12/11 KANSAS STATE (4-0) vs. MISSOURI (3-1)

Monday, November 19, 2018 >> 6:30 p.m., CT >> UVI Sports & Fitness Center

Listen Online: TuneIn.com [free] // www.kstatesports.com/watch [free]

Satellite Radio: Sirius 135 / XM 199 / Internet 953

 

COACHES

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

Overall: 442-235/21^st season

At K-State: 129-80/7^th season

1. Missouri: 7-4

 

Missouri: Cuonzo Martin (Purdue ’00)

Overall: 209-135/11^th season

At Missouri: 23-14/2^nd season

1. K-State: 0-0

 

PROJECTED STARTING LINEUP

Kansas State (4-0)

G: #3 Kamau Stokes

G: #5 Barry Brown, Jr.

G: #20 Xavier Sneed

F: #32 Dean Wade

F: #14 Makol Mawien

 

Missouri (3-1)

G: #15 Jordan Geist

G: #4 Javon Pickett

G: #13 Mark Smith

F: #23 Jeremiah Tilmon

F: #24 Kevin Puryear

 

SERIES HISTORY

Overall: K-State leads 120-116 (series dates to 1907)

At Neutral Sites: K-State leads 16-8

Last Meeting: W, 66-42, 11/23/2015

Weber vs. Martin: 0-0

 

OPENING TIP

• No. 12/11 Kansas State (4-0) concludes play in the U.S. Virgin Islands Paradise Jam on Monday, as the Wildcats take on former conference rival Missouri (3-1) at 6:30 p.m., CT in tournament’s championship game. K-State has not won an in-season regular-season title since 2011.
• Monday’s matchup with the Tigers will represent the 237th meeting between the schools in a series that dates back to 1907. It is the second-most meeting between an opponent in school, trailing just the 289 meetings with Kansas, while 120 victories by the Wildcats are the second-most against one opponent, trailing just the 139 against Iowa State.
• K-State holds a 120-116 advantage in the all-time series, including four consecutive wins. The Wildcats are 16-8 against the Tigers in games played at neutral sites. The schools last met in a regular season tournament in the semifinals of the 2015 CBE Hall of Fame Classic on Nov. 23, 2015 at the Sprint Center in Kansas City.
• K-State advanced to the championship game with a 64-48 victory over reigning Ivy League champion Penn on Sunday night, holding the Quakers to 30.6 percent shooting (15-of-49), including 28.6 percent (6-of-21) in the second half. Senior Dean Wade led the Wildcats in points (17), rebounds (8) and assists (4), while fellow senior Kamau Stokes added 16 points.
• Missouri has wins over Kennesaw State (55-52) and Oregon State (69-63) to get to Monday’s championship game. Senior Jordan Geist led all scorers with 21 points in the win over the Beavers, while fellow senior Kevin Puryear added 17 points and a game-high 7 rebounds.
• The matchup between the Wildcats and Tigers in the tournament championship game will conclude the 19^th annual Paradise Jam. Other matchups include the seventh-place game between Kennesaw State (1-4) and Eastern Kentucky (2-3) at 12 p.m., CT, the fifth-place game between Northern Iowa (2-2) at 2 p.m., CT and the third-place game between Oregon State (3-1) and Penn (4-1) at 4:30 p.m., CT.
• K-State has a 17-8 (.680) record in regular-season tournaments under head coach Bruce Weber, advancing to the tournament finals on three other 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 now has a 125-78 (.616) all-time record in 76 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 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 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.

 

NOTES ON MISSOURI

• Missouri returns seven lettermen, including three starters (Jordan Geist, Kevin Puryear and Jeremiah Tilmon) from a squad that posted a 20-13 overall record and tied for fourth in the SEC with a 10-8 mark in 2017-18. The Tigers advanced to the NCAA Tournament, where they lost to Florida State in the first round.
• The Tigers are off to 3-1 start to season, defeating Central Arkansas (68-55), Kennesaw State (55-52) and Oregon State (69-63) with their only loss coming at Iowa State (76-59).
• Missouri is 62.8 points on 39.8 percent shooting (86-of-216), including 29.1 percent (25-of-86) from 3-point range, to go with 37.2 rebounds, 11.3 assists, 5.8 steals and 2.0 blocks per game. The squad is shooting 69.2 percent (54-of-78) from the line. Foes are averaging 61.5 points on 38.1 percent shooting, including 33.3 percent from 3-point range.
• Three players are averaging in double figures for the Tigers in sophomore Mark Smith (11.8 ppg.,), Kevin Puryear (11.5 ppg.) and Jordan Geist (10.0 ppg.). Smith is connecting on 47.1 percent from the field, including 50 percent from 3-point range, to go with 6.5 rebounds per game, while Puryear is connecting on 44.1 percent while averaging a team-best 7.0 rebounds. Geist leads the team with 2.8 assists per game.
• Head coach Cuonzo Martin is in his 11^th season as a head coach, including his second at Missouri. He has a 209-135 record as a head coach, including a 23-14 mark at the helm of the Tigers. He has been head coach at Missouri State (2008-11), Tennessee (2011-14), California (2014-17) and now Missouri (2017-present). He has led teams to the postseason in eight of 10 seasons, including three trips to the NCAA Tournament.

 

SERIES HISTORY

• Monday’s matchup with the Tigers will represent the 237th meeting between the schools in a series that dates back to 1907. It is the second-most meeting between an opponent in school, trailing just the 289 meetings with Kansas, while 120 victories by the Wildcats are the second-most against one opponent, trailing just the 139 against Iowa State.
• K-State holds a 120-116 advantage in the all-time series, including four consecutive wins. The Wildcats are 16-8 against the Tigers in games played at neutral sites. The schools last met in a regular season tournament in the semifinals of the 2015 CBE Hall of Fame Classic on Nov. 23, 2015 at the Sprint Center in Kansas City.
• The schools met as conference foes in five different conference, including the Missouri Valley (1914-28), Big Six (1929-47), Big Seven (1948-58), Big Eight (1959-96) and Big 12 (1997-2012) Conferences before Missouri left for the SEC in 2013.