Jan 02, 2021

K-State MBB concludes homestand vs. TCU Saturday

Posted Jan 02, 2021 3:32 PM

MANHATTAN, Kan.—Kansas State (5-5, 1-1 Big 12) opens the new year with a return to Big 12 action, as the Wildcats play host to TCU (8-2, 1-1 Big 12) at 1 p.m., CT at Bramlage Coliseum. K-State, winners of 4 of its last 5 games, went 1-1 in its 2 December Big 12 games, opening with a 74-65 win at Iowa State on Dec. 15 before losing at home to No. 2/2 Baylor, 100-69, on Dec. 19. Saturday’s game will air on ESPNU with Rich Hollenberg (play-by-play) and Lance Blanks (analyst) on the call. KHMY My93.1 will broadcast the game locally.

OPENING TIP

  1. TCU swept the regular season series for the first time in 2019-20, which included a dramatic 59-57 victory by the Horned Frogs in the last matchup in Manhattan on a tip-in by Kevin Samuel with 2 seconds on January 7, 2020. K-State did win the third meeting in the first round of the Big 12 Championship, 53-49, on March 11 in what is believed to be the last completed game before the COVID-19 pandemic cancelled the rest of the conference tournament and NCAA Tournament schedule.
  2. K-State is coming off a dramatic win in its last outing, as freshman Selton Miguel hit a 3-pointer from the corner with 9.7 seconds to help lift the Wildcats past Omaha, 60-58, on Tuesday night. The teams battled through 6 lead changes and 4 ties in the last 11 minutes, as neither team led by more than 2 points in the last 8:33.
  3. The win evened K-State’s record to 5-5 -- the first time the team has been at .500 since falling to 7-7 after a loss to TCU at home on Jan. 7, 2020 -- while it was the Wildcats’ fourth win in its last 5 outings.
  4. Miguel (11 points) and senior Mike McGuirl (13) each talled double-figure points, while freshman Davion Bradford and sophomore DaJuan Gordon each grabbed 10 rebounds to become the first Wildcat duo to post double-digit boards in the same game since 2014. Gordon enjoyed a solid all-around game with 6 points, a career-best 5 assists and a game-high 3 steals, while McGuirl added a game-high 6 assists to give him 27 in the last 5 games (5.4 per game).
  5. The Omaha game was notable in that only 2 Wildcats (McGuirl and Gordon) of the 8 that played were on the team a year ago, which included 4 true freshmen (Davion Bradford, Seryee Lewis, Selton Miguel and Nijel Pack). K-State has started 3 true freshmen (Bradford, Miguel and Pack) in 5 consecutive games, which includes both Big 12 games. The Wildcats are one of 4 teams (Kentucky, Duke and North Carolina) to start at least 3 true freshmen in at least one game, while the 21 combined starts by true freshmen rank second only to Kentucky’s 25. The next closest schools are North Carolina (19), Auburn (15), Montana (15) and Tennessee Tech (15).
  6. Since switching to the 4-guard lineup against Milwaukee on Dec. 11, K-State is averaging 69.8 points on 45.8 percent shooting (130-of-284), including 58.7 percent (91-of-155) from inside the 3-point line. Seven different Wildcats (Miguel, Pack, McGuirl, Bradford, Gordon, Rudi Williams and Antonio Gordon) are averaging better than 7.5 points in the 5-game span, including a team-best 11.4 points per game by Miguel, while 3 others (Pack (9.8 ppg.), McGuirl (9.6) and Bradford (9.0) are averaging better than 9 points per game and Gordon is averaging a near double-double with 8.8 points and a team-best 7.8 rebounds. In all, underclassmen have combined for 259 of the team’s 349 points on 49 percent (98-of-200) shooting in the last 5 games.

