Feb 21, 2020

K-State hosts Texas in men's basketball Saturday

Posted Feb 21, 2020 10:00 PM

GAME 27

KANSAS STATE (9-17, 2-11 Big 12) vs. TEXAS (15-11, 5-8 Big 12)

Saturday, February 22, 2020 // 1:06 p.m. CT // Bramlage Coliseum (12,528) // Manhattan, Kan.

PROMOTION

Throwback Game

The Wildcats will wear special two-tone lavender throwback uniforms, which were worn from 1973 to 1982, with the first 1,500 students receiving a lavender t-shirt.

COACHES

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

Overall: 472-261/22nd season

At K-State: 159-106/8th season

vs. Texas: 9-7 (4-3 at home)

Texas: Shaka Smart (Kenyon College ‘99)

Overall: 249-133/11th season

At Texas: 86-77/5th season

vs. Kansas State: 4-5 (2-2 on the road)

PROJECTED STARTING LINEUP

Kansas State (9-17)

G: #2 Cartier Diarra

G: #4 David Sloan

G/F: #20 Xavier Sneed

F: #23 Montavious Murphy

F: #14 Makol Mawien

Texas (15-11)

G: #1 Andrew Jones

G: #3 Courtney Ramey

G: #4 Donovan Williams

F: #5 Royce Hamm, Jr.

F: #33 Kamaka Hepa

SERIES HISTORY

Overall: K-State leads 22-17

Current Streak: Texas, 1

In Manhattan: K-State leads 11-6

At Bramlage Coliseum: K-State leads 9-6

Last Meeting: L, 50-64 [1/11/20 in Austin]

Weber vs. Smart: Weber leads 5-4 [2-2 at home]

OPENING TIP

  1. K-State (9-17, 2-11 Big 12) will host its first Saturday home game in more than a month, as the Wildcats return to play Texas (15-11, 5-8 Big 12) at Bramlage Coliseum. The Longhorns have won 2 of the last 3 meetings and will be attempting to sweep the season series for the first time since 2016 after a 64-50 victory on Jan. 11. The game will tip at 1:06 p.m., CT on CBS with Andrew Catalon (play-by-play) and Steve Lappas (analyst). This will be the first CBS game at Bramlage Coliseum and the first in the regular season since a 69-62 loss at Kansas on Jan. 17, 1998.
  2. Saturday's contest will be Throwback Day at Bramlage Coliseum, as K-State will wear their two-tone lavender throwback uniforms, which were worn from 1973 to 1982, and made famous by the Purple Pop-Gun tandem of Mike Evans and Chuckie Williams during the 1974-75 and 1975-76 seasons and commemorated by Rolando Blackman on the cover of Sports Illustrated after the 1981 upset of No. 1 Oregon State in the NCAA Tournament. Overall, the Wildcats posted an 186-81 (.697) record during the period of the uniform (1973-82, including an 85-41 (.675) mark in Big Eight play, winning the 1977 Big Eight regular-season title and the 1977 and 1980 Big Eight Tournament crowns to go with five NCAA Tournament appearances.
  3. Texas Tech extended K-State’s misery in close games, as the Red Raiders swept the season series with a 69-62 victory on Wednesday night at United Supermarkets Arena. The loss was the Wildcats’ sixth straight, which is the longest such streak in the Bruce Weber era and the longest by a Wildcat team since also dropping 6 in a row from Feb. 2-19, 2005. The team has now lost 11 games by single digits, including 6 in Big 12 play, and fell to 3-12 in games decided by 10 points or less.
  4. Texas Tech was impressive on the offensive end, connecting on 50 percent from the field with 18 assists on 23 made field goals, but K-State still had opportunities, closing to within 44-42 after a layup by junior Cartier Diarra midway through the second half. However, a missed dunk by Diarra on the next possession ignited an 8-2 run by the Red Raiders, which provided the necessary cushion to flip the narrow 44-42 lead into a 52-44 advantage with 6:44 to play. The Wildcats could get no closer than 5 points (64-59 with 38 seconds left) the rest of the way. Despite the loss, the team was better offensively, connecting on 47.9 percent (23-of-48) from the field, including 61.3 percent (19-of-31) from inside the 3-point line. It was the highest field goal percentage since hitting on 59.2 percent (29-of-49) in a win at home over No. 12/13 West Virginia on Jan. 18 and the highest in a road game this season.   
  5. Injuries have been a big part of K-State’s season, as 5 players have missed 49  games, which has caused coach Bruce Weber to use 7 starting lineups. The 7 lineups are the most since using 11 in 2014-15 with at least one true freshman starting in 23 of 26 games, including true freshmen DaJuan Gordon and Montavious Murphy starting together 8 times, including in 7 of the last 8 games. The last time a pair of freshmen started together in more than one game came when Barry Brown, Jr., and Dean Wade started the last 9 games of 2015-16.