MANHATTAN, Kan. – Kansas State head coach Bill Snyder met with members of the media on Wednesday at the Vanier Family Football Complex prior to K-State departing for Arizona to begin preparations for the 2017 Cactus Bowl against UCLA. The game, which will be held on Tuesday at Chase Field, will kick off at 8 p.m. (CT) and be televised nationally on ESPN. Selected comments from Snyder’s press conference (archived here) are posted below.

K-State’s bowl information page can be accessed by clicking here, while tickets can be purchased by clicking here.

K-State’s Pre-Bowl Press Conference Quotes
Head Coach Bill Snyder
On UCLA quarterback Josh Rosen…

“I don’t know that there’s anything that really separates him (from Big 12 quarterbacks like Baker Mayfield and Mason Rudolph). I think all of them are quality quarterbacks, excellent quarterbacks. That’s not just my opinion; I think that’s virtually everyone’s opinion. I think he’s very much like them. He’s good at processing information. He makes good decisions. He has patience and works through his progressions, and is an accurate thrower. He can put some velocity on the ball as well, and I think that’s something probably describes all three of them as much as anything.”

On facing Josh Rosen after playing against elite quarterbacks in Big 12 play…

“It’s interesting that we are (playing another elite quarterback). What’d be more interesting is if we could get one of them stopped. That’s the important thing. He’s thrown for 345 yards per game but you go back and you take their non-conference schedule out of that and he’s down a little closer to the 300 mark, about 315 I think, which is still an awful lot of yards to throw. You look at the number of snaps that they’re throwing the football and the number of times that he’s thrown it, you’re going to get yardage when you throw it that much, at least they have. There’s no guarantee that’s what they’re going to do, but you’re certainly going to see them throw it. Now how much, I don’t know. Even at that, he’s still a very talented quarterback. We’d like to see one that throws for 45 percent and 180 yards a game, that’s a guy we’d like to see, but it’s a challenge and that’s good part of it too.”

On if there has been any standouts in bowl preparations…

“None come to mind right now. The early portion of our bowl preparation, as it is every year, is centered and focused around younger guys who normally don’t have the opportunity. We try to get them involved more readily and individual, fundamental technique drills. I thought there were a number of them I was pleased with their efforts, but as it relates to how they would impact the bowl and opportunities in the bowl game, that hasn’t changed. It will be the same team, same people.”

On his memories of the 1993 Copper Bowl, his first bowl game at K-State…

“I think it was meaningful because it was the first bowl game. It kind of highlighted the progression the program had made in those early years. On the same level as that was the outgrowth of support that we had at the ballgame. I think we had over 22,000 people in attendance. We had a pep rally at one of the hotels there and we had well over 5,000 people that couldn’t get in. I was at an event the other night and Mitch Holthus (former Voice of the Wildcats) brought that up. And the fact that we played pretty well.”

On the team’s recent success playing away from home…

“They (UCLA) gets to claim this as a home game, so it’s going to be a home game for them, and they haven’t lost at home. Again, it all boils down if you do it the right way and have the discipline to keep the game between the white lines. That field down there is the same size as the one we’ve got here. It’s just a matter of staying disciplined and taking your preparation to the field and staying focused and keeping it between the white lines. If you do that then good things normally happen.”

On the Wildcats succeeding in intimidating environments down the stretch of the season…

“It’s only intimidating if you allow it to be. If you’re not keeping it between the white lines, then it can become that. What’s impressed me? The capacity to keep the game between the white lines, I think.”

On if he has seen what he wants from the team in bowl preparations…

“It can always be better, but I thought our practices have been good. We haven’t practiced every day because we’ve had final exams, and I also wanted to make sure they did get some break time. We practiced in blocks of two days or three days, so they’ve stayed reasonably fresh. I think the spirit has been positive. As we get close to this period of time where we’re getting ready to leave, maybe this last day or so probably wasn’t all I wanted it to be in that respect, but leading up to that I was pleased with their effort.”

On the progress of quarterback Skylar Thompson during bowl preparations…

“It’s about the same as I have seen for the last three or four weeks of the season, just a young guy that maintains his poise, has an appropriate level of confidence about him. His execution is very consistent and has been consistently good. None of that has changed. I don’t see any difference in him than whenever we talked the last time.”

On his thoughts on the new signing period…

“I think when all the dust settles, we’ll give some heavy thought to it because there will be some legislation coming up in early January to address it. I don’t know. I really don’t. Nothing has come up that has made it something that concerns me a great deal, but I haven’t thought about it so much, other than doing what we have to do to be able to make sure we can get some commitments and some signees. I haven’t thought about the plusses and minuses heavily yet.”

