MANHATTAN, Kan. – Nine games at Bramlage Coliseum, a potential matchup against Maryland in the Barclays Center Classic in Brooklyn, N.Y., and the return of the Wildcat Classic to Sprint Center highlight the 2016-17 Kansas State men’s basketball non-conference schedule released on Thursday.

 

The 114^th season of K-State men’s basketball officially gets underway on Friday, Nov. 11 when the Wildcats host Western Illinois in the first of four consecutive regular-season home games at Bramlage Coliseum.

 

“We play in one of the most competitive leagues in the country, so we wanted to be deliberate in how we built the non-conference schedule with a mix of teams to challenge our players,” said head coach Bruce Weber. “We have a blend of both experience and youth coming back and we feel this schedule has good balance and will provide a great test for us.”

 

K-State previously announced several components of its non-conference schedule, including the Wildcat Classic contest with Washington State at the Sprint Center onSaturday, Dec. 10 and a trip to Tennessee in the fourth annual SEC-Big 12 Challenge presented by Sonic on Saturday, Jan. 28.

 

In all, the Wildcats will play 18 home games in 2016-17, including the nine-game Big 12 slate with visits from Final Four participant Oklahoma and other NCAA Tournament teams – Baylor, Iowa State, Kansas, Texas, Texas Tech and West Virginia. The Big 12 schedule, along with game times and television information, will be released at a later date.

 

The team will play two exhibitions prior to the start of the regular season in what will be the start of six straight home games for the Wildcats. Dates and opponents for those exhibitions will be released later in the summer.

 

K-State will open the season on Friday, Nov. 11 against Western Illinois, which returns All-Summit League Second Team selection Garret Covington (17.9 ppg., 4.1 rpg.) under second-year coach Billy Wright. The next week the Wildcats will get visits from a pair of postseason teams in Omaha and Hampton, as the Mavericks won 18 games and advanced to the College Basketball Invitational while the Pirates tallied 21 victories en route to their second straight Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference Tournament championship and a trip to the NCAA Tournament. First-time opponent Robert Morris finishes off the homestand. The Colonials are the first Northeast Conference opponent to visit Bramlage Coliseum since 2001.

 

The Wildcats are unbeaten all-time against Western Illinois (3-0), Omaha (1-0) and Hampton (1-0).

 

The squad will head to Brooklyn, N.Y., and the Barclays Center for second time to play in the Barclays Center Classic, alongside Boston College, Maryland and Richmond on Friday–Saturday, Nov. 25-26. The first and only visit to the Brooklyn Nets’ home arena came in a 72-41 win over Tulane on Dec. 28, 2013.

 

The Terrapins, led by Topeka, Kansas native and Kansas alum Mark Turgeon, won 27 games a year ago and advanced to the NCAA Sweet 16. Annually one of the top teams in the Atlantic 10, the Spiders won 16 games last season under longtime coach Chris Mooney and return All-Atlantic 10 Third Team member T.J. Cline(18.3 ppg., 5.2 rpg.), the son of women’s basketball legend and Naismith Hall of Famer Nancy Lieberman. The Eagles continue to rebound under third-year coachJim Christian, who led successful rebuilding efforts at Kent State, TCU and Ohio.

 

K-State will finish off the first month of the season at home against Green Bay, who won 23 games and advanced to the NCAA Tournament after upsetting Valparaiso and Wright State to win the Horizon League Tournament championship. Weber helped coach second-year Phoenix head coach Linc Darner while at Purdue, as Darner was a two-time captain for Boilermakers from 1990-94 playing alongsideGlenn Robinson and current Purdue coach Matt Painter.

 

The month of December begins with the first true road trip of the season, as the Wildcats travel to St. Louis to face the hometown Billikens and first-year head coachTravis Ford in the final game of a home-and-home series on Friday, Dec. 3. The series, which dates to 1929, is one of the most competitive in school history with the teams splitting their 18 meetings. The Wildcats won the last such matchup, 75-47, at home on Dec. 29, 2015.