NOTES ON TCU

  1. TCU (8-2, 1-1 Big 12) enters Saturday’s game with 4 consecutive wins after posting a 66-61 win over Prairie View A&M on Wednesday night at home. The Horned Frogs rebounded from a 1-point deficit at the half with a solid second half, connecting on 46.4 percent from the field. Three players scored in double figures led by freshman phenom Mike Miles, who led all scorers with 18 points, while junior Kevin Samuel added a double-double.
  2. Since absorbing back-to-back home setbacks to Oklahoma (82-78) and Providence (79-70), TCU has rattled off 4 straight wins highlighted by a 73-55 win over Texas A&M and a 77-76 road win at Oklahoma State.
  3. On the season, TCU is averaging 72.2 points on 47.3 percent shooting, including 35.9 percent from 3-point range, to go with 36.1 rebounds, 15.8 assists, 6.1 steals and a Big 12-leading 4.5 blocks per game, while allowing 66.5 points on 42.7 percent shooting, including 28.2 percent from 3-point range. The team is connecting on 62.1 percent from the free throw line.
  4. Three Horned Frogs (R.J. Nembhard, Mike Miles and Kevin Samuel) are averaging in double figures, as Nembhard is second in scoring in the Big 12 at 18.4 points per game on 48.6 percent shooting, including 40.5 percent from 3-point range, while adding averages of 4.5 rebounds and 4.9 assists in 33.9 minutes per game. Miles is averaging 15.2 points per game on 47.4 percent shooting, including 46.3 percent from 3-point range, to go with 3.1 rebounds and 3.5 assists in 30.6 minutes per game. Miles ranks seventh in the Big 12 in scoring, while he is second among freshmen. Samuel is the only Big 12 player averaging a double-double, grabbing a Big 12-best 10.2 boards per game to go with 10.8 points on 65.3 percent shooting. Regular starters - P.J. Fuller and Kevin Easley, Jr. - are averaging 7.6 and 6.0 points per game, as Easley has started in 9 of 10 games.
  5. Like K-State, TCU was picked low in the Big 12 preseason poll, as the Horned Frogs were picked ninth with 18 points, just ahead of the Wildcats.
  6. TCU is led by fourth-year head coach Jamie Dixon, who has posted an 92-59 (.609) record, which includes an NCAA Tournament trip in 2018 and bids to the NIT in both 2017 and 2019. He is 420-182 (.698) in his 18th season as a head coach, which includes a stint at Pittsburgh (2003-16).

SERIES HISTORY

  1. K-State and TCU will meet for the 26th time in their histories with the Wildcats holding a 17-8 advantage in a series that dates to 1947. K-State is 8-3 at home in the series, including a 6-2 mark in the Big 12 era. 
  2. TCU swept the regular-season series for the first time in 2019-20 with a 59-57 win in Manhattan on Jan. 7 and a 68-57 win in Fort Worth on Feb. 15 before K-State avoided the sweep with a 53-49 win in the first round of the Phillips 66 Big 12 Championship on March 11. The regular-season sweep by the Horned Frogs’ last season stopped a 4-game losing streak in the series.
  3. The last meeting at Bramlage Coliseum was an exciting one, as sophomore Kevin Samuel’s tip-in with 2 seconds lifted TCU to a 59-57 win over K-State in the Wildcats’ Big 12 home opener on Jan. 7. The game-winning tip-in came 11 seconds after junior reserve David Sloan’s 3-pointer tied the game at 57-all that helped the Wildcats erase an 11-point second-half deficit.
  4. Senior Mike McGuirl enjoyed impressive all-around game in his last meeting with TCU, posting 8 points on 3-of-8 shooting with a career-tying 7 rebounds and 6 assists in helping K-State to a 53-49 win on March 11.
  5. Head coach Bruce Weber is 14-6 all-time against TCU, including a 6-2 mark at home, while he is 7-5 against head coach Jamie Dixon.

HISTORY AT BRAMLAGE COLISEUM

  1. K-State has posted a 391-130 (.750) all-time record at Bramlage Coliseum since its opening during the 1988-89 season. The 391 wins are the most at a home venue for the Wildcats, surpassing the 378 wins at Ahearn Field House (1950-88). It is the school’s third home venue.
  2. K-State has registered a 191-50 (.792) record at home over the past 15 seasons, including an 82-40 (.678) mark in Big 12 play. The 191 wins rank fourth among all Big 12 schools in that span, while the 82 league victories at home are among the top in the Big 12. In all, the program has double-digit victories in 26 of its 32 seasons in the arena.
  3. K-State has a 252-72 (.777) record at home, including a 148-15 (.907) mark in non-conference action, since the 2001-02 season for an average of just over 13 home wins (13.1) per season in that span.
  4. Head coach Bruce Weber has tallied a 106-34 (.755) record at Bramlage Coliseum since taking over at K-State in 2012-13 with just 10 non-conference home losses. The 34 losses (25 of which have come in Big 12 play) have come by a grand total of 334 points or just 9.8 points per game.