On balancing the new signing period with bowl preparations…

“It’s hard. Both of them are full-time jobs, and it just means you have to do a lot more because of signing day coming up right into preparation time, you had to do a lot more right up to that last week in order to solidify commitments, and it’s still in the process. There’s a lot of young people who may or may not sign in this two-day window that haven’t yet. To a certain degree, that’s the part of it that right now I’m not enamored with is the fact that you really are focused on a bowl preparation and you have to split your time two ways. It makes it a little harder.”

On K-State’s signing class thus far…

“All of them are good young guys. Normally, there’s a write-up that comes out after I go back and scrutinize the group collectively. I haven’t done that as we normally do. I don’t know if I could answer the question as thoroughly as I would like to. Again, I think they’re good people and the vast majority have been very, very fine students, highly recommended as people with good character by the people in their school system and around their communities. Hopefully they’re good players. There’s a significant difference between high school and college, just like there is between the high school and the NFL. As I’ve said every time, as far as the quality of their capabilities on the football field, that’ll be determined after they’ve been here for a couple of years and you have a chance to really assess what they can do at this level.”

On quarterbacks coach Collin Klein as a recruiter…

“We have several young guys. I consider Blake Seiler to be a young guy, and he played here. He does an excellent job of recruiting. Andre Coleman is still a young pup in my eyes and played here and is a very active recruiter as well. I think all of them have positive impacts on recruiting. The two I mentioned of Blake and Andre just have a little more experience at it than Collin does. He’s getting his feet wet right now but he’s doing it quite well.”

————
RYAN LACKEY
Asst. Director/Athletics Communications | K-State Athletics

SPOKANE, Wash. (AP) — Barry Brown Jr. scored 23 points as Kansas State beat Washington State 68-65 on Wednesday night in the Spokane Arena.

Makol Mawien added 15 points for Kansas State (10-2), which has won six of its past seven games.

Carter Skaggs had 24 points and Malachi Flynn 23 for Washington State (7-4), which overcame a dreadful first half to take the lead in the second half.

Neither team shot well. Kansas State finished at 42 percent shooting while Washington State shot 38 percent.

Mawien scored eight points as Kansas State jumped to a 21-9 lead.

The Wildcats led 35-25 at halftime, after holding Washington State to 29-percent shooting (9-of-31). Kansas State wasn’t much better, shooting 39 percent in the first.

Skaggs had 13 first half points for Washington State.

Washington State found its shooting range in the second half.

Skaggs hit a pair of 3-pointers as Washington State opened the second half with an 11-4 run to cut its deficit to 39-36.

Flynn’s layup and free throw gave Washington State its first lead at 49-47 with 10 minutes left. Flynn sank a pair of 3-pointers to give the Cougars a 57-49 lead.

Brown made six straight points as Kansas State came back and trailed 63-62 with 1:26 left.

Brown’s dunk put the Wildcats ahead 64-63 with 51 seconds left.

Flynn missed a long jumper and Kansas State rebounded. Brown hit a pair of free throws and the Cougars missed another long jumper.

MANHATTAN, Kan. (AP) — Kansas State coach Bill Snyder remains undecided about his future leading the Wildcats, preferring instead to focus on preparing his team to play UCLA in the Cactus Bowl.

There have been anonymous reports that have indicated Snyder has already decided to return for his 27th season. Snyder said Wednesday he is “in the process” of deciding about next season.

The 78-year-old Snyder has a contract that rolls over annually.

Kansas Prep Scores,
Tuesday’s Scores
The Associated Press

2017 Cactus Bowl
Kansas State vs. UCLA
Date: Tuesday, December 26, 2017

Kickoff: 8 p.m. (CT)

Location: Phoenix, Ariz.

Stadium: Chase Field (40,000)

Series: UCLA Leads, 2-1

TV: ESPN

            Jason Benetti (Play-by-Play)

            Jordan Rodgers (Analyst)

            Olivia Harlan (Sidelines)

K-State Radio: K-State Sports Network; k-statesports.com; SiriusXM Ch. 84

            Wyatt Thompson (Play-by-Play)

            Stan Weber (Analyst)

            Matt Walters (Sidelines)

National Radio: ESPN Radio; SiriusXM Ch. 80

            Marc Kestecher (Play-by-Play)

            Tom Ramsay (Analyst)

Twitter Updates: @kstatesports, @kstate_gameday, @KStateFB

WILDCATS AND BRUINS MEET IN THE DESERT
Winners of four of its last five games and looking to win consecutive bowl games for the first time since 1999-2000, Kansas State takes on UCLA in the 2017 Cactus Bowl on December 26, inside Chase Field in downtown Phoenix, Arizona. This year’s Cactus Bowl is one of the more exciting bowl matchups of the season as K-State puts its winning ways on the line against a Bruin team that features a stellar passing game.