 

The contest will be a homecoming for senior D.J. Johnson, who played locally at Parkway North High School.

 

After a home game against Prairie View A&M on Tuesday, Dec. 6, the squad will begin a series with Pac-12 foe Washington State in the Wildcat Classic at the Sprint Center on Saturday, Dec. 10 before a visit to Denver, Colo., and the Pepsi Center for a matchup against Colorado State on Saturday, Dec. 17 to wrap up a two-game series.

 

The Cougars are set to return seven lettermen, including honorable mention All-Pac-12 selection Josh Hawkinson (15.4 ppg., 11.1 rpg.), while the Rams return honorable mention All-Mountain West selection Emmanuel Omogbo (10.9 ppg., 8.0 rpg.) from a squad that won 18 games a season ago under veteran coach Larry Eustachy.

 

K-State has played at least one game at the Sprint Center in 10 consecutive seasons, including seven matchups in the Wildcat Classic dating back to 2007. The Wildcats are 6-1 all-time in Wildcat Classic games.

 

Following the trip to Denver, the team finishes off December with a visit from Gardner-Webb on Tuesday, Dec. 21. The Bulldogs won 17 games last year and return Tyrell Nelson (14.2 ppg., 7.6 rpg.), an All-Big South Second Team performer.

 

The non-conference schedule will conclude on Saturday, Jan. 28 with a trip to Tennessee in the fourth annual SEC/Big 12 Challenge. It will be just second meeting between the schools, all since 2014. Led by former Texas coach Rick Barnes, the Volunteers won 12 of their 15 games at home last season, including Florida, Kentucky and South Carolina.

 

Season tickets for the 2016-17 season go on sale Wednesday, June 8, with a variety of pricing options available, including the new Faithful Season Ticket and the new Big Game and Pick 5 Mini-Plans. The priority deadline to arrange payment, retain seats, or participate in new seat selection using athletic department priority points, is Friday, July 15.

 

The Wildcats will return a veteran roster in 2016-17 with nine returning lettermen and six players returning with starting experience, highlighted by All-Big 12 Third Team selection Wesley Iwundu and All-Newcomer honorees Barry Brown andDean Wade. Overall, the squad returns five of their top six scorers from last season, along with nearly 70 percent of their rebounding, assist, steal and minute totals. Iwundu (11.9 ppg., 4.5 rpg.) is the team’s top returner in scoring, assists and steals, while rising senior D.J. Johnson (9.3 ppg., 5.2 rpg.) is the leader among three returning players (along with Iwundu and Wade) who averaged better than 4 rebounds per contest a season ago.

 

The squad will also be boosted by the return of a healthy Kamau Stokes, who started 20 of the first 21 games in 20-15-16 before a knee injury sidelined him for the rest of the year, as well as the continued development of redshirt freshmen Isaiah Maurice and Dante Williams, who measure at 6-foot-10 and 7-foot, respectively.

 

Fans can purchase season tickets in a variety of ways, including toll free at (800) 221.CATS (2287), online at www.kstatesports.com/tickets and in-person at the Athletics Ticket Office located in Bramlage Coliseum.

 

2016-17 Non-Conference Schedule

 

Day                              Date                   Opponent                                                         

Friday                          Nov. 11             WESTERN ILLINOIS

Tuesday                      Nov. 15             OMAHA

Sunday                        Nov. 20             HAMPTON

Tuesday                      Nov. 22             ROBERT MORRIS

 

Barclays Center Classic (Barclays Center, Brooklyn, N.Y.)

Participating teams: Boston College, Maryland and Richmond

Friday                          Nov. 25              vs. TBA

Saturday                     Nov. 26              vs. TBA

 

Sunday                        Nov. 30             GREEN BAY

Saturday                     Dec. 3                @Saint Louis

Tuesday                      Dec. 6                PRAIRIE VIEW A&M

 

Wildcat Classic (Sprint Center, Kansas City, Mo.)

