GAME #19

KANSAS STATE (13-5, 3-3 Big 12) vs. 24/25 TCU (14-4, 2-4 Big 12)

Saturday, January 20, 2018 >> 3 p.m. CT >> Bramlage Coliseum (12,528) >> Manhattan, Kan.

COACHES

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

Overall: 426-228/20^th season

At K-State: 113-73/6^th season

1. TCU: 8-3 (4-1 at home)

TCU: Jamie Dixon (TCU ’87)

Career Record: 366-142/15^th Year

Record at TCU: 38-19/2^nd Year

1. Kansas State: 2-1 (1-0 on the road)

PROJECTED STARTING LINEUP

Kansas State (13-5, 3-3 Big 12)

G: #2 Cartier Diarra

G: #5 Barry Brown, Jr.

G: #20 Xavier Sneed

F: #32 Dean Wade

F: #14 Makol Mawien

24/25 TCU (14-4, 2-4 Big 12)

G: #25 Alex Robinson

G: #1 Desmond Bane

G: #34 Kenrich Williams

F: #15 J.D. Miller

F: #10 Vlad Brodziansky

SERIES HISTORY

Overall: K-State leads 11-5

Big 12 era: K-State leads 8-3

In Manhattan: K-State leads 6-2

In Fort Worth: K-State leads 5-1

Active Streak: K-State, 1

Weber vs. TCU: 8-3 (4-1 at home)

Dixon vs. K-State: 2-1 (1-0 on the road)

Weber vs. Dixon: 1-2 (0-1 at home)

OPENING TIP

• Kansas State (13-5, 3-3 Big 12) will conclude a two-game homestand on Saturday afternoon, as the Wildcats play host to their second consecutive ranked opponent with a visit from No. 24/25 TCU (14-4, 2-4 Big 12) to Bramlage Coliseum at 3 p.m. CT.  The Horned Frogs’ four Big 12 losses have come by 11 points, including two overtime setbacks to Top 10 Oklahoma. The game will air nationally on ESPNU and the WatchESPN app with Mitch Holthus (play-by-play) and Reid Gettys (analyst) on the call.
• K-State is currently in the midst of playing four home games in a five-game stretch, including back-to-back Big 12 home games for the first time since 2016, after navigating four road games in a six-game stretch to start conference play. The contest against No. 24/25 TCU will mark the third of three consecutive games against Top 25 opponents, which started at No. 12/12 Kansas Jan. 13 and continued in Tuesday’s 87-69 win over No. 4/6 Oklahoma. It marks the first time since February 2017 that the Wildcats have played three straight ranked foes.
• Saturday’s contest will be Throwback Day at Bramlage Coliseum, as K-State will wear special 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 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.
• Paced by 20-point efforts from juniors Barry Brown, Jr. (24 points), and Dean Wade (21 points), K-State put together one of its most complete performances of the season in an 87-69 win over No. 4/6 Oklahoma on Tuesday night. The Wildcats have now defeated at least one Top 25 opponent in a school-record 12 consecutive seasons, including a school-best eight straight seasons with a victory over a Top 10 opponent. K-State has now beaten a ranked Oklahoma squad four times in the last six games at home, including twice when ranked in the Top 5.
• K-State and TCU will meet for the 17th time on the hardwood with the Wildcats holding a 11-5 overall lead, including an 8-3 mark in the Big 12 era. Since dropping the first five Big 12 meetings, the Frogs have split the last six matchups with the Wildcats, including an 86-80 overtime win in their last visit to Bramlage Coliseum on Feb. 1, 2017. This will be K-State’s first meeting with a ranked TCU squad.
• K-State is 35-57 (.380) all-time against Top 25 teams at Bramlage Coliseum, which includes 17 Top 10 victories. The school is 32-54 (.372) against ranked Big 12 teams (since 1997), including a 20-17 (.540) mark since 2008. The Wildcats are looking for consecutive home Top 25 victories for the first time since February 2015.

