The boys and girls basketball teams from Rural Vista High School ( Hope and White City ) will compete in the Class 1A-Division I State Basketball Tournament.

The Rural Vista boys team ( 13-9 ) will play Montezuma-South Gray ( 23-0 ) in a first round game at 3 p.m. Wednesday at Gross Memorial Coliseum at Fort Hays State University.

The Rural Vista girls squad ( 18-4 ) will play Kensington Thunder Ridge ( 21-2 ) at 8:15 p.m. Thursday at Gross Memorial Coliseum.

The eight-team tournaments continue through Saturday.

 

 

Final Score: Kansas State 76, Baylor 67

Records: Kansas State 21-10, 10-8 Big 12 // Baylor 18-13, 8-10 Big 12

Attendance: 10,299

Next Game: Thursday, March 8 // vs. TCU (21-10, 9-9 Big 12) // 11:30 a.m. // ESPN2

Miscellaneous Notes

• K-State now has a 1,631-1,145 all-time record since basketball play began in 1903.
• K-State’s 10 Big 12 wins are the most in a single season since also winning 10 in 2013-14… It marks the eighth time in the last 12 seasons that the team has posted double-digit conference victories… The six Big 12 home wins are the most since posting seven in 2014-15, as the Wildcats have already guaranteed themselves a winning home record in league play for the first time since 2014-15 (7-2).
• K-State finishes alone in fourth place in the Big 12 standings with a 10-8 league record after being picked eighth in the preseason poll… It is the highest finish since winning the league title in 2012-13.
• K-State is now 366-116 all-time at Bramlage Coliseum since its opening during the 1988-89 season… The 366 victories are the second-most at a home venue… The Wildcats are 165-36 at home over the last 12 seasons, including 72-31 in Big 12 play… Head coach Bruce Weber is now 81-20 at Bramlage Coliseum since taking over at K-State in 2012-13.
• Head coach Bruce Weber is now 434-233 overall in his 20^th season, including a 121-78 mark in his sixth season at K-State… The 121 victories rank fourth all-time in school history and are the most wins since Jack Hartman retired as the winningest coach in school history in 1986 with 295 career victories.
• K-State now leads the all-time series with Baylor, 21-18, including 11-8 at home… The Wildcats swept the season series for the first time since 2013, while the four straight wins are the most in the series.
• The starting lineup consisted of redshirt freshman Cartier Diarra, junior Barry Brown, Jr., sophomore Xavier Sneed, sophomore Makol Mawien and juniorDean Wade… This is the 16th straight game using this lineup… Brown pushes his team-best streaks of current games played (99) and consecutive starts (77)… It was the 97^th career start for Wade, including the 77^th in row… Sneed has now started 33 games, including all 31 this season… It was the 31^st start in a row for Mawien and the 16^th straight for Diarra.

Team Notes

• K-State scored 77 points on 52.0 percent shooting (26-of-50), including 30 percent (6-of-20) from 3-point range, and connected on 79.2 percent (19-of-24) from the free throw line… It marks the 15th time this season that the Wildcats have scored 75 points or more, including eight times in Big 12 play.
• K-State connected on 50 percent or better from the field for the 15^th time this season, including the ninth time in Big 12 play… It is the highest total since doing it 19 times in 1987-88… The Wildcats also connected on 50 percent or better in each half for the 11^th time this season.
• The Wildcats recorded 19 assists on Saturday, marking the 17^th time this season K-State has recorded 15 or more team assists in a game…The 19 assists are the most since recording 20 against Iowa State (2/17).
• K-State out-scored Baylor, 28-26, in the paint, which marked the 21^st time this season the Wildcats possessed advantage over the opponent.
• K-State posted just 10 turnovers on Saturday, as the team has 12 turnovers or less in 23 of 31 games this season, including single-digit turnovers on 10 occasions.
• K-State scored 20 points off 14 Baylor turnovers, marking the 11^th time this season the Wildcats have scored 20 or more points off turnovers in a game… The 20 points off turnovers were the most since scoring 22 against Texas (2/7) and the fifth time the Wildcats posted 20 or more points against Big 12 opponents.
• K-State led 35-25 at the half behind 51.7 percent (15-of-29) shooting… It marked the 19^th time this season leading the half, including sixth time in Big 12 play.

