&M) in the Top 75. The 16 potential opponents come from 13 different conferences (American Athletic, Atlantic Sun, Atlantic 10, Big East, Conference USA, Ivy League, Missouri Valley, Ohio Valley, Pac-12, Patriot League, SEC, Summit League and Sun Belt).
K-State will play three true non-conference road games for the first time since playing five (Rutgers, New Mexico, California, Colorado State and North Dakota State) in 2006-07.
K-State will play in the Paradise Jam for the second time in school history and the first time since 2002... The Wildcats went 1-2 in their previous visit, losing to BYU (64-73) and Toledo (50-58) before defeating Michigan (82-71). This year’s tournament will return to the U.S. Virgin Islands.K-State could face Missouri in the Paradise Jam for the first time since 2015… The two teams have met 236 times dating back to 1907, including every year from 1913 to 2012… The 236 meetings are the second-most of any opponent in school history behind Kansas (289).
There is one first-time opponent (Lehigh) and a meeting with Eastern Kentucky for the first time since 1972, while there could be matchups with UNI (1984) and Penn (1975) for the first time in decades.K-State will travel to play Marquette at the brand-new Wisconsin Entertainment and Sports Center, which the Golden Eagles will share with the Milwaukee Bucks… It will be the first visit to Milwaukee since 1987.
K-State will play at Tulsa for the fourth time and the first time since 1990… The Wildcats are winless in their previous three visits (1967, 1972, 1990).K-State will play Georgia State for the third time overall and the first time since 1999.Southern Miss will return to Bramlage Coliseum for the first time since knocking off K-State, 74-60, in 1993… They will be led by former Nebraska head coach Doc Sadler. K-State is 7-1 all-time in the Wildcat Classic at the Sprint Center with games every year from 2007 to 2012 then again in 2004 and 2016… The Wildcats are 4-0 against current members of the SEC at the Sprint Center (Alabama/2011; Florida/2012; Texas A&M/2014; Missouri/2015).
K-State 3-2 all-time in the SEC/Big 12 Challenge with all three wins (Ole Miss in 2013 and 2016 and Georgia in 2018) at home and both losses on the road (Tennessee in 2014 and 2017).K-State leads the all-time series with Texas A&M, 18-8, but is just 3-7 on the road in the series.
2018-19 Non-Conference Opponents At A Glance
Kennesaw State (Nov. 9)
Series: K-State leads 1-0 | Last meeting: 2006
2017-18 Record: 10-20/8-20 Atlantic Sun (6th)
NCAA RPI: 301 | Ken Pomeroy Ranking: 309
Head coach: Al Skinner
School Record: 35-58/4th season
Top Returning Player(s):
James Scott (17.3 ppg., 2.4 rpg.)Tyler Hooker (10.8 ppg., 2.7 rpg.)
Denver (Nov. 12)
Series: K-State leads 4-0 | Last meeting: 2004
2017-18 Record: 15-15/8-6 Summit League (3rd)
NCAA RPI: 229 | Ken Pomeroy Ranking: 210
Head coach: Rodney Billups
School Record: 31-29/3rd season
Top Returning Player(s):
Joe Rosga (16.1 ppg., 4.1 rpg.) // First Team All-Summit LeagueAde Murkey (7.5 ppg., 4.2 rpg.)
Eastern Kentucky (Nov. 16)
Series: Tied 1-1 | Last meeting: 1972
2017-18 Record: 11-20/5-13 Ohio Valley (t-9th)
NCAA RPI: 270 | Ken Pomeroy Ranking: 286
Head coach: A.W. Hamilton
School Record: 0-0/1st season
Top Returning Player(s):
Nick Mayo (18.0 ppg., 6.7 rpg.) // First Team All-OVCJackson Davis (8.2 ppg., 4.7 rpg.)
Northern Iowa (Possible Opponent)
Series: K-State leads 6-1 | Last meeting: 1984
2017-18 Record: 16-16/7-11 Missouri Valley (t-7th)
NCAA RPI: 137 | Ken Pomeroy Ranking: 122
Head coach: Ben Jacobson
School Record: 250-150/12th season
Top Returning Player(s):
Wyatt Lohaus (9.3 ppg., 2.6 rpg.) // MVC All-Bench TeamTywhon Pickford (9.1 ppg., 7.8 rpg.) // MVC All-Freshman, All-Newcomer Teams
Penn (Possible Opponent)
Series: K-State leads 1-0 | Last meeting: 1975 (NCAA Tournament)
2017-18 Record: 24-9/12-2 Ivy League (t-1st)
Ivy League Champion // NCAA Tournament First Round
NCAA RPI: 113 | Ken Pomeroy Ranking: 125
Head coach: Steve Donahue
School Record: 48-40/4th season
Top Returning Player(s):
A.J. Brodeur (13.1 ppg., 7.2 rpg.) // Unanimous First Team All-Ivy LeagueRyan Betley (14.3 ppg., 5.0 rpg.) // Second Team All-Ivy League
Missouri (Possible Opponent)
Series: K-State leads 120-116 | Last meeting: 2015
2017-18 Record: 20-13/10-8 SEC (t-4th)
NCAA Tournament First Round
NCAA RPI: 49 | Ken Pomeroy Ranking: 40
Head coach: Cuonzo Martin
School Record: 20-13/2nd season
Top Returning Player(s):
Jontay Porter (9.9 ppg., 6.8 rpg.) // SEC co-Sixth Man of the Year, All-Freshman TeamKevin Puryear (8.6 ppg., 4.3 rpg.)