NOTES ON 24/25 TCU

• No. 24/25 TCU enters Saturday’s game with a 14-4 overall record and a 2-4 mark in Big 12 play after snapping a three-game skid with an impressive 96-73 win over Iowa State at home on Wednesday. The Horned Frogs connected on 60.3 percent from the field, including 48 percent from 3-point range, while dishing out 29 assists on 38 made field goals, including 12 from long range. Seniors Vlad Brodziansky and J.D. Miller each collected 20-point efforts to pace four players in double figures, while junior Alex Robinson dished out a school-record 17 assists. Senior Kenrich Williams also tallied a double-double with 11 points and 11 rebounds.
• K-State will face a Top 10 scoring offense for the third consecutive game, as TCU ranks fifth nationally with a scoring average of 88.6 points per game on 50.8 percent shooting, including 41.4 percent from 3-point range, and 71.8 percent from the free throw line. The Horned Frogs rank in the Top 5 in six offensive categories, including second in assists (20.4 apg.), third in assist-turnover ratio (1.68), fifth in total assists (367), 10th in field goal percentage and 11th in 3-point field goal percentage. The team averages 9.3 3-point goals per game with six players registering double-digit treys led by sophomore Desmond Bane’s team-high 37. Defensively, TCU allows 77.8 points per game on 46.1 percent shooting, including 36.8 percent from 3-point range, while averaging 37.3 rebounds, 7.1 steals and 3.6 blocks per game.
• The Horned Frogs are one of the most balanced teams in the country with five players averaging in double figures led by Preseason First Team All-Big 12 selection Vlad Brodziansky, who is averaging 15.4 points on 61.9 percent shooting, including 42.4 percent from 3-point range, to go with 4.6 rebounds and 1.7 blocks per game. Fellow senior Kenrich Williams nearly averages a double-double with 14.9 points on 50.3 percent shooting to go with a team-high 9.4 rebounds and 2.4 steals per outing. Sophomore Jaylen Fisher (12.3 ppg.), sophomore Desmond Bane (11.9 ppg.) and senior J.D. Miller (10.8 ppg.) also average double figures. Fisher and junior Alex Robinson both average a team-best 5.7 assists per game, while freshman Kouat Noi (9.4 ppg.) and Robinson (7.4) average better than 7 points per game.
• TCU is led by head coach Jamie Dixon, who has a 38-19 (.667) record in his second season at his alma mater. Overall, he is 366-142 (.720) in his 15th season as a head coach, which includes a 13-year stint at Pittsburgh (2003-16) where he led the Panthers to 11 NCAA Tournaments.

K-STATE/TCU CONNECTIONS

• K-State’s Makol Mawien and TCU’s Shawn Olden both played at New Mexico Junior College during the 2016-17 season, where the duo helped the Thunderbirds to a 19-11 overall record. Mawien averaged 8.7 points on 49.2 percent shooting, including 41.2 percent from 3-point range, with 5.8 rebounds and 2.0 blocks in averaging 14.8 minutes per game, while Olden averaged 16.6 points, 4.2 rebounds and 1.7 assists per game.
• K-State associate head coach Chris Lowery and TCU head coach Jamie Dixon worked together at USA Basketball, where Lowery served as an assistant to Dixon for the U-19 team who won gold at the 2009 World Championships and included Gordon Heyward and Klay Thompson.

SERIES HISTORY

• This will be 17th meeting between Kansas State and TCU on the hardwood, including the 12th in the Big 12 era, with the Wildcats holding an 11-5 advantage in a series that dates to 1947. Among the five meetings between the schools prior to the start of the Big 12 era was a 77-72 win by the Horned Frogs in the 1968 NCAA Tournament. K-State won the first five matchups in Big 12 play by average of 11.8 points per game, but TCU has split the last six meetings in the series, including an 86-80 overtime win at Bramlage Coliseum on Feb. 1, 2017.
• TCU used a 7-1 run to start overtime to help propel the Horned Frogs to an 86-80 win over K-State in the teams’ last meeting at Bramlage Coliseum on Feb. 1, 2017. TCU rallied from a 70-65 deficit with 2:19 remaining to force overtime then took the lead for good on a 3-pointer by guard Kenrich Williams with 3:56 to play. K-State closed to within 83-80 on a free throw by guard Wesley Iwundu with 25 seconds remaining, but guard Alex Robinson hit two free throws with just 15 seconds left to close the game out.
• A clutch 3-pointer by forward Dean Wade and six consecutive free throws helped K-State hold off a late TCU rally, 75-74, in the teams’ latest meeting at Schollmaier Arena on March 1, 2017. Clinging to a 66-65 lead with less than 2 minutes to play, the Wildcats got a huge play from Wade with the shot clock winding down, as he canned his fourth triple with 1:22 remaining. Wade finished with a then career-tying 20 points.
• Head coach Bruce Weber is 8-3 all-time against TCU, including 4-1 at home

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