MANHATTAN, Kan. – Kansas State will match up against ACC foe Pittsburgh in the semifinals of the 2019 Rocket Mortgage Fort Myers Tip-Off, which is set for Monday-Wednesday, November 25 and 27 at the Suncoast Credit Union Arena in Fort Myers, Florida.

 

The Wildcats and Panthers will be part of a doubleheader on Monday, November 25 in the semifinals of the second annual Rocket Mortgage Fort Myers Tip-Off, which includes a contest between Missouri Valley Tournament champion Bradley and the Big Ten’s Northwestern. Game times will be announced later.

 

The winners of the two semifinals games will meet in the championship game on Wednesday, November 27 with the remaining two teams facing off in the third-place game. All four game will air on FS1.

 

Travel packages for the Rocket Mortgage Fort Myers Tip-Off are now available, which includes tickets to each tournament game, hotel accommodations and parking at the Suncoast Credit Union Arena. For more information, log on to www.fortmyerstipoff.com/travel. Ticket-only packages, based on availability, will become available in September.

 

K-State will play four games in the Tip-Off, including previously announced home games at Bramlage Coliseum against Monmouth (Wednesday, November 13) and Arkansas-Pine Bluff (Tuesday, November 19) prior to traveling to the championship rounds of the tournament in Fort Myers.

 

“Pitt was one of the youngest teams in the country a year ago under Coach (Jeff) Capel,” said head coach Bruce Weber. “They return four starters, including a pair of elite scorers (Xavier Johnson and Trey McGowens), so this is going to be another challenge for our team in the preseason. Obviously, you throw in Bradley, who won the (Missouri) Valley Tournament Championship and went to the NCAA Tournament, and an always-strong Northwestern squad and this should be a terrific field for the Fort Myers Tip-Off.”

 

This will be just the second meeting between K-State and Pitt on the hardwood with the inaugural matchup coming in the consolation game of the 2014 Maui Invitational with the Panthers – under the direction of current TCU head coach Jamie Dixon – posting a 70-47 win on November 26.

 

Under second-year head coach Jeff Capel, Pittsburgh returns four starters in 2019-20, including double-figure scorers Xavier Johnson (15.5 ppg., 4.5 apg.) and Trey McGowens(11.6 ppg., 1.9 spg.), after nearly doubling their win total from the previous season. An All-ACC Freshman Team selection, Johnson set Pitt freshman records for scoring, double-figure scoring games, games with 15 or more points and 20-point scoring games and was the only ACC player to average at least 15.5 points and 4.5 assists in 2018-19. McGowens tallied a pair of 30-point games as a rookie, including a Pitt freshman record of 33 in a win over Louisville.

 

Capel is familiar with K-State having spent six seasons (2006-11) as the head coach at Oklahoma, posting a 2-4 mark against the Wildcats. He led the Sooners to the 2009 Elite Eight.

 

Under fifth-year head coach Brian Wardle, Bradley returns four of its top five scorers from a year ago, including double-digit scorers Darrell Brown (14.8 ppg.) and Elijah Childs(12.4 ppg.). The Braves (20-15) made an inspiring run to capture the 2019 Missouri Valley Tournament, defeating Missouri State, regular-season champion Loyola Chicago and Northern Iowa, before losing to Michigan State in the NCAA Tournament.

 

Northwestern must replace its top three scorers after posting a 13-19 overall mark in 2018-19 under seventh-year head coach Chris Collins. The Wildcats return three players with significant starting experience, including senior A.J. Turner (8.7 ppg.), junior Anthony Gaines (6.9 ppg.) and sophomore Miller Kopp (4.9 ppg.), to go with an eight-man recruiting class.

 

The reigning Big 12 regular-season co-champions, K-State returns eight lettermen in 2019-20, which includes All-Big 12 honorable mention selection Xavier Sneed (10.6 ppg., 5.5 rpg.) and fellow senior Makol Mawien (7.0 ppg., 4.9 rpg.), from a squad that has posted consecutive 25-win seasons and advanced to the NCAA Tournament for the third consecutive season a year ago. The Wildcats also return rising juniors Cartier Diarra (6.8 ppg., 3.3 rpg.), Mike McGuirl (3.6 ppg., 1.5 rpg.) and Levi Stockard III (1.8 ppg., 1.5 rpg.) as well as a highly-regarded signing class that includes a trio of Top 200 high school players in DaJuan Gordon, Antonio Gordon and Montavious Murphy and NJCAA All-American David Sloan.

