KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Chiefs linebacker Tamba Hali broke his right thumb last Sunday in Baltimore and had surgery this week, though the Pro Bowl selection has not been ruled out for their game against Cleveland.

Trainer Rick Burkholder said Wednesday that Hali had swelling when he came to the practice facility on Monday. An examination revealed a displaced fracture, and Hali had three small screws inserted.

Hali is wearing a splint but could be available for Sunday’s game against the Browns. The Chiefs are already without All-Pro pass rusher Justin Houston, who has been sidelined by a hyperextended knee.

In some positive injury news, wide receiver De’Anthony Thomas was expected back at practice. He has been out the past three games after sustaining a concussion against San Diego on Nov. 29.

 

MANHATTAN, Kan. – Former Kansas State football greats Darren Sproles (2001-04) of the Philadelphia Eagles and Tyler Lockett (2011-14) of the Seattle Seahawks were named return specialists for the 2016 Pro Bowl as determined by the consensus votes of fans, players and coaches, the National Football League announced Tuesday night.

 

Sproles, who is in his 11^th NFL season, is making his second-career Pro Bowl appearance after playing in last year’s game, while Lockett is one of three rookies this year to be named to the Pro Bowl. Their selections come on the heels of current Wildcat kickoff returner Morgan Burns being named the 2015 Big 12 Special Teams Player of the Year and First Team All-American after returning a nation-leading four kickoffs for touchdowns and ranking second nationally in average at 33.8 yards.

 

A native of Olathe, Kansas, Sproles leads the league in punt-return average (12.4), punt-return yards (446) and punt-return touchdowns (2). He is the only player in Eagles history to have multiple seasons with at least two punt-return touchdowns. Sproles ranks 11^th in NFL history and second among active players with 17,794 career all-purpose yards.

 

Sproles ranks first in Kansas State history with 6,812 career all-purpose yards and holds the single-season school record with 2,735 yards in 2003. He also holds the school records for season (1,986) and career (4,979) rushing yardage, while he is second in career rushing touchdowns (45).

 

Lockett has shined during his inaugural NFL season as the third-round pick returned a punt for a touchdown on his first-career attempt at St. Louis. Two weeks later, the Tulsa, Oklahoma, product set a franchise record with a 105-yard kickoff return touchdown against Chicago.

 

Lockett, who ranks seventh in the NFL with a 25.7-yard kickoff-return average, is also a big part of Seattle’s offense, contributing 46 catches for 595 yards and six touchdowns. He is one of only two rookies in NFL history – along with Hall of Famer Gale Sayers – to record six receiving touchdowns and scores on punt and kickoff returns.

 

He ranks second to Sproles in K-State history in both season (2,296 in 2014) and career (6,586) all-purpose yards. Lockett also broke the school career receiving records for catches (249), yards (3,710) and touchdowns (29), eclipsing all three marks that were held by his father, Kevin (1993-96). In all, Lockett left K-State after breaking 17 school records.

 

This year marks the second-straight season two former Wildcats made the Pro Bowl as Sproles was joined by Green Bay Packer wide receiver Jordy Nelson (2004-07) in 2015.

 

The 2016 NFL Pro Bowl will be played on Sunday, January 31, and televised live on ESPN at 7:00 p.m. (ET) from Aloha Stadium in Honolulu, Hawaii.

 

– k-statesports.com –

 

 

————
RYAN LACKEY
Assistant Director | Athletics Communications

Kansas State has struggled to make shots in their past couple of games and it continued Tuesday night at Bramlage Coliseum as the Wildcats opened a three game home stand with a 63-49 victory over North Dakota.

The Wildcats shot just 32 percent from the field in the first half, including 2-12 shooting from the 3-point range and 4-8 shooting from the free throw line.

“I didn’t think we had great energy at the start, and if you play at that magic level, you usually make shots. It doesn’t look very pretty when you don’t make shots and you shoot 32 percent in the first half,” said Bruce Weber. “Too many turnovers again, unforced, too many charges. We’ve got to let the game come to us.”

There was some improvement in the 2nd half for the Wildcats as they were at least over 40 percent from the field, 3-point range, and the charity stripe.

Kansas State had just two players score in double figures as freshman Barry Brown led the team with 15 points, followed by Junior Wesley Iwundu who finished with 11 points.

The team will have the next three days off to enjoy the holidays with family, before returning to Manhattan Friday to begin preparing for Saint Louis next Tuesday, Dec. 29th, in Bramlage Coliseum.

 

NORTH DAKOTA (5-5, 0-0 Big Sky)

AT KANSAS STATE (8-2, 0-0 Big 12)

Tuesday, December 22, 2015 7:10 p.m. CT  Bramlage Coliseum (12,528)  Manhattan

COACHES

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

Overall: 383-195/18^th season

At K-State: 70-40/4^th season

1. North Dakota: 1-0

 

North Dakota: Brian Jones (Northern Iowa ’94)

Overall: 132-158/10^th season

At North Dakota: same

1. Kansas State: 0-1

 

PROJECTED STARTING LINEUP

Kansas State (8-2)

G: #3 Kamau Stokes (9.2 ppg., 3.4 rpg.)

G: #14 Justin Edwards (13.8 ppg., 5.7 rpg.)

G: #25 Wesley Iwundu (13.5 ppg., 3.9 rpg.)

F: #32 Dean Wade (11.5 ppg., 5.8 rpg.)

F: #41 Stephen Hurt (7.6 ppg, 5.6 rpg.)

 

North Dakota (5-5)

G: #0 Geno Crandall (9.3 ppg., 4.0 rpg.)

