GAME 3
KANSAS STATE (2-0) vs. EASTERN KENTUCKY (2-1)
Friday, November 16, 2018 >> 6:30 p.m., CT >> UVI Sports & Fitness Center (3,500) // St. Thomas USVI
19th Annual U.S. Virgin Islands Paradise Jam
COACHES
Kansas State: Bruce Weber (Wis.-Milwaukee ’78)
Overall: 440-235/21st season
At K-State: 127-80/7th season
- Eastern Kentucky: 0-0
Eastern Kentucky: A.W. Hamilton (Marshall ’05)
Overall: 2-1/1st Year
At EKU: 2-1/1st Year
- K-State: 0-0
PROJECTED STARTING LINEUP
Kansas State (2-0)
G: #3 Kamau Stokes
G: #5 Barry Brown, Jr.
G: #20 Xavier Sneed
F: #32 Dean Wade
F: #14 Makol Mawien
Eastern Kentucky (2-1)
G: #0 Dujuanta Weaver
G: #2 Jordan Oakley
G: #3 Peyton Broughton
G: #4 Kelvin Robinson
F: #10 Nick Mayo
SERIES HISTORY
Overall: Tied 1-1
At Neutral Sites: EKU leads 1-0
Last Meeting: W, 87-59, 12/1/1972
Weber vs. Hamilton: First Meeting
OPENING TIP
- No. 12/11 Kansas State (2-0) heads south for the U.S. Virgin Islands Paradise Jam this week, as the Wildcats open the four-day tournament with a matchup against Ohio Valley Conference member Eastern Kentucky (2-1) at 6:30 p.m., CT on Friday, Nov. 16 at the UVI Sports and Fitness Center in St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands. The 19th annual event 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 winner of Friday’s late game will receive an off-day on Saturday, Nov. 17 and return to the court at 6:30 p.m., CT on Sunday, Nov. 18 against the winner of the Northern Iowa (1-1) and Penn (3-0) game, while the losers will meet at 4 p.m., CT on Saturday. The other side of the bracket includes Missouri (1-1), Old Dominion (1-1), Oregon State (2-0) and Kennesaw State (1-1). Missouri plays Kennesaw State in the first game of the tournament on Friday at noon CT on Friday, followed by the matchup between Oregon State and Old Dominion in game two at 2 p.m., CT.
- The winner of each bracket will face off in the U.S. Virgin Island Championship game on Monday, Nov. 19 at 6:30 p.m., CT. There will be three consolation games that will precede the title contest at 12 p.m., CT (seventh-place game), 2 p.m., CT (fourth-place game) and 4:30 p.m., CT (third-place game), respectively.
- This will mark the Wildcats’ second appearance in the Paradise Jam and the first since the 2002 event. K-State lost back-to-back to BYU (64-73) and Toledo (50-58) before defeating Michigan, 82-71, in the consolation game.
- 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 15-8 (.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.
- K-State moved to 2-0 for the 15th time in the last 16 seasons on Monday and extended its non-conference winning streak at Bramlage Coliseum to 25 consecutive games with a 64-56 win over Denver, as senior Barry Brown, Jr., scored a game-high 25 points.
NOTES ON EASTERN KENTUCKY
- Eastern Kentucky returns seven lettermen, including two starters (Nick Mayo and Jacquess Hobbs, from a squad that posted an 11-20 overall record and finished ninth in the Ohio Valley Conference with an 5-13 mark in 2017-18. The Colonels welcome a new head coach in 2018-19 in former N.C. State assistant coach A.W. Hamilton as well as seven newcomers.
- EKU was picked sixth (out of the 12-team league) in the OVC Coaches poll with 118 points with Belmont tabbed as the favorite with 227 points and eight first-place votes. Mayo was selected to the Preseason All-OVC Team.
- EKU is off a 2-1 start after knocking off NAIA foe Midway, 107-52, at home on Tuesday. The Colonels opened the year with a 105-77 loss to Marshall at home on Nov. 7 before earning an 81-78 win at Chattanooga on Nov. 10.
- High-flying EKU is averaging 88.3 points on 40.8 percent shooting (93-of-228), including 27.1 percent (23-of-85) from 3-point range, to go with 47.3 rebounds, 14.7 assists, 10.0 steals and 4.0 blocks per game. The squad is shooting 66.7 percent (56-of-84) from the line. Foes are averaging 78.3 points on 43.3 percent shooting, including 36.1 percent from 3-point range.
–www.kstatesports.com–
TOM GILBERT
Director for Men’s Basketball Communications | K-State Athletics