 

Boston College won the inaugural Fort Myers Tip-Off in 2018, knocking off Loyola Chicago, 78-66. The Eagles knocked off Wyoming, 88-76, and the Ramblers beat Richmond, 82-66, in the semifinals, while the Cowboys won the third-place game with a 68-66 win over the Spiders.

 

–www.k-statesports.com–

 

TOM GILBERT
Director for Men’s Basketball Communications | K-State Athletics

 

The Junction City Brigade defeated the Liberty Monarchs 9-5 in Liberty, Missouri Tuesday night to complete a two-game sweep of the series with Liberty this week. Junction City had defeated the Monarchs 6-3 on Monday evening at Rathert Field.

The win left the Brigade at 21-4 on the season, and in a tie for first place in the regular season standings in the Mid Plains League with the Midwest A’s, who fell Tuesday night to the Kansas City Monarchs 5-1.

The Brigade and the Midwest A’s are both 18-4 in conference play.

MANHATTAN, Kan. – Former Kansas State forward Dean Wade has signed a two-way contract with the Cleveland Cavaliers, the organization announced on Tuesday (July 9).

Wade, who has appeared in two different summer leagues for the Cavaliers so far, is one of only two players who can receive a two-way contract at any given time, in addition to their 15-man regular-season roster. A two-way player can spend up to 45 days with the team during the regular season while playing a majority of the time with their G-League affiliate, the Canton (Ohio) Charge, during the upcoming 2019-20 season.

Wade has appeared in four summer league games (all starts) for the Cavaliers in Salt Lake City and Las Vegas, averaging 8.8 points, 5.0 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 2.0 steals in 27.9 minutes per game. He received Salt Lake City Summer League Standout honors, which included a 14-point, 6-rebound, 3-steal, 2-assist effort in his pro debut against the San Antonio Spurs on July 1.

“We’re trying not to give him too much work since he’s coming off a stress fracture,” said Cleveland head coach John Beilein. “However, he has a big-time jump shot and is a really good passer. What I would like to see develop right now is a back-to-the-basket game. He had a really good college coach in Bruce Weber, so I’m looking forward to watching him grow and develop. He has something every team needs in that he can really shoot the ball.”

Wade is the first Wildcat to play with Cleveland since Chuckie Williams was drafted with the 15^th selection in the first round of the 1976 NBA Draft. He played in 22 games for the Cavaliers during the 1976-77 season.

One of the more versatile players in school history, Wade is one of just three Wildcats (Bob Boozer and Rodney McGruder) to rank in the Top 10 in both career scoring (1,510/10^th) and rebounding (685/8^th), while he is the only player in school history with at least 1,000 points, 100 3-point field goals, 500 rebounds, 200 assists and 100 steals. He finished among the career Top 10 in several categories, including scoring, rebounding, double-digit scoring games (81/7^th), field goals made (548/8^th) and starts (123/2^nd).

In his 126-game career, Wade averaged 12 points on 49.8 percent shooting (548-of-1100), including 38.6 percent (128-of-332) from 3-point range, with 5.4 rebounds, 2.1 assists and 0.9 steals in 29.3 minutes per game.

Wade, along with Jacob Pullen, are the only Wildcats in the Big 12 era to be selected All-Big 12 First Team in back-to-back seasons and one of just five to ever earn recognition to the Coaches’ All-Big 12 First Team.

For his senior season, which was cut short twice by injuries, Wade averaged 12.9 points on 49.2 percent shooting (122-of-248), including 41.8 percent (23-of-55) from 3-point range, with 6.2 rebounds and 2.8 assists in 30.4 minutes per game. He led the Wildcats in field goal percentage, 3-point field goal percentage and free throw percentage (78.9) as well as rebounding.

Wade was part of a senior class that posted an 88-51 (.633) overall record, advanced to three NCAA Tournaments and won a share of the 2018-19 Big 12 regular season title.

—www.k-statesports.com—

 
TOM GILBERT
Director for Men’s Basketball Communications | K-State Athletics

The Junction City Brigade scored three runs in the bottom of the eighth inning to break open a tie game enroute to a 6-3 win over the Liberty Monarchs at Rathert Field. The win left Junction City with a 20-4 season record while Liberty fell to 6-17.

The eighth inning for the Brigade began with a double by Carson Sader and included a single by Dylan Thurber who was pinch hitting along with three other baserunners who reached base through an error by the defense, fielder’s choice, or after being hit by a pitch. Drew Repp came on to pitch two innings in relief for Junction City to help seal the victory.

The two teams rematch at 6 p.m. Tuesday in Liberty, Missouri.