Player Notes

• Junior Barry Brown, Jr., and Dean Wade each eclipsed 500 points vs. Baylor, becoming the seventh duo in school history to do so in the same season and the first since Jacob Pullen (715) and Denis Clemente (613) in 2009-10… Overall, Wade is the 30^th Wildcat and Brown the 31^st player to score 500 or more points in a single season and the first since Marcus Foster in 2014.
• Wade scored a team-high 25 points on 9-of-14 field goals, including 1-of-2 from 3-point range, and 6-of-7 from the free throw line to go with a team-high 7 rebounds…. Wade’s 17 points in the first half were the second-most in any half this season and the most since scoring 18 in the first half at Iowa State (12/29/17)… It marked his 15^th career 20-point game, including his 11^th this season (10 coming in Big 12 play)… He has now scored in double figures in 61 career games, including a team-best 27 this season… He finished Big 12 play having scored in double figures in all 18 league games.
• Brown scored 18 points on 6-of-9 field goals, including 2-of-4 from 3-point range, and 4-of-7 from the free throw line to go with a game-high 9 assists… He has now scored in double figures in 58 career games, including 24 this season… His 9 assists tied a career-high, previously recorded against TCU on Jan. 20, as the guard has recorded five or more assists on 10 different occasions this season.
• Sophomore Makol Mawien scored 14 points on 5-of-7 field goals… He has now scored in double figures in seven career games… K-State is a perfect 7-0 when he registers double digits.
• Sophomore Xavier Sneed dished out 6 assists on Saturday, nearing a career-high mark of 7 recorded against Northern Arizona (11/20/17) earlier this season… Sneed’s 6 assists mark the second time in his career he has recorded five or more assists in a game.

–www.kstatesports.com–

TOM GILBERT
Associate Director for Athletics Communications | K-State Athletics

MANHATTAN, Kan. –  Thanks to the loyal support of the K-State Nation, highlighted by lead gifts from the Tointon, Edgerley, Sunderland and John Vanier families, Athletics Director Gene Taylor announced today that the department has reached its fundraising goal for the new baseball and soccer facility campaign with groundbreaking ceremonies for each to follow in the coming months.

 

A total of $13 million, which surpassed the original fundraising goal of $10 million set back in October, has been raised for the campaign with the remaining $2 million of the total $15 million project being paid through department revenues and resources.

 

The renovation of Tointon Family Stadium will begin with a groundbreaking ceremony on May 11 when the Wildcats host KU, while the soccer project will break ground October 12, when the Wildcats host Texas Tech in a Big 12 soccer match. The exterior portion of the soccer stadium and baseball clubhouse is expected to be completed in July 2019, with the interior of both projects wrapping up by December 31, 2019.

 

“Thanks to the generosity of some of our dedicated donors and the entire K-State Nation, we are excited to move forward and break ground on these two very important facility projects,” said Taylor. “Our goal is to provide our coaches and student-athletes with the resources and facilities they need to win championships, in addition to improving upon the experience our fans have at games, and this project certainly will accomplish that.”

The Tointon Family Stadium portion of the project will consist of exterior upgrades to the facility, including a new facade and roof, as well as construction of an expansive new clubhouse along the third-base grandstand.  The clubhouse will house on the ground level a spacious lounge, locker room and team meeting room for the student-athletes, a sports medicine and rehabilitation area, a fueling station for student-athletes and renovated space for equipment and laundry. On the level above, new coaches offices and meeting space will overlook the field. 

 

The soccer stadium, which will be built on the site of the existing temporary facility, will provide not only a larger and more comfortable seating area for fans along with concessions and restrooms, but also locker room, lounge, sports medicine and strength and conditioning spaces for the Wildcat team in addition to office space for coaches, equipment storage and laundry areas.

 

The project, led by BG Consultants, will be funded without incurring any long-term debt and without any state tax or university funds. Any outstanding construction costs above the fundraising goal will be funded through department revenues and resources.

