GAME 4

KANSAS STATE (3-0) vs. PENN (4-0)

Sunday, November 18, 2018 >> 6:30 p.m., CT >> UVI Sports & Fitness Center (3,500) // St. Thomas USVI

19^th Annual U.S. Virgin Islands Paradise Jam

 

COACHES

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

Overall: 441-235/21^st season

At K-State: 128-80/7^th season

1. Penn: 0-0

 

Penn: Steve Donahue (Ursinus ’84)

Overall: 252-255/18th Year

At Penn: 52-41/4th Year

1. K-State: 0-0

 

PROJECTED STARTING LINEUP

Kansas State (3-0)

G: #3 Kamau Stokes

G: #5 Barry Brown, Jr.

G: #20 Xavier Sneed

F: #32 Dean Wade

F: #14 Makol Mawien

 

Penn (4-0)

G: #2 Antonio Woods

G: #3 Jake Silpe

G: #12 Devon Goodman

F: #25 A.J. Brodeur

C: #0 Max Rothschild

 

SERIES HISTORY

Overall: K-State leads 1-0

At Neutral Sites: K-State leads 1-0

Last Meeting: W, 69-62, 3/15/1975

Weber vs. Donahue: First Meeting

 

OPENING TIP

• No. 12/11 Kansas State (3-0) continues play in the U.S. Virgin Islands Paradise Jam on Sunday, as the Wildcats face off against reigning Ivy League champion Penn (4-0) at 6:30 p.m., CT for the right to advance to the tournament’s championship game on Monday.
• The Wildcats and Quakers will face off in the tournament’s second semifinal matchup on Sunday, as Oregon State (3-0) and Missouri (2-1) play in the first semifinal at 4:30 p.m., CT. The winners of the two semifinals will play in the championship game on Monday at 6:30 p.m., CT, while the losers will play in the third-place game on Monday at 4:30 p.m., CT.
• The consolation bracket of the tournament begins on Saturday with Old Dominion (1-2) playing Kennesaw State (1-3) and Northern Iowa (1-2) playing Eastern Kentucky (2-2).
• K-State advanced to the semifinals on Friday night with a 95-68 win over Eastern Kentucky, as the Wildcats connected on 55.2 percent (37-of-67) from the field, including 66 percent (33-of-50) from inside the 3-point arc. Junior Xavier Sneed paced five players in double figures with a game-high 16 points, while sophomore Cartier Diarra and senior Dean Wade added 14.
• Penn advanced to the semifinals with a 78-71 win over Northern Iowa, as the Quakers connected on 50.9 percent from the field, including 69.6 percent in the second half. Junior Devon Goodman led four players in double figures with a game-high 27 points on 10-of-15 shooting, including 5-of-8 from 3-point range.
• In the other first-round games, Oregon State defeated Old Dominion, 61-56, and Missouri knocked off Kennesaw State, 55-52.
• K-State is making its second appearance at the Paradise Jam, which is making a return to the U.S. Virgin Islands after being relocated to Lynchburg, Va., and Liberty University last November due to hurricane damage. The Wildcats went 1-2 in their previous trip to the Paradise Jam, losing to BYU (64-73) and Toledo (50-58) before defeating Michigan, 82-71, in the consolation… The 19^th annual event is held at the UVI Sports and Fitness Center in St. Thomas.
• Previous winners of the Paradise Jam include Maryland (2013), Seton Hall (2014), South Carolina (2015) and Creighton (2016) as well as Big 12 member Baylor (2007). Colorado won the latest title in 2017 with a 79-70 victory over Mercer in a field that included Drake, Drexel, Houston, host Liberty, Quinnipiac and Wake Forest.
• K-State has a 16-8 (.652) record in regular-season tournaments under head coach Bruce Weber, advancing to the tournament finals on three occasions, including the 2012 NIT Season Tip-Off (losing to No. 4 Michigan, 71-57), 2015 CBE Hall of Fame Classic (losing to No. 9 North Carolina, 80-70) and the 2016 Barclays Center Classic (losing to Maryland, 69-68). The team has also participated in the 2013 Puerto Rico Tip-Off (1-2 record), 2014 Maui Invitational (1-2 record) and 2017 Las Vegas Invitational (3-1).
• K-State has not won an in-season tournament title since defeating Southern Illinois, UTEP and Long Beach State to capture the 2011 Diamond Head Classic in Honolulu, Hawai’i. The Wildcats also won tournament championships in 1990 (BMA Holiday Classic), 1993 (Hawai’i Nike Festival), 1994 (Capital City Classic), 1995 (Otis Spunkmeyer Classic) and 2006 (Las Vegas Holiday Classic). Overall, the school has a 123-78 (.612) all-time record in 75 in-season tournaments dating back to the program’s first season in 1905, most of which came in the Big Six/Seven/Eight Holiday Tournament that ran in Kansas City from 1943 to 1978 and involved mostly members of the Big Six, Big Seven and Big Eight Conference teams.

 

NOTES ON PENN

• Penn returns eight lettermen, including four starters (Ray Betley, A.J. Brodeur, Max Rothschild, Antonio Woods) from a squad that posted a 24-9 overall record and tied for the Ivy League title with a 12-2 mark in 2017-18. The Quakers advanced to the NCAA Tournament, where they lost to Kansas in the first round.
• Penn was picked second in the Ivy League media poll with 122 points and five first-place votes, trailing only favorite Harvard, who garnered 137 points and 12 first-place votes. The Quakers return two All-Ivy League selection in Brodeur and Betley, who combined to average 27.4 points and 12.2 rebounds per game. Brodeur was a unanimous first-team All-Ivy League selection.
• The Quakers are off to their best start since the 1978-79 season at 4-0, knocking off George Mason (72-71), Rice (92-76), Lafayette (91-61) and Northern Iowa (78-71).
• Penn is averaging 83.2 points on 53.4 percent shooting (124-of-232), including 41.7 percent (40-of-96) from 3-point range, to go with 30.0 rebounds, 16.3 assists, 9.0 steals and 2.5 blocks per game. The squad is shooting 64.3 percent (45-of-70) from the line. Foes are averaging 69.8 points on 47.5 percent shooting, including 28.6 percent from 3-point range.
• Three players are averaging in double figures for the Quakers in junior Devon Goodman (16.8 ppg.), Brodeur (15.8 ppg.) and senior Antonio Woods (11.3 ppg.). Four other players are averaging between 6.3 and 8.3 points per game, respectively. Goodman is connecting on 55.3 percent from the field, including 44.4 percent from 3-point range, while Brodeur is shooting 58.7 percent from the field to go with a team-best 6.0 rebounds per game.
• Head coach Steve Donahue is in his 18^th year as a head coach, including his fourth at Penn. He has a 252-255 record as a head coach, including a 52-41 mark at the helm of the Quakers. He has also been head coach at Cornell (2000-10) and Boston College (2011-14). He led the Big Red of Cornell to three consecutive NCAA Tournament from 2008-10, including a run to the Sweet 16 in 2010.

 

TOM GILBERT
Director for Men’s Basketball Communications | K-State Athletics