The Cactus Bowl marks the 21st bowl game in K-State history and the 19th under Hall of Fame head coach Bill Snyder. The Wildcats will be making their fourth appearance in the contest, but are playing under a fourth different name at a third different stadium. Kansas State first appeared in the game as it won the 1993 Copper Bowl over Wyoming, 52-17, in Tucson, Arizona. The game then moved to the Phoenix area as the Wildcat lost to Syracuse, 26-3, at Chase Field (then Bank One Ballpark) before K-State earned a 31-14 triumph over Michigan in the 2013 Buffalo Wild Wings Bowl at Sun Devil Stadium in Tempe.

K-State is riding a streak of eight-straight bowl games, a mark that is tied for 13th nationally. After narrowly missing postseason play in the first season of his second tenure in 2009 (6-6 record), Snyder quickly led K-State back into the bowl picture in 2010 when Kansas State played in the inaugural New Era Pinstripe Bowl. Since then, they have played in the Cotton Bowl (2011), Fiesta Bowl following a Big 12 Championship in 2012, Buffalo Wild Wings Bowl (2013), Alamo Bowl (2014), Liberty Bowl (2015) and Texas Bowl (2016).

A LOOK AT K-STATE

• One of the hottest teams entering the bowl season, K-State turned a 3-4 mark following consecutive losses to top-10 teams into a 7-5 record that included late-game drama and a top-10 road victory.
• The Wildcats’ road to the Cactus Bowl began with wins over Central Arkansas and Charlotte to open the year before falling by a touchdown at Vanderbilt. Kansas State opened conference play with a win over Baylor but dropped its next three games – a double-overtime loss at Texas, a defeat to then-No. 6 TCU and a seven-point loss to Oklahoma, which scored the game-winning touchdown with seven seconds remaining.
• K-State got back on track by picking up its ninth-straight win over in-state rival Kansas. The Wildcats then traveled to Texas Tech and found themselves down by 11 points in the fourth quarter. All K-State did was record a field goal, touchdown and game-tying two-point conversion to send the game into overtime. The Wildcats then scored a touchdown on its first possession of overtime before forcing four-straight incompletions inside the 10-yard line.
• After falling at home to then-No. 23 West Virginia, Kansas State made a statement for its sixth win over the season in the form of a 45-40 win at then-No. 10 Oklahoma State, the Wildcats’ first road win over a top-10 since 2012.
• In the regular-season finale against Iowa State, K-State used its blueprint from the Texas Tech game as the Wildcats trailed, 19-7, in the fourth quarter but scored two touchdowns in the final six minutes – including a game-winning one-yard touchdown pass from Skylar Thompson to Isaiah Zuber as time expired – for a 20-19 win.
• Thompson, a redshirt freshman, is the Wildcats’ third quarterback this year, starting the final three games. During that stretch, he has thrown for 515 yards and four touchdowns on 38-of-60 (63.3-percent) aim to go along with 158 rushing yards and another two scores. Sophomore Alex Barnes leads the K-State rushing attack with 702 yards and six touchdowns on 134 carries, while Zuber, another sophomore, leads the team with 51 catches. Junior Byron Pringle has totaled 705 receiving yards and six touchdowns on only 28 catches to rank first nationally in yards per reception.
• Defensively, senior linebacker Trent Tanking (96) and Jayd Kirby (93) pace the Wildcats in tackles. Kirby leads the squad with 10.5 tackles for loss and ranks second with 4.0 sacks, just a half sack shy of team-leader Will Geary. K-State also has two of the top corners in the league in juniors Duke Shelley (11 PBUs, 2 INTs) and D.J. Reed (9 PBUs, 4 INT).
• K-State’s stellar special teams are led by All-Big 12 performers Matthew McCrane (kicker) and Nick Walsh (punter) in addition to all-conference return men in Reed and Pringle. McCrane holds the school record with 57 career field goals, including 21 this year. Reed currently ranks first in Big 12 history in kickoff-return average (35.3) and ranks second nationally in punt returns (17.1).

K-STATE IN ARIZONA

• This year marks the seventh time K-State will play in an Arizona bowl, including the third time since the 2012 season.
• The Wildcats hold a 3-3 all-time record in Arizona bowl games, including a 31-14 victory over Michigan in the 2013 Buffalo Wild Wings Bowl.

