Friday, November 3, 2017  8:10 p.m. CTBramlage Coliseum (12,528)

 

 

COACHES

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

Overall: 413-223/20^th season

At K-State: 100-68/6^th season

1. Emporia State: 2-0

 

Emporia State: Shaun Vandiver (Colorado ‘02)

Overall: 78-93/7th season

At Emporia State: Same

1. Kansas State: 0-2

 

PROJECTED STARTING LINEUP

Kansas State (0-0)

G: #2 Cartier Diarra

G: #5 Barry Brown, Jr.

G: #20 Xavier Sneed

F: #32 Dean Wade

F: #14 Makol Mawien

 

Emporia State (0-0)

G: #0 Brian Morton

G: #5 Brandon Hall

G: #11 Grant Shell

F: #3 Hassan Thomas

F: #34 Garin Vandiver

 

SERIES HISTORY

Overall: K-State leads 3-0 [exhibition]

In Manhattan: K-State leads 3-0 [exhibition]

Last Meeting: W, 80-42 [10/30/2015 in Manhattan]

Weber vs. Vandiver: Weber leads 2-0

 

OPENING TIP

• Kansas State (0-0) concludes its brief exhibition season at 8 p.m., on Friday night, as the Wildcats play host to Division II foe Emporia State (0-0) at Bramlage Coliseum. The contest will be part of a basketball doubleheader, as the women’s team will play host to Emporia State at 5:30 p.m., with the men’s game to follow.
• K-State is 2-0 so far in exhibition play, following up its 78-62 win over Missouri State in a hurricane-relief fundraiser on Oct. 21 with a 79-56 victory over Fort Hays State on Oct. 29. The Wildcats enjoyed a balanced scoring effort with four players in double figures led by a game-high 18 points from sophomore Xavier Sneed. The team connected on 53.4 percent (31-of-58) from the field, including better than 50 percent in both halves, and held the Tigers to just 36 percent shooting.
• Through two exhibition games, the Wildcats are averaging 78.5 points on 50.4 percent shooting, including 39.4 percent from 3-point range, while holding the two opponents to 59.0 points on 34.9 percent shooting. Juniors Barry Brown, Jr., and Kamau Stokes pace five players in double figures at 13.0 points per game, while redshirt freshman Cartier Diarra (12.5 ppg.), sophomore Xavier Sneed (12.0 ppg.) and junior Dean Wade (10.5 ppg.) are also averaging double digits.
• K-State is 65-20 (.765) all-time in exhibition play dating to 1964, including 50-9 (.847) at home. The Wildcats have a 44-9 (.830) record in exhibition play at Bramlage Coliseum, including 22 consecutive wins dating back to 2004.
• The Wildcats have three wins over the Hornets during their current 22-game win streak, including 79-75 in 2005, 81-51 in 2012 and 80-42 in 2015.
• K-State won its last exhibition with Emporia State, 80-42, on Oct. 30, 2015, as the Wildcats connected on 50.8 percent from the field, including 61.5 percent in the first half, while holding the Hornets to just 25 percent shooting. Wesley Iwundu scored a game-high 17 points to lead three players in double figures. Current juniors Kamau Stokes and Dean Wade each earned starts in that game.
• K-State has primarily played the Kansas members of the MIAA (Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association) since switching to Division II teams in exhibition play in 2004, which includes six meetings with Washburn and now four each with Emporia State, Fort Hays State and Pittsburg State.
• The last home setback in exhibition play came to the EA Sports All-Stars, 79-67, on Nov. 6, 2003. Overall, the last loss in an exhibition came during the team’s tour of Italy and Switzerland last summer – an 85-74 setback to the Kosovo National Team on August 16, 2016. The Wildcats went 3-2 on the tour.
• K-State is 10-0 under Bruce Weber in exhibition play at home with wins over Washburn (81-61) and Emporia State (81-51) in 2012, Pittsburg State (75-54) in 2013, Washburn (68-56) in 2014, ESU and Fort Hays State (70-52) in 2015 and Pittsburg State (85-72) and Washburn (73-58) last season.