Saturday                     Dec. 10              WASHINGTON STATE

 

Saturday                     Dec. 17              vs. Colorado State [Pepsi Center, Denver, Colo.]

Tuesday                      Dec. 21              GARDNER-WEBB

 

Big 12-SEC Challenge

Saturday                     Jan. 28               @Tennessee

 

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — The Kansas City Royals will spend the next 11 days on the road after completing their best homestand in nearly three decades.

Danny Duffy pitched six effective innings and rookie Whit Merrifield had two hits and scored a run as the Kansas City Royals beat the Tampa Bay Rays 6-3 on Wednesday night to complete a 6-0 homestand.

The last time the Royals had a homestand of 6-0 or better was June 2-8, 1988, when they went 7-0.

“It feels good. I wish we could stay here another week,” said Jarrod Dyson, who had a sacrifice bunt, stole a base, walked, scored a run and picked up his sixth outfield assist.

Duffy (1-0) allowed three runs and seven hits, while walking none and striking out six over six innings, his longest outing since moving into the rotation on May 15.

“It’s nice, you have to take care of business at home,” Duffy said. “We didn’t lose in this series at home. It’s huge.”

Duffy was efficient, throwing only 40 pitches in the first four innings and 75 total. Early in his career he would get his pitch count up in a hurry.

“The only way to escape your past is be better than your past,” Duffy said. “Everybody grows in this game.”

Royals relievers Joakim Soria, Kelvin Herrera and Wade Davis held the Rays scoreless over the final three innings. Davis picked up his 16th save in 17 chances, but not before walking one, giving up a hit and uncorking a wild pitch.

Merrifield has hit in his first 11 career starts, which is a Royals’ record. He doubled in the first and scored on Lorenzo Cain’s single. He has scored a run in nine consecutive games, which matches a Royals rookie record set by Mike Aviles in 2008. Merrifield singled in the fourth for his seventh multihit game.

Chris Archer (3-7) gave up five runs, four earned, eight hits and two walks over six innings.

“We were down from the start really quick,” Rays manager Kevin Cash said. “Archer came out and it looked like his thought was to pound the strike zone and their thought was not to take anything.”

The Royals’ offense included Cain going 3 for 4 with an RBI and scoring two runs. Cain has 24 RBI in 20 games after driving in just 10 in his first 30. Kendrys Morales had two hits and drove in a run.

Curt Casali homered for the Rays, while Mikie Mahtook snapped a career-worst 0-for-19 skid with a third-inning double and scored on a single by Brad Miller.

“Baseball players are dumb sometimes,” Casali said. “We try to over-swing. That’s when we get into fits and stuff doesn’t go the way we want it to. I’m not trying to hit home runs. I’m trying to hit the ball as hard as I can and put as quick of a swing as I can. Fortunately that was a good one.”

Game times and television designations for Kansas States’s first three football games were announced by the Big 12 Conference and its television partners Wednesday afternoon.

One of the highlighted games was the primetime televised Friday night season opener at Stanford Stadium in Palo Alto, California, on Friday, September 2nd at 8:00 pm (CST).  The game, televised by FS1, marks the first time that Kansas State opens the season on the road and the second time in the last four years the Wildcats opened their season on a Friday night. 

After an off weekend on September 10th in which Bill Snyder Family Stadium hosts the Wildcat Kickoff Classic music festival, Kansas State begins it’s home slate on September 17th against Florida Atlantic at 1:30pm on FSN.

The Wildcats will wrap up it’s non-conference slate on September 24th, with a 6:10 pm contest against Missouri State which will be a worldwide live game on K-StateHD.TV.  Programming on the site will begin at 5:10 pm with the K-State Gameday show. To order the game, log on to www.k-statehd.tv and click the “Subscribe Now” button.

The remaining Big 12 television selections will be announced on a twelve day or six day basis throughout the season.