 

 

MANHATTAN, Kan. – Kansas State head coach Bruce Weber and director of student-athlete development Shane Southwell helped guide Team USA to the gold medal at the FIBA (International Basketball Federation) U19 World Cup with a 93-79 win over Mali in the tournament finals in Heraklion, Greece on Sunday (July 7).

Weber, who served as a head coach in the USA Basketball system for the first time in his career, led Team USA to their seventh gold medal at the U19 World Cup, including the first since 2015, with a perfect 7-0 record. Southwell served as the team’s video coordinator, while they were joined by college head coaches Mike Hopkins (Washington) and LeVelle Moton (North Carolina Central) on the coaching staff.

“Obviously, it’s a real honor and I think our player appreciate it, too,” Weber said about capturing the gold medal. “When the national anthem starts playing and you have a gold medal on, it’s special. I know it brought a little bit of tears to me. You’re just so proud to be part of it.”

Team USA averaged better than 100 points per game and won the tournament by an average of 28.7 points per game, including victories over New Zealand (111-71), Lithuania (102-84) and Senegal (87-58) to capture Group A then wins over Latvia (116-66) in the group of 16, Russia (95-80) in the medal round, Lithuania (102-67) in the semifinals and Mali (93-79) in the finals.

Leading tournament Cinderella – Mali — just 42-40 after a back-and-forth first half, the American opened the third period with a 12-0 run that eventually became a 17-2 stretch in a 59-42 lead with 5:42 remaining in the third quarter. Mali, who knocked off New Zealand, Puerto Rico and France en route to the finals, never got closer than seven points the rest of the way.

“Our guys have been great since day one, they bought in,” said Weber. “Everyone said we played hard, but it was the team that played hard, and man they played hard. When we shared the ball and played hard, and played good defense, we were unstoppable (in the tournament).”

Mississippi State’s Reggie Perry was named the most valuable player of the U19 World Cup after averaging 13.1 points and 7.9 rebounds for Team USA. Weber and the Wildcats will face Perry and the rest of his Bulldog teammates at the Never Forget Tribute Classic on December 14, 2019 at the Prudential Center in Newark, N.J.

Perry was joined on the five-member all-tournament team by Iowa State’s Tyrese Haliburton.

Weber has been actively involved in USA Basketball for close to two decades. He served as a court coach at the trials for the 1991 Pan American Games Team and spent time with the 1989 USA Men’s World University Games and 1985 R. Williams Jones Cup Team that were led K-State alum and former Purdue head coach Gene Keady. Weber most recently served on USA Basketball’s Men’s Junior National Committee, which selects coaches and players for its college-aged competitions.

Now in his eighth season at K-State, Weber has led the Wildcats to a 150-89 (.628) overall record, five NCAA Tournament appearances (2013, 2014, 2017, 2018, 2019) and two Big 12 regular-season championships (2013, 2019) in his tenure. His 150 wins are the third-most by a head coach (joining Hall of Famers Jack Hartman and Tex Winter) in school history and the most since Hartman retired as the school’s all-time winningest coach in 1986.

Weber has helped the Wildcats to consecutive 25-win campaigns the past two seasons for the first time in school history, which includes a trip to the Elite Eight in 2017-18 and a share of the Big 12 regular-season title in 2018-19.

Southwell, who was recently promoted to director of student-athlete development after a two-year stint as a graduate assistant, guided the Wildcats to 92 wins and four NCAA Tournament appearances during his four-year playing career. He also played professionally in Mexico, Australia and Switzerland.

Dating back to 1979 as the FIBA Junior World Championship, the U19 World Cup is played every two years and features the world’s top players 19 years old and younger. Team USA has now won seven gold medals, three silver medals and one bronze medal in 14 U19 competitions, including gold in four of the past six U19 World Cups (2009, 2013, 2015 and 2019).

–www.k-statesports.com–

 

TOM GILBERT
Director for Men’s Basketball Communications | K-State Athletics

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Washington Nationals can only hope a four-day layoff won’t curtail the wave of momentum they’re riding into the All-Star break.

Anthony Rendon doubled in the tiebreaking run in the eighth inning, Brian Dozier and Victor Robles homered, and Washington beat the Kansas City Royals 5-2 Sunday for its 10th win in 12 games.

The resurgent Nationals have blown past Philadelphia into second place in the NL East. Since sinking to 19-31 on May 23, Washington has gone 28-11 and lost only one of 13 series.

Now, it’s hurry up and wait until their next game, on Friday in Philadelphia.