 

LAST TIME OUT

• A balanced scoring effort led by sophomore guard Xavier Sneed’s 18 points helped K-State knock off Fort Hays State, 79-56, on Oct. 29 in Bramlage Coliseum. It was the first previously-scheduled exhibition game after the team defeated Missouri State, 78-62, on Oct. 21 in a special exhibition for hurricane relief.
• Sneed was one of four Wildcats in double figures in the win over the Tigers, as he connected on 7-of-13 field goals, including 2-of-4 from 3-point range, for his 18 points to go with game-tying 7 rebounds, 2 steals and one block in 22 minutes of action. Other players in double figures included juniors Dean Wade (15 points) and Barry Brown, Jr. (14) and redshirt freshman Cartier Diarra (11).
• K-State connected on 53.4 percent (31-of-58) from the field in the game, including better than 50 percent in both halves, while holding Fort Hays State to 36 percent shooting (18-of-50), including 32 percent (8-of-25) after halftime. The Wildcats held the advantage in points in the paint (38-12), points off turnovers (27-14), second-chance points (15-5) and fast-break points (15-0).
• All 13 available Wildcats saw action in the contest with 10 playing double digit minutes. Eleven of the 13 players scored with all 11 registering at least one made field goal. Six newcomers saw action, including a start by sophomore community college transfer Makol Mawien, who posted 6 points (on 3-of-5 field goals) and 2 rebounds in 17 minutes. Diarra started in place of junior Kamau Stokes, who did not play due to having surgery on his wisdom tooth. Wade has now started all 6 career home exhibition games dating back to the 2015-16 season.
• Diarra, who scored in double figures for the second straight game after posting a team-high 14 points vs. Missouri State (10/21), was solid in his first start of any sort in his K-State career, posting 11 points on 3-of-4 shooting with a game-high 6 assists (on zero turnovers) and 5 rebounds in 23 minutes. Brown, who totaled 14 points on 5-of-9 field goals, added a game-high 7 rebounds, 5 assists and a game-best 3 steals in 29 minutes.
• In addition to Mawien’s start, five other newcomers saw action for second straight game, including Mike McGuirl (2 points/2 assists/3 steals), Mawdo Sallah (1 point/3 rebounds), Nigel Shadd (2 points/1 rebound), Levi Stockard III (4 points) and Amaad Wainright (4 points/4 rebounds).

 

EXHIBITION TO BENEFIT HURRICANE RELIEF

• K-State received a jump-start to the 2017-18 season on Oct. 21, as the WIldcats received a special waiver to play Missouri State in an exhibition to benefit the victims of the recent hurricanes. The department was able to raise just over $15,000 from the game to benefit the American Red Cross.
• The Wildcats used a balanced scoring effort to knock off the Bears, 78-62, as redshirt freshman Cartier Diarra registered a team-high 14 points in just 18 minutes off the bench, while juniors Kamau Stokes (13) and Barry Brown, Jr. (12) also posted double figures. Overall, the team connected on 47.4 percent (27-of-57) of their field goals, including 53.8 percent (14-of-26) in the first half, while holding MSU to 33.9 percent shooting.

 

NOTES ON THE HORNETS

• Emporia State returns six lettermen, including three starters (junior Brandon Hall, senior Brian Morton and senior Garin Vandiver), from a team that posted a 13-16 overall record, including a tie for ninth place in the MIAA with a 9-10 mark, in 2016-17. The team also receive a boost with six transfer, including three Division I transfers (junior guard Malik Hluchoweckyj of Bowling Green, junior forward Hassan Thomas of Illinois-Chicago and sophomore guard Grant Shell of Fresno State). Thomas and Shell are projected starters, along with Hall, Morton and Vandiver.
• The Hornets averaged 72.3 points per game on 43.5 percent shooting, including 37.5 percent from 3-point range, with 32.5 rebounds, 12.5 assists, 6.1 steals and 2.4 blocks per game, while allowing opponents to average 74.2 points on 49.3 percent shooting, including 38.2 percent from long range.
• Junior guard Brandon Hall led the Hornets in scoring (13.7 ppg.), assists (4.0 apg.), steals (1.1 spg.) and minutes (33.2 mpg.) in 2016-17, connecting on 40.2 percent from the field. Senior forward Garin Vandiver, the son of head coach Shaun Vandiver, paced the squad in rebounding at 5.0 boards per game a year ago to go with 8.3 points per game on 45.3 percent shooting in 29 games played with 14 starts. Senior guard Brian Morton, who started in 21 games, averaged 8.0 points on 38.8 percent shooting with 3.4 rebounds and 1.7 assists per game.
• Head coach Shaun Vandiver enters his seventh season with a 78-93 (.456) overall record at Emporia State.

TOM GILBERT
Associate Director for Athletics Communications | K-State Athletics