Limited numbers of single game tickets for the 2016 season go on sale online on June 20th. All six home games are expected to sell out quickly and extend the stadium sell out streak to 33 games.

Tickets to the Wildcat Kickoff can be purchased at www.wildcatkickoff.com.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) – Kansas City Royals rookie outfielder Brett Eibner was carted off with a lateral sprain of his left ankle in the fifth inning Tuesday night.

Eibner was injured chasing a triple by Tampa Bay’s Brad Miller. The Royals said Eibner would be evaluated more on Wednesday.

Eibner began hopping on his right foot while he retrieved the ball and flipped it to center fielder Lorenzo Cain. Eibner went down as manager Ned Yost and trainer Nick Kenney rushed to his aid. Kenney examined Eibner’s left foot and a cart was brought in to remove him.

Eibner doubled in the fourth inning to raise his average to .462 and has hit safely in all four games he has played since making his major league debut Friday. He had a walk-off single Saturday as the Royals scored seven runs in the ninth to beat the Chicago White Sox 8-7.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) – Kansas City Royals rookie outfielder Brett Eibner was carted off with a lateral sprain of his left ankle in the fifth inning Tuesday night.

Eibner was injured chasing a triple by Tampa Bay’s Brad Miller. The Royals said Eibner would be evaluated more on Wednesday.

Eibner began hopping on his right foot while he retrieved the ball and flipped it to center fielder Lorenzo Cain. Eibner went down as manager Ned Yost and trainer Nick Kenney rushed to his aid. Kenney examined Eibner’s left foot and a cart was brought in to remove him.

Eibner doubled in the fourth inning to raise his average to .462 and has hit safely in all four games he has played since making his major league debut Friday. He had a walk-off single Saturday as the Royals scored seven runs in the ninth to beat the Chicago White Sox 8-7.

Tomsu, a 15-year PBA member, rolled his first PBA 300 game during the qualifying round. Maintaining his name at or near the top of the standings throughout the event, Tomsu secured the victory with a 279-269 victory over Tom Hess, Urbandale, Iowa in the final game position round to claim his first PBA regional title. Tomsu finished with a 21-game total of 5,175 pins, including match play bonus pins, to 5,059 for Hess.

In additiion to his $2,500 prize, Tomsu also became eligible to enter the 2017 PBA Tournament of Champions. Hess earned $1,600 for second place. Non-member Jay Watts, also from Omaha, collected $1,150 for third and Roger Petrin, Arlington, Texas $1,000 for fourth place.

The Chapman Irish went 1-1 in the Class 4A Division II State Softball Tournament in Emporia.

Chapman won their opening round game over Pratt 15-2 on Saturday but then lost in the tournament semifinals to Frontenac also on Saturday 10-0. Frontenac advanced to capture the tournament championship with a 13-5 win over Haven on Sunday.

The scheduled third place consolation game that would have matched the Irish against Burlington was cancelled.

Chapman finished the season with a record of 17-7.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) – Cheslor Cuthbert drive in the go-ahead run with an infield hit in a three-run eighth inning, and the Kansas City Royals rallied for the third straight game in a 5-4 win over the Chicago White Sox on Sunday.

Chicago wasted a 4-2 lead in the eighth after failing to protect a 5-2 seventh-inning advantage on Friday and a 7-1 ninth-inning margin on Saturday. White Sox relievers allowed 17 runs, 15 hits and eight walks over 6 1/3 innings in the three-game series, and Chicago has lost 14 of its last 18 games.

Seeking to become the major leagues’ first 10-game winner, Chris Sale left with a 4-2 lead after seven innings.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) – Kansas City Royals catcher Salvador Perez is expected to be out 7 to 10 days with a bruised left thigh after colliding with rookie third baseman Cheslor Cuthbert while catching a foul pop up in the ninth inning Saturday.

Perez had a MRI on Saturday night, which confirmed the injury was a contusion with no structural damage.

“Hopefully it’s not going to require a trip to the DL,” Royals manager Ned Yost said Sunday.