  CATS AND BRUINS

• K-State is 1-2 all-time against UCLA as the two teams have met three times since 2009.
• The teams played in a home-and-home series in 2009 and 2010. UCLA won the first matchup, 23-9, in Pasadena, California, in 2009, but K-State held on its home field in the form of a 31-22 victory in Manhattan in 2010.
• The Wildcats and Bruins also met in the 2015 Alamo Bowl (following the 2014 season) with UCLA holding on for a 40-35 victory.
• UCLA jumped out to a 31-6 halftime lead, but K-State outscored the Bruins, 29-9 in the second half. However, UCLA was able to hold on for the five-point victory.

  K-STATE AND THE PAC-12

• K-State will be playing its 94th game all-time against current members of the Pac-12 Conference when the Wildcats face UCLA in the Cactus Bowl, but 66 of those games came against Colorado as a member of the Big 8/12.
• The Wildcats will face a Pac-12 team in a bowl game for the fifth time in school history.
• K-State is 2-2 against the Pac-12 in bowl games after facing UCLA (L in 2015 Alamo Bowl), Oregon (L in 2013 Fiesta Bowl), Arizona State (W in 2002 Holiday Bowl) and Washington (W in 1999 Holiday Bowl).

BOWLING AGAIN

• In an era of college football where nearly 80 teams play in bowl games each year, K-State is one of just 16 FBS schools nationally to ride of streak of at least eight-consecutive bowl berths.
  • The eight-year bowl streak is tied for 13th nationally with only Oklahoma (4th; 19) and Oklahoma State (10th; 12) ranking higher in the Big 12.

  SUSTAINABLE SUCCESS
  • Kansas State is in rare company in college football as the Wildcats rank in the top 20 in wins among FBS programs over the last 23 seasons.
  • Since 1995, K-State has picked up 190 victories, which ranks 19th in the nation.
  • Among current Big 12 teams, only Oklahoma (3rd; 219), Texas (13th; 202) and TCU (15th; 195) rank higher.

  ONE OF THE BIG 12’S BEST
  • K-State is one of only three teams in the Big 12 to reach 100 league wins. Oklahoma tops the list with 137 Big 12 wins, while the Wildcats are third with 110.
  • K-State ranks third in the conference in winning percentage since the start of 2011 at .651 (41-22), trailing only OU (.810; 51-12) and Oklahoma State (.698; 44-19).
  • During that stretch, the Wildcats are 22-10 (.688) at home in Big 12 play and 19-12 (.613) on the road.

  THE HALL OF FAMER
  • The architect of the “greatest turnaround in the history of college football,” Bill Snyder was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2015.
  • Snyder is just the fourth person in the history of college football to be inducted as an active coach.
  • Snyder has compiled a 209-110-1 (.655) record in 26 seasons at K-State as he is one of just six coaches to reach the 200-win mark and coach at only one school.
  • Holding 170 more victories than any other coach in K-State history, Snyder ranks first in the FBS in wins among coaches at their current schools and second in total wins among active coaches.
  • Additionally, Snyder has 123 conference wins to stand as one of four coaches with 100 Big 8/12 victories (Tom Osborne [153], Bob Stoops [121], Barry Switzer [100]).

  CARDIAC CATS
  • Goal No. 10 in the Wildcats’ 16 Goals for Success is “Never Give Up,” which led K-State to two of the most improbable wins in school history this season at Texas Tech and against Iowa State.
  • The Wildcats trailed, 35-27, with less than 10 minutes left at Texas Tech but scored the game’s final 15 points – a field goal, touchdown and two-point conversion in regulation and a touchdown in the first overtime – for a 42-35 win.
  • In the regular-season finale against the Cyclones, K-State trailed 19-7 with less than seven minutes remaining but scored a pair of touchdowns – including one on the final play – to earn a 20-19 victory.
  • It marked the first time in school history the Wildcats had two wins in a season when trailing by double digits in the fourth quarter.
  • The 11-point comeback at Texas Tech was the largest road deficit overcome for a win in school history.

  BETTER LATE THAN NEVER
  • Kansas State’s 20-19 victory in the regular-season finale over Iowa State came via a one-yard touchdown pass from Skylar Thompson to Isaiah Zuber on the final play of the game.
  • It represented the Wildcats’ first-game winning touchdown on the final play of regulation since Matt Miller hit Kevin Lockett on a 22-yard touchdown pass to win at Cincinnati, 23-21, on Sept. 9, 1995.

