KANSAS STATE (17-8, 6-6 Big 12) at OKLAHOMA STATE (15-10, 5-7 Big 12)

Wednesday, February 14, 2018 >> 6 p.m. CT >> Gallagher-Iba Arena (13,611) >> Stillwater, Okla.

 

COACHES

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

Overall: 430-231/20^th season

At K-State: 117-76/6^th season

1. Oklahoma State: 9-5 (1-4 on the road)

Oklahoma State: Mike Boynton (South Carolina ’05)

Career Record: 15-10/1^st Year

Record at OSU: 15-10/1^st Year

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

PROJECTED STARTING LINEUP

Kansas State (17-8, 6-6 Big 12)

G: #2 Cartier Diarra

G: #5 Barry Brown, Jr.

G: #20 Xavier Sneed

F: #32 Dean Wade

F: #14 Makol Mawien

Oklahoma State (15-10, 5-7 Big 12)

G: #1 Kendall Smith

G: #21 Lindy Waters III

G: #30 Jeffrey Carroll

F: #12 Cameron McGriff

F: #41 Mitchell Solomon

SERIES HISTORY

Overall: K-State leads 79-53

Big 12 era: OSU leads 18-13

In Stillwater: OSU leads 33-25

In Manhattan: K-State leads 40-16

Active Streak: K-State, 1

Weber vs. Oklahoma State: 9-5 (1-4 on the road)

Boynton vs. K-State: 0-1 (0-0 at home)

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

OPENING TIP

• Kansas State (17-8, 6-6 Big 12) returns to the road on Wednesday night, as the Wildcats travel to Stillwater, Okla., to take on the surging Oklahoma State Cowboys (15-10, 5-7 Big 12) at 6 p.m., CT at Gallagher-Iba Arena. K-State has won just once in the last four outings, including back-to-back home losses, while Oklahoma State has two of the best road wins in the league with victories at Kansas and West Virginia the last two Saturdays. Wednesday’s game will air on ESPNU and the WatchESPN app with Clay Matvick (play-by-play) and Tim Welsh (analyst) on the call.
• K-State will finish with a split of its last six regular-season games with three at home and three on the road beginning on Wednesday night at Oklahoma State. The Wildcats will host consecutive home games against Iowa State (13-11, 4-8 Big 12) and Texas (15-11, 5-8 Big 12) on Feb. 17 and 21 before back-to-back road games at No. 23/23 Oklahoma (16-8, 6-6 Big 12) and TCU (17-9, 5-8 Big 12) on Feb. 24 and 27 before the regular-season finale against Baylor (16-10, 6-7 Big 12) on March 3. The squad is 6-5 away from Bramlage Coliseum this season, including 5-3 in true road games and 3-3 in Big 12 road contests. The five true road wins tie Kansas for the most of any league team, while K-State is one of four with three or more Big 12 road wins.
• K-State and Oklahoma State will meet for the second time this season after the Wildcats posted a 86-82 victory at home on Jan. 10, in which, junior guard Barry Brown, Jr., scored a career-high 38 points on 12-of-17 field goals in 36 minutes. Overall, the schools will be meeting for the 133rd time in their respective histories, including the 32nd time in the Big 12 era, with the Wildcats owning a 79-53 edge. The Cowboys hold a 33-25 advantage at home in the series, including wins in 15 of the last 17 meetings at Gallagher-Iba Arena. The Wildcats are looking to sweep the season series for the first time since 2012 when round-robin play began.
• K-State ran into a defensive buzz saw on Saturday night, as No. 7/7 Texas Tech broke open a tightly-contested game with a 13-1 run to start the second half en route to a 66-47 win at Bramlage Coliseum. The victory snapped an eight-game losing streak by the league-leading Red Raiders in Manhattan, as they swept the season series for the first time since round-robin play began in 2012. The Big 12’s top defensive team held the Wildcats to a season-low 47 points on 28.9 percent shooting (13-of-45), including 17.6 percent (3-of-17) from 3-point range, while scoring 18 points off of a season-high 18 Wildcat turnovers. It was the fewest points by K-State at home since 2014 and the fewest in a Big 12 home game since 2006, while the 19-point loss was the largest at home since a 98-71 loss to No. 2 Kansas in 2002.
• K-State is in the midst of an offensive slump in the last five games, in which, the Wildcats haven’t broken the 70-point barrier and are averaging just 55.4 points on 36.8 percent shooting, including 26.7 percent from 3-point range, while posting 53 assists (10.6 apg.) to 58 turnovers (11.6 tpg.).
• Despite having two players among the Big 12’s Top 10 in scoring, balanced scoring has been a huge key to K-State’s success under head coach Bruce Weber, as the Wildcats are 50-18 (.735) when four or more players score in double figures, including 9-2 (.818) this season. The team is 6-0 when sophomore Makol Mawien registers double digits, while they are 7-2 when Diarra scores 10 or more points.

