GAME 6
12/12 KANSAS STATE (5-0) vs. LEHIGH (4-1)
Saturday, November 24, 2018 >> 3:37 p.m. CT >> Bramlage Coliseum (12,528) >> Manhattan, Kan.
COACHES
Kansas State: Bruce Weber (Wis.-Milwaukee ’78)
Overall: 443-235/21st season
At K-State: 130-80/7th season
- Lehigh: 0-0
Lehigh: Dr. Brett Reed (Eckerd College ‘95)
Overall: 202-147/12th season
At Lehigh: 202-147/12th season
- Kansas State: 0-0
PROJECTED STARTING LINEUP
Kansas State (5-0)
G: #3 Kamau Stokes
G: #5 Barry Brown, Jr.
G/F: #20 Xavier Sneed
F: #32 Dean Wade
F: #14 Makol Mawien
Lehigh (4-1)
G: #2 Kyle Leufroy
G: #5 Lance Tejada
F: #11 Jordan Cohen
F: #31 Pat Andree
F: #13 James Karnik
SERIES HISTORY
Overall: First Meeting
In Manhattan: First Meeting
Last Meeting: n/a
Weber vs. Reed: First Meeting
OPENING TIP
- No. 12/12 Kansas State (5-0) returns home to Bramlage Coliseum on Saturday, as the Wildcats host Patriot League member Lehigh (4-1) in a rare home non-conference afternoon tilt at 3:30 p.m., CT. The game was moved to the afternoon, as the Wildcat football team’s (5-6) regular-season finale at Iowa State will kick off at 6 p.m., CT.
- This will be the first meeting between K-State and Lehigh on the hardwood and the first against the Patriot League since an 83-45 victory over American in last season’s season opener.
- The Wildcats have won 25 consecutive games against non-conference opponents at Bramlage Coliseum since the start of the 2015-16 season. Overall, the school has an 97-6 (.941) record at home in non-conference play since 2006-07, including 95-5 (.950) in the regular season, and has won 86 of their last 91 non-conference home games. The team went 11-2 in non-conference action in 2017-18, including 8-1 at home venues. The lone home loss came to Tulsa, 61-54, on Dec. 9, 2017 in Wichita.
- K-State is off to its best start since also winning the first 5 games of the 2016-17 season, as the Wildcats won the 19th annual U.S. Virgin Islands Paradise Jam in St. Thomas, U.S.V.I., on Monday after defeating Eastern Kentucky (95-68), Penn (64-48) and Missouri (82-67). It was the 14th regular-season tournament championship in school history and the first since winning the 2011 Diamond Head Classic in Honolulu, Hawai’i. It was also the sixth career tournament title for head coach Bruce Weber and his first with the Wildcats.
- Senior Dean Wade was named the tournament’s most valuable player after averaging 17.3 points on 61.8 percent (21-of-34) shooting with 6.0 rebounds and 3.7 assists in three games, including a team-high 21 points in the title game against the Tigers, while fellow senior Barry Brown, Jr., was one of five players selected as Paradise Jam Tournament All-Stars.
- Brown and Wade both moved up the career scoring list during the Paradise Jam, as Brown (1,361 points) cracked the school’s Top 10 and moved to within four points of Chuckie Williams (1,364 points; 1972-76) for ninth place, while Wade eclipsed the Top 15, moving into the 13th place with 1,266 points and now needs 100 points to join Brown in the Top 10.
- Wade, who became the tallest player in school history with 200 career assists at the Paradise Jam, recently became just the fourth Wildcat with 1,000 points, 500 rebounds and 200 assists, joining Ed Nealy, Wesley Iwundu and Rolando Blackman.
- K-State has been strong on the defensive end to start the season, holding opponents to 56 points on 37.4 percent shooting, including 30.2 percent from 3-point range, while forcing opponents into 17.6 turnovers per game. The Wildcats rank 11th nationally in scoring defense, 19th in turnover margin (+6.0), 40th in field goal percentage defense and 43rd in turnovers forced.
- After a slow start to the season, the offense seems to be gaining steam after averaging 80.3 points on 50.6 percent shooting in three games at the Paradise Jam, including a season-high 95-point performance against Eastern Kentucky (11/16/18). Four Wildcats averaged in double figures led by Wade’s 17.3 points per game average, while junior Xavier Sneed(13.3 ppg.), Brown (12.7 ppg.) and senior Kamau Stokes (12.0 ppg.) also averaged double digits.
NOTES ON LEHIGH
- Lehigh (4-1) enters Saturday’s game on a 3-game winning streak (Marist, Princeton, Siena) since dropping its only loss of season in an 83-62 decision at Miami (Fla.) on Nov. 9. The squad opened the year with an 85-61 win at Monmouth.
- The Mountain Hawks return 11 lettermen, including four starters (Pat Andree, James Karnik, Kyle Leufroy, Lance Tejada) from a squad that posted a 16-14 overall record and finished in a tie for third place in the Patriot League with an 11-7 mark. A veteran team with 8 of their 16 players being upperclassmen led by senior Leufroy and Tejada).
- Lehigh was picked as the preseason favorite in the Patriot League, collecting 145 points and seven first-place votes, followed by Bucknell and Colgate. Tejada was selected to the preseason All-Patriot League after earning second team honors as a junior in 2017-18.
- The Hawks are averaging 75.4 points on 45.1 percent shooting, including 44.3 percent from 3-point range, to go with 41.6 rebounds, 13.6 assists, 4.8 steals and 1.4 blocks per game, while allowing 68.4 points on 36.5 percent shooting, including 31.3 percent from the free throw line. The team is connecting on 67.4 percent from the free throw line.
- Leufroy paces four players in double figures at 16.2 points per game on 60.9 percent shooting, including 58.3 percent from 3-point range to go with 7.4 rebounds and 2.6 assists in 29.4 minutes per game, while Andree is averaging 15.4 points on 49 percent shooting, including 51.7 percent from long range, to go with 7.4 rebounds in 29.2 minutes per game. Leufroy and Andree are responsible for more than half of the Hawks’ 3-point field goals (29 of 51). Tejada (11.2 ppg.) and junior Jordan Cohen (11.0 ppg.) also average in double figures, as Tejada paces the team in assists at 4.0 per game, while Cohen is second at 3.0 per game.
- The all-time winningest coach in school history, head coach Dr. Brett Reed enters his 12th season at Lehigh, registering a 202-147 overall record. The Patriot League’s second longest-tenured coach, Reed boasts a .576 career winning percentage, which ranks sixth in league history and second among active coaches. His 202 overall wins and 102 Patriot League victories are both fourth in league history. He has led the Hawks to three postseason appearances, including trips to the NCAA Tournament in 2010 and 2012.
- Reed most famously led the Mountain Hawks to a 75-70 upset of Duke in the 2012 NCAA Tournament behind the play of current Portland Trail Blazer C.J. McCollum.
Tom Gilbert – Director of Basketball Communications – K-State Athletics