ROAD WARRIORS

• K-State started the season on the wrong side of the ledger in road games, losing at Vanderbilt and in two overtimes at Texas. However, K-State reversed the trend by winning its final three road games at Kansas, Texas Tech and Oklahoma State.
• With their last loss coming at Texas onOctober 7, it marked the longest a K-State team went without losing a road game since 2002.

RYAN LACKEY
Asst. Director/Athletics Communications | K-State Athletics

Tipoff 10 p.m. CT

TELEVISION

ESPN2 // ESPN3

• Eric Rothman (play-by-play)
• Caron Butler (analyst)
• Bart Fox (producer)

RADIO

K-State Sports Network

• Wyatt Thompson (play-by-play)
• Stan Weber (analyst)

COACHES

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

Overall: 422-225/20^th season

At K-State: 109-70/6^th season

1. Washington State: 1-0

Washington State: Ernie Kent (Oregon ’77)

Career Record: 367-315/23^rd Year

Record at WSU: 42-61/4^th Year

1. Kansas State: 2-1

PROJECTED STARTING LINEUP

Kansas State (9-2)

G: #3 Kamau Stokes

G: #5 Barry Brown, Jr.

G: #20 Xavier Sneed

F: #32 Dean Wade

F: #14 Makol Mawien

Washington State (7-3)

G: #4 Viont’e Daniels

G: #22 Malachi Flynn

G: #40 Kwinton Hinson

F: #3 Robert Franks

F: #43 Drick Bernstine

SERIES HISTORY

Overall: K-State leads 5-2

In Spokane: First meeting

In Pullman: Washington State leads 2-1

Last Meeting: W, 70-56, 12/10/2016

Weber vs. Kent: Weber leads 3-1

OPENING TIP

• Kansas State (9-2) concludes the 2017 non-conference portion of its schedule on Wednesday, as the Wildcats travel to the Pacific Northwest to take on Pac-12 foe Washington State (7-3) at the Spokane Arena. The game, which is the second of a home-and-home series between the schools, will be shown nationally on ESPN2 at 8 p.m. CT with Eric Rothman (play-by-play) and Caron Butler (analyst).
• Wednesday’s game will be the last on the road in non-conference play, as K-State has gone 2-2 away from Bramlage Coliseum this season. The Wildcats split games with undefeated Arizona State (90-92) and George Washington (67-59) at the Las Vegas Invitational before a true road win at Vanderbilt (84-79) and a loss to Tulsa (54-61) at Wichita’s INTRUST Bank Arena. The team is attempting to win double-digit non-conference games for the 11th time in the last 12 seasons. K-State is 31-6 in non-conference play the last three seasons since posting a 7-6 mark in 2014-15.
• K-State and Washington State will be playing for the eighth time on the hardwood, which includes five meetings since 2004. The schools are currently in the midst of their third home-and-home series, which includes true home games (Manhattan and Pullman) in 2004 and 2005 and 2009 and 2010. The Wildcats have won three straight in the series, including a 70-56 victory over the Cougars on Dec. 10, 2016 at Kansas City’s Sprint Center. Although current Orlando Magic player Wesley Iwundu led with a game-high 15 points, three current Wildcats (Barry Brown, Jr., Dean Wade and Xavier Sneed) scored in double figures, as the squad opened up a narrow 28-26 lead at halftime by shooting 51.6 percent in the second half.
• K-State took out its weeklong frustration from the Tulsa game by connecting on a season-best 62.5 percent from the field in an 89-71 win over SE Missouri State on Saturday. The Wildcats, which have posted six games of 80 or more points this season, tallied season highs in four other categories, including field goals made (35), assists (25), points in the paint (44) and dunks (7). The 35 field goals made were one shy of the most in the Bruce Weber era, while the 25 assists were the most since dishing out 25 in a double-overtime loss at Baylor on Feb. 15, 2014 and 44 points in the paint were the most since totaling 46 in a win over Iowa State on Feb. 28, 2015.
• Sophomore Xavier Sneed continued his impressive play of late with a career-best 23 points against SE Missouri State, which came on 9-of-10 field goals, including 4-of-5 from long range. Sneed, who became the first Wildcat in recorded history to pace the team in five categories with 15 points, 8 rebounds, 4 assists, 3 steals and 1 block against Tulsa (12/9), has scored in double figures in seven of 11 games, which includes a pair of 20-point games in the last four outings. He has upped his scoring average from 7.1 points as a freshman to 12.5 points this season.
• K-State has been solid in taking care of the basketball this season, ranking among the national leaders in assist turnover ratio (1.6/10th), turnovers per game (10.6/12th), turnover margin (5.1/15th) and assists per game (17.0/37th). Since turning over the ball a season-high 17 in the opener against American (11/10), the Wildcats have averaged just 10.0 turnovers in the last 10 games, including six games of 10 turnovers or less.