Old Dominion (Possible Opponent)
Series: Tied 1-1| Last meeting: 2000
2017-18 Record: 25-7/15-3 Conference USA (2nd)
NCAA RPI: 74 | Ken Pomeroy Ranking: 64
Head coach: Jeff Jones
School Record: 114-58/6th season
Top Returning Player(s):
Ahmad Caver (14.2 ppg., 6.2 apg.) // All-CUSA First Team, All-Defensive TeamB.J. Stith (14.2 ppg., 5.7 rpg.) // All-CUSA Third Team
Oregon State (Possible Opponent)
Series: Oregon State leads 3-2 | Last meeting: 2003
2017-18 Record: 16-16/7-11 Pac-12 (9th)
NCAA RPI: 140 | Ken Pomeroy Ranking: 100
Head coach: Wayne Tinkle
School Record: 57-70/5th season
Top Returning Player(s):
Tres Tinkle (17.6 ppg., 7.2 rpg.) // All-Pac-12 First TeamStephen Thompson, Jr. (15.8 ppg., 3.1 rpg.)
Lehigh (Nov. 24)
Series: First meeting | Last meeting: n/a
2017-18 Record: 16-14/11-7 Patriot League (t-3rd)
NCAA RPI: 217 | Ken Pomeroy Ranking: 235
Head coach: Dr. Brett Reed
School Record: 198-146/11th season
Top Returning Player(s):
Lance Tejada (14.7 ppg., 2.5 rpg.) // Second Team All-Patriot LeaguePat Andree (12.6 ppg., 5.8 rpg.)
Marquette (Dec. 1)
Series: K-State leads 7-3 | Last meeting: 1988
2017-18 Record: 21-14/9-9 BIG EAST (t-6th)
NIT Quarterfinals
NCAA RPI: 60 | Ken Pomeroy Ranking: 53
Head coach: Steve Wojciechowski
School Record: 73-59/5th season
Top Returning Player(s):
Markus Howard (20.4 ppg., 3.2 rpg.) // All-BIG EAST Second TeamSam Hauser (14.1 ppg., 5.7 rpg.)
Tulsa (Dec. 8)
Series: Tulsa leads 6-1 | Last meeting: 2017
2017-18 Record: 19-12/12-6 American (4th)
NCAA RPI: 89 | Ken Pomeroy Ranking: 110
Head coach: Frank Haith
School Record: 77-52/5th season
Top Returning Player(s):
Sterling Taplin (11.8 ppg., 3.7 rpg.)DaQuan Jeffries (9.7 ppg., 4.9 rpg.)
Georgia State (Dec. 15)
Series: K-State leads 2-0 | Last meeting: 1999
2017-18 Record: 24-11/12-6 Sun Belt (2nd)
Sun Belt Conference Tournament Champions // NCAA Tournament First Round
NCAA RPI: 116 | Ken Pomeroy Ranking: 101
Head coach: Ron Hunter
School Record: 140-85/8th season
Top Returning Player(s):
D’Marcus Simonds (21.2 ppg., 5.7 rpg.) // Sun Belt Player of the YearDevin Mitchell (12.0 ppg., 2.5 rpg.) // All-Sun Belt Third Team
Southern Miss (Dec. 19)
Series: K-State leads 4-3 | Last meeting: 2012
2017-18 Record: 16-18/7-11 Conference USA (t-9th)
NCAA RPI: 204 | Ken Pomeroy Ranking: 206
Head coach: Doc Sadler
School Record: 36-81/5th season
Top Returning Player(s):
Cortez Edwards (16.6 ppg., 6.4 rpg.) // C-USA All-Tournament TeamTyree Griffin (15.0 ppg., 5.9 apg.)
Vanderbilt (Dec. 22 at Sprint Center)
Series: K-State leads 6-4 | Last meeting: 2017
2017-18 Record: 12-20/6-12 SEC (13th)
NCAA RPI: 131 | Ken Pomeroy Ranking: 91
Head coach: Bryce Drew
School Record: 31-36/3rd season
Top Returning Player(s):
Saben Lee (10.6 ppg., 3.1 apg.)Joe Toye (5.7 ppg., 2.0 rpg.)
George Mason (Dec. 29)
Series: George Mason leads 1-0 | Last meeting: 2007
2017-18 Record: 16-17/9-9 Atlantic 10 (t-5th)
NCAA RPI: 198 | Ken Pomeroy Ranking: 220
Head coach: Dave Paulsen
School Record: 47-52/4th season
Top Returning Player(s):
Otis Livingston II (17.3 ppg., 4.3 apg.) // All-Atlantic 10 Second TeamJaire Grayer (12.3 ppg., 7.3 rpg.)
Texas A&M (Jan. 26)
Series: K-State leads 18-8 | Last meeting: 2015
2017-18 Record: 22-13/9-9 SEC (t-7th)
NCAA Sweet 16
NCAA RPI: 25 | Ken Pomeroy Ranking: 29
Head coach: Billy Kennedy
School Record: 136-98/8th season
Top Returning Player(s):
Admon Gilder (12.3 ppg., 4.1 rpg.)T.J. Starks (9.9 ppg., 2.3 rpg.) // SEC All-Freshman Team