Mar 03, 2020

Kansas State plays at Oklahoma State Wednesday night

Posted Mar 03, 2020 9:25 PM

KANSAS STATE (9-20, 2-14 Big 12) at OKLAHOMA STATE (15-14, 5-11 Big 12)

Wednesday, March 4, 2020 // 8:05 p.m. CT // Gallagher-Iba Arena (13,611) // Stillwater, Okla.

TELEVISION

ESPNU / WatchESPN

  1. Robert Ford (play-by-play)
  2. Tim Welsh (analyst)
  3. Greg Pike (producer)

RADIO

K-State Sports Network

Flagships: // KMAN 1350 & WIBW 580

Online: TuneIn.com [free] / www.kstatesports.com/watch [free]

Satellite Radio: XM 386 / Internet 976

  1. Wyatt Thompson (play-by-play)
  2. Stan Weber (analyst)

COACHES

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

Overall: 472-264/22nd season

At K-State: 159-109/8th season

vs. Oklahoma State: 11-6 (3-4 on the road)

Oklahoma State: Mike Boynton, Jr. (South Carolina ‘05)

Overall: 48-49/3rd season

At Oklahoma State: 48-49/3rd season

vs. Kansas State: 1-4 (0-2 at home)

PROJECTED STARTING LINEUP

Kansas State (9-20)

G: #2 Cartier Diarra

G: #00 Mike McGuirl

G: #03 DaJuan Gordon

G/F: #20 Xavier Sneed

F: #14 Makol Mawien

Oklahoma State (15-14)

G: #13 Isaac Likekele

G: #21 Lindy Waters III

G: #1 Jonathan Laurent

F: #12 Cameron McGriff

F: #14 Yor Anei

SERIES HISTORY

Overall: K-State leads 82-54

Current Streak: Oklahoma State, 1

In Stillwater: Oklahoma State leads 33-27

At Gallagher-Iba Arena: Oklahoma State leads 30-25

Last Meeting: L, 59-64, 2/11/2020 [Manhattan]

Weber vs. Boynton: 4-1 (2-0 on the road)

OPENING TIP

  1. Kansas State (9-20, 2-14 Big 12) begins the last week of the regular season with a trip to Oklahoma State (15-14, 5-11 Big 12, as the Wildcats travel to Stillwater, Okla., take on the Cowboys at Gallagher-Iba Arena on Wednesday night. OSU won the first meeting, 64-59, in Manhattan on Feb. 11 to end a 4-game losing skid in the series and will be looking to sweep the regular-season series for the first time in the Big 12 round-robin era. The game will tip at 8:05 p.m., CT on ESPNU with Robert Ford (play-by-play) and Tim Welsh (analyst) on the call.
  2. K-State saw its losing streak hit 9 games on Saturday afternoon, as the Wildcats battled No. 1/1 Kansas for the entire 40 minutes before falling 62-58 at Bramlage Coliseum. Big 12 Player of the Year candidate Devon Dotson scored a game-high 25 points, including 5 in a pivotal 8-0 run late in the second half, to push the Jayhawks winning streak to 14 games. Trailing by as many as 9 points in the first half, K-State used a 21-9 run, sandwiched between the last 4 minutes of the first half and the first 4 minutes of the second half, to take a 43-39 advantage with 15 to play. However, with the score knotted at 48-all with 7:23 to play, Kansas scored 8 consecutive points out of the media timeout to take control and sweep the season series.
  3. The loss was yet another disappointing one for the Wildcats, which has now lost 12 games by single digits (including 7 in Big 12 play) and 7 by 5 points or less. During the current 9-game skid, the team has lost 6 games by 10 points or less, including 5 by single digits. The 12 losses by single digits are the most in a single season since the 2002-03 team lost 13 games by single digits.
  4. After losses to No. 2/2 Baylor (66-85) and No. 1/1 Kansas (58-62, K-State played the No. 1 and No. 2 teams in consecutive games for just the second time in school history and the first time since losing to No. 1 UCLA and No. 2 Michigan at the 1964 Final Four at Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City, Mo. The Wildcats are just the fifth Division I team since 1996-97 to play the nation’s top two teams in the same week and the first since West Virginia in 2016.
  5. During the 9-game losing streak, K-State has allowed opponents to average 70 points on 47.2 percent shooting, including 37.8 percent from 3-point range, and 73.5 percent from the free throw line, while averaging just 60.9 points on 40.4 percent shooting, including 29 percent from long range, and 64 percent from the free throw line. The team is averaging 10.2 assists on 21.0 made field goals with 14.2 turnovers per game, while opponents are averaging 14 assists on 22.9 made field goals with 15.4 turnovers per game. Senior Xavier Sneed is averaging 12.8 points during that span, but is connecting on just 32.1 percent (34-of-106) from the field, including 26 percent (13-of-50) from 3-point range.  
  6. Injuries have been a big part of K-State’s season, as 4 players have combined to miss 53 games, which has caused coach Bruce Weber to use 9 starting lineups. The 9 lineups are the most since using 11 in 2014-15 with at least one true freshman starting in 26 of 29 games, including rookies DaJuan Gordon and Montavious Murphy starting together 8 times, including in 7 of the last 11 games, and Antonio Gordon starting the games against Texas (2/22/20) and No. 1/1 Baylor (2/25/20). 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.