NOTES ON WASHINGTON STATE

• Washington State enters Wednesday’s contest with a 7-3 record after snapping a three-game skid with a 72-59 victory over IUPUI on Saturday. The Cougars connected on 54.9 percent from the field, including 50 percent or better in each half, as guard Malachi Flynn paced four players in double figures with 17 points. The team opened the year 6-0, which included wins over St. Joseph’s (75-71), Saint Mary’s (84-79) and San Diego State (93-86) to win the Wooden Legacy Championship at Thanksgiving for their first in-season tournament title since 2009.
• The Cougars are averaging nearly 77 points per game on 45.9 percent shooting, including 39.3 percent from 3-point range, with 35.7 rebounds, 15.8 assists, 5.5 steals and 2.7 blocks per game, while allowing opponents to average 74.8 points on 43.2 percent shooting, including 34.4 percent from long range. They are averaging 11.7 3-point field goals per game, which ranks fifth nationally, have three players with 24 or more 3-point field goals. The team is shooting 72.8 percent from the line.
• Junior forward Robert Franks and Flynn pack quite the 1-2 scoring punch at 18.3 and 15.4 points per game, respectively, while five other Cougars average 6 points or more per game. Frank has connected on 52.9 percent from the field, including 45.5 percent from 3-point range, to go with a team-best 7.1 rebounds and 2.7 assists per game. Flynn, who leads three players with 24 or more treys with 28, has a team-best 42 assists and 11 steals. Junior guard Viont’e Daniels averages 9.4 points on 47.7 percent shooting, including 46.2 percent from 3-point range, in a team-best 34.5 minutes per game. Sophomore Jeff Pollard averages 7.0 points on a team-best 58.8 percent shooting, while senior Drick Bernstine averages 6.7 points on 51.9 percent shooting with 6.9 rebounds per game.
• Washington State is led by fourth-year head coach Ernie Kent, who has a 42-61 record in his tenure. Overall, he has a 367-315 mark in his 23rd season as a head coach, which includes stints at Saint Mary’s (1991-97) and Oregon (1997-2010). He has advanced to the NCAA Tournament six times.

SERIES HISTORY

• This will be eighth meeting between Kansas State and Washington State on the hardwood with the Wildcats holding a 5-2 advantage, including wins in each of the last three matchups (2009, 2010 and 2016). The Cougars are 2-1 all-time in the state of Washington in the series, including a 47-22 win on Dec. 20, 1941 and a 58-57 victory on Dec. 3, 2005 (both in Pullman). The Wildcats won the last meeting in the state, 63-58, on Dec. 3, 2010.
• Head coach Bruce Weber is 1-0 all-time against Washington State, which includes last meeting in Kansas City, in which, K-State posted a 70-56 win on Dec. 10, 2016. The Wildcats broke open a tight one in the second half, connecting on 51.6 percent from the field, while holding the Cougars to 32.1 percent. Senior Wesley Iwundu paced four players in double figures with a game-high 15 points, while current players Barry Brown, Jr. (14), Dean Wade (11) and Xavier Sneed (10) also scored in double digits. Kamau Stokes and Iwundu each dished out 5 assists.
• K-State is 139-78 all-time against the Pac-12, including a 45-53 mark in games played on the road. The Wildcats are 0-1 against the Pac-12 this season having lost 92-90 to current No. 3 Arizona State on Thanksgiving Day in Las Vegas.

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

MANHATTAN, Kan. – Sophomore Xavier Sneed paced four Wildcats in double figures with a career-best 23 points, as Kansas State connected on a season-best 62.5 percent from the field in an 89-71 win over SE Missouri State on Saturday night at Bramlage Coliseum.

Sneed, who posted his second 20-point game in his last four outing, was joined in double figures by juniors Dean Wade (19) and Kamau Stokes (12) and sophomore Makol Mawien (11), as the Wildcats posted season-highs for field goals made (35), assists (25), points in the paint (44) and dunks (7).

HOW IT HAPPENED

Bramlage Coliseum was rocking early, as the Wildcats sprung out to an early lead behind several big plays. In the opening minutes, Stokes led a Wildcats’ fast break that was lobbed to Sneed who threw down the alley-oop.

Minutes later, Sneed received a pass in the corner of the court, where he connected on a 3-pointer and was subsequently fouled on the shot, converting on a four-point play. Sneed led K-State to an early 16-6 lead at the 15:45 mark with 8 early points.