LAST TIME OUT: K-STATE 60, OMAHA 58

  1. Freshman Selton Miguel connected on a 3-pointer with 9.7 seconds left to lift K-State to a 60-58 win over Tuesday night in front of a limited capacity crowd of 519 fans at Bramlage Coliseum.
  2. The 3-pointer by Miguel came just moments after Omaha (2-8) had taken a 58-57 lead on a pair of free throws by senior Ayo Akinwole with 17 seconds to play. Akinwole led all scorers with 19 points, including 14 in the second half, on 7-of-9 field goals, including 3-of-4 from 3-point range.
  3. With the Wildcats leading 45-37 with 14:37 to play, the Mavericks used an 8-0 run over a 3-minute span to knot the game at 45-all and set the stage for a back and forth contest the rest of the way. The team battled through 6 lead changes and 4 ties in the last 11 minutes, as neither team led by more than 2 points in the last 8:33 of the contest.
  4. Freshman Nijel Pack, who was hobbled by an ankle injury sustained in practice on Sunday and was questionable for the game, came up big in the waning minutes, knocking down a pair of jumpers to tie the game twice in the last 3:30, including 56-all with just over 2 minutes to play.
  5. Freshman Davion Bradford gave the Wildcats their first lead in nearly 7 minutes at 57-56 on a free throw with 47 seconds remaining before a foul on sophomore DaJuan Gordon sent Akinwole to the line with 17 seconds.
  6. After an Omaha timeout, Miguel hit the game-winning 3-pointer with under 10 seconds to play from the corner right in front of the K-State bench on the team-leading sixth assist by senior Mike McGuirl, who has now dished out 27 assists (5.4 apg.) in the last 5 games.
  7. McGuirl and Miguel each tallied double figure points, as McGuirl led with 13 points on 5-of-13 field goals, including 2-of-9 from 3-point range, to go with his game-high 6 assists and 4 rebounds in a career-best 39 minutes, while Miguel had 11 points on just 3-of-14 shooting with 3 makes coming from long range in a season-high 35 minutes.
  8. Pack scored 7 of his 9 points in the second half, while Gordon and Bradford each collected a game-tying 10 rebounds with Gordon adding an all-around stat line of 6 points, a career-best 5 assists and a game-high 3 steals.

NON-CONFERENCE SUCCESS

  1. K-State has a 115-12 (.906) record at home venues (includes home games played at Bramlage Coliseum, INTRUST Bank Arena in Wichita and the T-Mobile Center in Kansas City) in non-conference play dating back to the 2006-07 season, including a 106-10 (.914) mark at Bramlage Coliseum
  2. Despite seeing their 33-game winning streak end at Bramlage Coliseum with a loss to Marquette on Dec. 7, 2019, the Wildcats have still won 102 of their last 112 non-conference home games.
  3. K-State has posted a 151-46 (.767) record in non-conference play since the 2006-07 season. Prior to last season, the team had posted double-digit non-conference wins in 12 of the last 13 seasons.
  4. Head coach Bruce Weber is 82-30 (.732) in non-conference play since he arrived at K-State, including a 63-10 (.863) mark at home.
  5. K-State is 4-4 in non-conference play in 2020-21 with one scheduled game left on the slate at home against Texas A&M on Saturday, Jan. 30. The Wildcats have had a winning non-conference record every season since 1971-72.

UP NEXT: 13/14 TEXAS TECH (8-2, 1-1 Big 12)

  1. K-State hits the road for a game at No. 13/14 Texas Tech (8-2, 1-1 Big 12) on Tuesday at 6 p.m., CT at the United Supermarkets Arena. The Red Raiders have won 2 in a row entering their game with Oklahoma State on Saturday. The Wildcats lost both regular season meetings with the Red Raiders in 2019-20, including a 69-62 setback in Lubbock on Feb. 19.
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