NOTES ON OKLAHOMA STATE

• Oklahoma State enters Wednesday’s game with a 15-10 overall record and a 5-7 mark in Big 12 play after its come-from-behind 88-85 win at No. 19/17 West Virginia  on Saturday. The Cowboys trailed by eight points in the second half, including six in the last three minutes, before rallying down the stretch. All five starters scored in double figures, including 20-point efforts from graduate transfer Kendall Smith and junior Cameron McGriff and 14 points from senior Jeffrey Carroll. OSU shot 46.2 percent from the field, including 53.6 percent in the second half, and knocked down 83.3 percent (30-of-36) from the free throw line.
• OSU is averaging 77.4 points per game on 44.2 percent shooting, including 33.6 percent from 3-point range, to go with 36.8 rebounds, 14.8 assists, 7.0 steals and 4.1 blocks per game, while allowing opponents 73.1 points per game on 43.2 percent shooting, including 36.0 percent from long range. The Cowboys are averaging 8.0 3-point field goals per game with five players with at least 28 made treys. The team is shooting 76.1 percent from the free throw line, which ranks second in the Big 12.
• Carroll is one of three Cowboys averaging in double figures, as he averages a team-best 15.4 points per game game (12th in the Big 12) on 39.6 percent shooting, including 33.3 percent from 3-point range, to go with 5.7 rebounds in 30.0 minutes per game. Smith averages 12 points on 41.7 percent shooting, including 39.2 percent from 3-point range, to go with 3.0 assists and 2.6 rebounds in 25.8 minutes per game, while junior Tavarius Shine averages 11.2 points on 43.5 percent shooting, including 32.6 percent from 3-point range, to go with 3.7 rebounds in 25.2 minutes per game. Four others (Lindy Waters, Mitchell Solomon and Cameron McGriff) all average better than 8 points per game, while Carroll (44), sophomore Thomas Dziagwa (41), Waters (32), Smith (29) and Shine (28) all post more than 28 made 3-point field goals this season. Solomon is tops in rebounding at 6.4 per game, while sophomore Brandon Averette averages a team-best 3.3 assists per game to go with 7.6 points.
• Oklahoma State is led by head coach Mike Boynton, who is in his first season after serving as assistant coach last season. A former assistant to former K-State head coach Frank Martin at South Carolina from 2008-13, he has been an assistant for 12 years at six different schools (Furman, Coastal Carolina, Wofford, South Carolina, Stephen F. Austin and Oklahoma State).

SERIES HISTORY

• This will be 133rd meeting between Kansas State and Oklahoma State on the hardwood, including the 32nd in the Big 12 era, with the Wildcats holding a 79-53 advantage in a series that dates to 1922. The 79 wins are the seventh-most against one team, while the two schools have met at least once a year every season since 1958. The Cowboys own a 33-25 advantage at home, including 15 wins in the last 17 meetings at Gallagher-Iba Arena since 1994. OSU has an 18-13 advantage since the start of Big 12 play in 1997, including a 12-2 record at home.
• In the last matchup in Stillwater, then sophomore guard Barry Brown, Jr., paced a potent K-State offense with a then career-best 22 points, as the Wildcats earned their first win at Gallagher-Iba Arena since 2012 with a 96-88 win over Oklahoma State in the last meeting between the schools on Jan. 18 in Stillwater. The 96 points were the most scored in a Big 12 road game in school history and the most since posting 101 in an overtime win at Oklahoma on March 2, 1991. Overall, the point total was the ninth-most recorded by the Wildcats in a road contest and the most-ever against OSU.
• The Wildcats took the lead for good after a 3-point play from senior D.J. Johnson with 13:49 remaining. The Cowboys would close to within 80-76 at the 5:02 mark on a pair of free throws from junior Mitchell Solomon, however, a Brown layup just 30 seconds later ignited a 10-3 run to close out the victory. Brown paced five players in double figures with his 22 points on 9-of-17 field goals, including 4-of-7 from 3-point range, while Johnson added 18 points, 6 rebounds and a game-high 3 blocks. Senior Wesley Iwundu finished with 15 points, a game-tying 8 rebounds and a career-best 8 assists. Sophomore Kamau Stokes (12) and freshman Xavier Sneed (11) also reached double figures. The Wildcats connected on 50 percent or better from the field for the third consecutive road game, hitting on 56.3 percent (36-of-64) from the field and 46.7 percent (7-of-15) from 3-point range. The team knocked down 81 percent (17-of-21) from the line, including 86.7 percent (13-of-15) in first half.
• Head coach Bruce Weber is 9-5 all-time against Oklahoma State, including 1-4 on the road.