Defensively, the early run came in light of an opportune defense, as junior guard Barry Brown cut off the Redhawk passes throughout the game, including 3 steals in the first half.

Coming off the bench, junior guard Amaad Wainright made an immediate impact offensively, recording 3 points, 4 rebounds and 1 assist in the first half. Wainright’s efforts on the boards helped K-State out-rebound SE Missouri State 14-5 in the first half.

Late in the first half, Stokes took over the scoring for K-State, scoring 5 consecutive points behind the strength of the pull-up 3-pointer and drive to the basket. Stokes tallied 7 points at the half, while Wade led the team with 13 points on a perfect 6-of-6 from the field.

Collectively, K-State shook off a tough shooting performance from a week ago against Tulsa, as the team bounced back with an impressive 68.8 percent (22-of-32) from the floor, and 60 percent from beyond the arc (6-of-10) to jump out to a 53-39 lead in the first half.

Out of the break, Sneed started the Wildcat scoring with 7 consecutive points, including a trey from the top of the arc to get the team rolling.

At the 15:29 mark, Mawien collected a pass from Stokes on a K-State fast-break and threw it down over a Redhawk defender that excited the crowd. The slam was a theme throughout the game for the Wildcats, as they attacked the rim dunking 7 times on 7 attempts. Mawien scored in double figures for the second time on 5-of-6 shooting.

The Wildcats opened up their largest lead of the game in the second half with 7:55 remaining, as the team led by 25 following a Sneed 3-pointer. K-State would hold their advantage throughout the remainder of the game, winning for the 22^nd consecutive time at Bramlage Coliseum in non-conference play.

Redhawk sophomore Denzel Mahoney led SE Missouri State in scoring, tallying 23 points on 6-of-9 shooting. As a team, the Redhawks shot 44 percent (25-of-57) from the field.

As a team, the Wildcats connected on 62.52 percent (35-of-56) from the field and 47.8 percent (11-of-23) from beyond the arc, including a season-high 25 assists as a team. K-State also doubled SE Missouri State in rebounds, grabbing a total of 37 rebounds to the Redhawks’ 19.

PLAYER OF THE GAME

Xavier Sneed – Coming off a complete performance against Tulsa, where he recorded a team-high in five statistical categories, sophomore Xavier Sneed continued his fine play by recording a team-high 23 points on 9-of-10 from the field, while also grabbing 7 rebounds and dishing 2 assists. Sneed’s 23 points marks a new career-high, and the second time this season he has tallied 20 or more this season.

STAT OF THE GAME

25 – K-State tallied a season-high in assists on Saturday night, dishing out 25 en route to an 89-71 victory. Junior Kamau Stokes set a career-high in assists, recording 9 in the game, while Brown also posted a career-best 7 assists and Wainright tallied 3.

SEASON RECORD UPDATE

• K-State 9-2 (0-0 Big 12)
• SE Missouri State 6-5 (0-0 Ohio Valley)

IN THEIR WORDS

K-State Head Coach Bruce Weber

On the adjustment on defense at halftime…

“I said to the coaches at halftime let us just play zone the first possession to get them off a little bit. The first possession I do not think they knew that we were playing zone and they putzed around. The kids wanted to stay in it. We did work on it, but we took a little time to play it. We probably caught them off guard a little bit, but I am trying to get our guys to understand that when you get in foul trouble and the other team goes on a run, you could change the pace with a zone. It could help you get a couple of stops and change the direction of the game.”

On strong start…

“I thought against Tulsa to start we had good energy, but because we did not make shots it sucked all of the emotion out of the game. We did not have poise, even tonight. I told Kamau [Stokes] all week he has to push it, but sometimes you have to be smart, and he turned it over, but he had nine assists. If we could have taken away a couple of those turnovers because he is not pushing it, that means he has a nine to three assist to turnover ratio and that’s good. We had great energy from the start with good defense and ball movement. I told them to do what we do, and we will get better at rebounding. Tonight the rebounding was good.”

On changes veteran backcourt needs going into Big 12 play…

“We want Kamau [Stokes] to push it. We have athletes and good players. We can spread you with good players, but I thought we locked it against Tulsa and we got stagnant. We have to push the ball. I told Kam it does not matter what defense they are in, we just have to move the ball from one side to another. Barry [Brown] has not shot it well the past two games. He has been in the gym, and is a little frustrated. He had a tough week of practice shooting it, but I told him to worry about what he can control. Part of Barry’s problem is that he gets the ball at the end of the shot clock and he takes tough shots. Like at the end of the half, he needs to penetrate and dish it to someone. We need Xavier to be our leading rebounder or second leading rebounder.”