“It would it be nice to keep playing on this hot streak,” manager Dave Martinez said. “I’d say the way they’re playing, keep going is great, but I think we all need a break.”

Starting pitching has been a big reason for the turnaround. In extending a trend, left-hander Patrick Corbin struck out 11 and scattered five hits over seven scoreless innings.

Over the last seven games, Nationals starters have a 1.35 ERA with 65 strikeouts. It was the ninth time in the last 12 games that Washington starters allowed one run or fewer.

The big three of Max Scherzer, Corbin and Stephen Strasburg turned in a history-making performance in the first half, making the Nationals the first team in NL history to have three pitchers with at least 125 strikeouts prior to the All-Star break.

“As a team, just to finish there how we did is awesome, being five games up (47-42) to where we were a couple months ago,” Corbin said. “We’re kind of where we want to be.”

The hitting has been robust, too. Washington has homered in a franchise-record 21 straight games, the longest active streak in the big leagues.

“I love how we overcame a lot of things in the first month and a half and how we finished,” Dozier said. “We’ve made it happen.”

Corbin left with a 2-0 lead, courtesy of solo homers by Dozier and Robles, but the Royals pulled even in the eighth . After Fernando Rodney gave up a two-out RBI single to Adalberto Mondesi, Alex Gordon greeted Sean Doolittle (6-2) with a run-scoring double.

Washington emphatically answered in the bottom half against lefty Jake Diekman (0-6). Rendon’s double to the gap in left-center scored Adam Eaton , and Howie Kendrick capped the uprising with a pinch-hit, two-run double.

Much earlier, the game developed into a pitching duel between Corbin and Jakob Junis, who allowed only five hits over seven innings.

“I’ve been struggling a little big lately, so to go out there and have a good outing like that — seven innings, two runs — that’s good going into the break and the second half,” Junis said. “Hopefully I can take the good from this game and build off that.”

There probably won’t be too many times when he goes up against a foe as effective as Corbin.

“He pitched a great game, and I had to compete with that,” Junis said. “I’m just glad I kept it close.”

BOUNCED IN RUBBER GAMES

The Royals fell to 1-8 in series deciding games, the lone exception a win over Detroit on June 13 to decide a three-game set. That remains KC’s lone victory in a rubber game since May 30, 2018. In addition, the Royals are 8-21 in series finales this year.

The Junction City Brigade defeated the Topeka Golden Giants 3-1 in the capitol city Saturday night.

The win improved the Brigade’s record to 19-4 while Topeka fell to 16-11 on the season.

Junction City will host the Liberty Monarchs at 7 p.m. Monday at Rathert Field.

WASHINGTON (AP) — A few days after the birth of his second daughter, Kacy, Max Scherzer was back to work.

His wife wouldn’t have it any other way.

Scherzer sustained a dominant stretch with seven strong innings two days after the birth of his daughter, Kurt Suzuki homered and the Washington Nationals beat the Kansas City Royals 6-0 on Saturday.

The NL pitcher of the month for June, Scherzer (9-5) allowed four hits and struck out 11 with one walk in his final outing before heading to Tuesday’s All-Star Game, where he won’t pitch. Kacy was born Thursday.

“I know my wife, Erica, she wanted me to pitch today,” Scherzer said. “She wants me out there pitching, she doesn’t want me sitting at home. We got the in-laws in, we got help. She’s a baseball wife, she (was) a pitcher (in college). She knows she wants me out there competing.”

Scherzer has won seven straight starts and has an 0.84 ERA over his last nine appearances. On Saturday, he settled in after a 22-pitch first inning and later struck out the side in the seventh inning as Washington won for the ninth time in 11 games.

“I played in Atlanta (with Greg Maddux and Tom Glavine) and those guys they had were pretty good, but what I’ve seen out of Max is incredible, it really is,” manager Dave Martinez said. “I don’t know how many games now where he keeps getting better and better as we go along.”

Both teams wore throwback uniforms in celebration of their franchise’s 50 years since joining Major League Baseball in 1969, with the Nationals wearing the powder blue uniforms of the Montreal Expos.

Kansas City starter Glenn Sparkman (2-5) gave up four runs and nine hits in six innings.

“The way it looked early, they were going to bash his brains in, and he did a nice job of settling down and making pitches,” Royals manager Ned Yost said. “I was pleased that he was able to give us six strong.”

Alex Gordon had two hits and a walk for the Royals, who have lost eight of 10.

With Washington leading 1-0, Matt Adams walked leading off the second and Suzuki followed with his 11th homer of the season to culminate a 10-pitch at-bat.

Juan Soto had two RBI singles.