MANHATTAN, Kan. – Kansas State associate head coach/special teams coordinator Sean Snyder was named the 2017 Special Teams Coach of the Year by Phil Steele.

It marks the second time Snyder has earned the distinction after doing so in 2015, a year he was also named the Special Teams Coordinator of the Year by FootballScoop.

The Wildcats ranked in the top 25 nationally during the 2017 season in kickoff-return defense (2nd), punt returns (10th) and kickoff returns (14th). K-State surrendered only 16.6 yards on kickoff returns – its best mark since 2000 – while Kansas State is the only Power 5 team in the country to finish in the top 15 in kickoff-return average each of the last three seasons.

D.J. Reed ranked in the top 20 in five return categories – including second-place marks in both punt (14.9 yds/return) and kickoff (34.2 yds/return) returns – en route to Second Team All-America honors and First Team All-Big 12 accolades. Reed became Snyder’s fifth All-American in just seven years coordinating the special teams, including the third to earn first- or second-team citations.

Reed wasn’t Snyder’s only All-Big 12 performer in 2017 as place kicker Matthew McCrane earned first-team honors and was a semifinalist for the Lou Groza Award, punterNick Walsh was a second-team honoree and Byron Pringle picked up honorable mention honors as a returner.

McCrane left K-State as the first kicker in school history with three all-conference honors in a career as he became K-State’s all-time leader in career field goals made (57). He also set the record for career field goal percentage (86.4), extra point percentage (99.3), career consecutive field goals made (16) and career consecutive extra points made (105). His career field goal percentage ranked second in Big 12 history and sixth in NCAA history, while his 304 career points ranked third overall in K-State history and second among kickers.

As a senior in 2017, McCrane connected on 21 field goals to rank third in school history, including three of 50 or more yards to tie the school record. He finished 15th in the nation in field goals per game (1.62), while he was 25th in the nation in scoring.

Walsh left his mark on the record book as well, finishing third in career punting average (42.34) and fourth in both career attempts (217) and yards (9,187). As a senior, the former walk-on booted to a 43.6-yard mark to finish fifth in school history and second in the Big 12.

The Saint Xavier High School boys basketball team lost to Blue Valley-Randolph in the semifinals of the substate tournament 61-59 on Thursday night.

The game was played at Blue Valley – Randolph High School.

The Junction City Brigade will unveil a new fundraiser on March 31.

Brigade General Manager Cecil Aska noted tickets are on sale for the “Five-Minute Grocery Grab.” You get five minutes at Dillons Grocery Store to load up a grocery cart as full as you can get it without dropping anything out of it.”

One thousand tickets at $10 apiece will be sold for this fundraiser. Aska said there will also be opportunities to win five $100 gift cards, ten $50 gift cards, and Coach’s Grill and Bar will provide a few $20 gift cards. Aska added as a result there will be opportunities for people to recoup their ten dollar contribution.

The funds raised will help support the operations for the Brigade, the summer collegiate baseball team. Tickets will be on sale March 3 and 17, and you can also get them at Coach’s Grill and Bar.

FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) — Kenrich Williams had 16 points and 11 rebounds in his final home game for TCU, leading the Horned Frogs to their first four-game conference winning streak in 20 years with a 66-59 victory against Kansas State on Tuesday night.

Williams stopped a season-high streak of six games without a double-double by recording his 11th of the season. The last four-game league winning streak for the Horned Frogs (21-9, 9-8 Big 12) was in 1997-98, when they went 14-0 in the Western Athletic Conference under Billy Tubbs.

TCU, which pulled even with the Wildcats for fourth place in the conference standings, appears headed to its first NCAA Tournament appearance since that year. Jamie Dixon, a former player for the Horned Frogs, is in his second season as their coach.

A year ago, a seven-game losing streak to finish the regular season cost TCU an NCAA berth before the Horned Frogs won two games in the Big 12 Tournament and took the NIT championship.

Dean Wade scored 24 points for the Wildcats (20-10, 9-8), who missed a chance for 10 conference wins for the first time in five years but are still in good shape for a second straight trip to the NCAAs under Bruce Weber. Barry Brown Jr. had 17 points and six assists.