Sophomore Forward Xavier Sneed

On the game…

“It was really great for us to get a win, especially after a long week, but it was a pretty good one for us and we are looking forward to the next game.”

On his career high 19 points…

“I just let things come to me right now, and things are flowing. My teammates are looking for me and the shots were going in today.

Junior Dean Wade

On the offense tonight compared to last week…

“Sharing the ball and passing has a big thing to do with it, but when we make shots we look a lot better, and we were making shots tonight and spreading the defense out and being ultra aggressive. Makol (Mawien) played amazing tonight, Ahmad (Wainwright) played great, and everyone played their role and we did what we had to do and we looked great tonight and hopefully we can keep it going for Washington State.”

On Xavier Sneed’s game…

“I like that he is being confident and being aggressive, if the shots do not fall he is still being aggressive with everything. Rebounding, he’s athletic so you just throw it towards the rim anywhere and he is probably going to be at the other end dunking it. I think he is going to have a great Big 12 season.”

Sophomore Makol Mawien

On the game…

“(We were) a little more aggressive today, more focused today because of the loss we had, and we wanted to get more aggressive and focused.”

On the parts of his game he’s been working over the last couple weeks…

“My shot, and just being more aggressive and physical really. Working on my body, and being more physical.”

SE Missouri State Head Coach Rick Ray

On K-State’s fast start…

“We talked to our guys that they force 16 turnovers a game and once they get the turnover, it ignites their fast break. They are very lethal once they are in fast break opportunities. I think the first three minutes of the game we had four turnovers, so they were scoring off our turnovers. They were getting so many paint opportunities because of our poor transition defense.”

On having scoring droughts…

“We were constantly just trying to get the lead to single digits. We would get right on the cusp of getting it to single digits and then they would go on a run. I think for the most part we created that run by us not being discipline on the basketball court.”

On Denzel Mahoney’s game…

“He is a terrific player and he is able to match up physically with these guys and is never afraid of the competition. For us, they went to that zone and we did a poor job of finding him some opportunities against that zone. I have to do a better job of getting him something against that zone.”

BEYOND THE BOXSCORE

• K-State is now 128-33 in non-conference play dating back to the 2006-07 season, including 89-5 at Bramlage Coliseum… The Wildcats have now 22 consecutive games against non-conference opponents at Bramlage Coliseum, which dates to the start of the 2015-16 season.
• K-State scored 89 points on a season-high 62.5 percent shooting (35-of-56), including 47.8 percent (11-of-23) from 3-point range… The Wildcats have posted six games of 80 or more points this season… The team posted season highs for field goals made (35), assists (25) and points in the paint (44).
• K-State connected on better than 50 percent of its field goals in both halves for the third time… The team also posted season-highs for points (53) and field goal percentage (68.8/22-of-32) in a half (first half).

• Sophomore Xavier Sneed scored a career-high 23 points on 9-of-10 field goals, including 4-of-5 from 3-point range, to go with 7 rebounds and 2 assists… He led the team in scoring for the fourth time in his career, including his third time this season… It marked his second career 20-point game, all coming in the last four games… He has now scored in double figures in 20 career games, including seven this season.

• Junior Dean Wade scored 19 points on 7-of-8 field goals in just 19 minutes of action… He has now scored in double figures in 42 career games, including eight games this season… He registered double figures points in a half for the fifth time this season with 13 points on 6-of-6 shooting.
• Sophomore Makol Mawien scored 11 points on 5-of-6 field goals… Mawien scored in double figures for the second time… He connected on his first career 3-pointer at the 12:36 mark of the first half.
• Junior Kamau Stokes scored 12 points on 5-of-10 field goals, including 2-of-5 from 3-point range.. He has now scored in double figures in 45 career games, including 10 of 11 this season… He dished out a career-best 9 assists… He took his 31^st career charge, including his fourth this season, in the first half.
• Junior Barry Brown, Jr. dished a career-high 7 assists to go with 7 points and 3 steals.

WHAT’S NEXT

K-State plays its final non-conference game before the start of Big 12 play on Wednesday, Dec. 20, as the Wildcats travel to Spokane, Wash., to play Pac-12 foe Washington State (7-3) at 10 p.m. CT at Spokane Arena. The game will air nationally on ESPN2 with Eric Rothman and Caron Butler on the call.

–www.kstatesports.com–

Kansas State University, the nation’s first operational land-grant institution and a Carnegie Foundation Tier One university, is recognized as one of the nation’s best colleges with world-class research and academic excellence located in America’s No. 1 College Town (Manhattan, KS).

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