G: #1 Corey Baldwin (8.8 ppg., 3.4 rpg.)

G: #21 Quinton Hooker (17.6 ppg., 5.5 rpg.)

F: #43 Drick Bernstine (6.8 ppg., 7.9 rpg.)

C: #5 Carson Shanks (6.4 ppg., 3.9 rpg.)

 

INSIDE THE SERIES

Overall: K-State leads 1-0

1. Big Sky: K-State leads 16-5 (14-3 at home)

In Manhattan: K-State leads 1-0 (11/9/2012)

Current Streak: K-State, 1

Last Meeting: K-State, 85-52, in Manhattan, Kan., on 11/9/2012

Weber vs. North Dakota: Weber leads 1-0 (1-0 at home)

Weber vs. Jones: Weber leads 1-0 (1-0 at home)

 

QUICK HITTERS

• Kansas State (8-2) begins a 3-game homestand on Tuesday night, as the Wildcats play host to Big Sky member North Dakota (5-5) at 7 p.m. CT.  The team will take a few days off before returning to campus on Dec. 25 to begin preparations for the Dec. 29 contest with Saint Louis (5-5).
• K-State is off to its best start since 2012-13 when the Wildcats also went 8-2 to open to the Bruce Weber era. The two losses have come to No. 9/8 North Carolina (70-80) and at No. 25 Texas A&M (68-78).
• K-State has already surpassed its non-conference win total from a year ago after posting a 61-56 win over Colorado State on Saturday in the third Wichita Wildcat Classic at INTRUST Bank Arena. The squad is now 9-12 all-time in games played in Wichita, including 2-1 in the Wildcat Classic.
• K-State held high-octane CSU to a season-low 56 points on 29.3 percent shooting (17-of-58), including 27.3 percent (6-of-22) from 3-point range. It marked the 43rd time that an opponent has been held to 60 points or less in head coach Bruce Weber’s tenure. The Rams entered the game 11th nationally in scoring offense (86.5 ppg.) and 12th in 3-pointers (10.6).
• Tuesday’s game will be just the second meeting between K-State and North Dakota with the Wildcats posting an 85-52 win at home on Nov. 9, 2012 in Bruce Weber’s first game as K-State head coach.
• K-State has a 77-5 (.939) record at home in non-conference play dating back to 2006-07, including a 75-4 (.949) mark during the regular season. The squad has won 66 of its last 69 non-conference home games.
• K-State has a 54-12 record in the month of December since 2006-07, including a 20-5 mark under head coach Bruce Weber. The Wildcats are 35-3 at home in December in the span, including 16-2 under Weber.
• Weber is 48-7 (.873) at Bramlage Coliseum since taking over as head coach with losses to No. 3 Kansas (2012), Northern Colorado (2013), Baylor (2013), Texas Southern (2014), Georgia (2014), West Virginia (2015) and Texas (2015). The 7 losses have come by a total of 24 points (3.4 ppg.).
• The key to K-State’s successful start has been its balanced scoring, as 5 different players have led the team in scoring and 6 players have at least two double-figure scoring games. It marks the first time the Wildcats have started a season with five different leading scorers since 1998-99.
• K-State has used the same lineup in all 10 games and those starters are responsible for 75 percent (556) of the team’s scoring, 63 percent (244) of rebounding, 80 percent (113) of assists and 67 percent (45) of steals.

 

–www.kstatesports.com–
TOM GILBERT
Associate Director for Athletics Communications | K-State Athletics

MANHATTAN, Kan. – Wildcat fans will now have a more efficient method of accessing their tickets to K-State events as the department has announced that a mobile ticket option is now available.

When purchasing tickets online, fans can now choose “mobile tickets” as the preferred delivery method and two emails will then be sent to the account holder: the first will be a confirmation email and the second will include an attachment with a ticket that can then be displayed on all smartphone devices.

 

Those utilizing this new option will no longer have to wait in will call lines, can eliminate the risk of materials being delayed or lost in the mail, and no printing of any kind is necessary. Fans only need to show their barcoded ticket via smartphone devices upon arrival at the venue.

 

For more information on mobile tickets, click here.

 

As a reminder, the ticket office and Ahearn Fund office will hold regular business hours from 8:30 a.m. -5:30 p.m.through Wednesday, December 23. Both offices will re-open onDecember 28 and hold regular hours through Wednesday, December 30. The ticket office will be closed for New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day, while the Ahearn Fund office will remain open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on December 31 for year-end donations.

Ticket office staff will be available via phone only beginning at 8 a.m., on Saturday, January 2. The ticket office will then open at 10 a.m. for the men’s basketball game against West Virginia that day.

 

On days the ticket office is closed, fans can email questions or issues to tickets@kstatesports.com. Fans should also reference the bowl headquarters site at kstatesports.com/bowlgame for up-to-date bowl information. Ahearn Fund staff members can also be reached at785.532.5282 or 888.232.9074.

Tickets for the bowl game are available now at the K-State Online Ticket Office or via phone at 1-800-221-CATS. Fans are strongly encouraged to order through K-State’s official allotment to ensure that all Wildcat fans are seated in the official K-State sections of the stadium.

Holiday ticket options for basketball games are also available, including a holiday mini plan for just $25 that includes the men’s basketball games on December 29 (Saint Louis) and January 2 (West Virginia). K-State Women’s Basketball begins Big 12 Conference play at home against Iowa State on December 30. Tickets start at just $8 for adults and $5 for youth/seniors/military.

BALTIMORE (AP) – The Kansas City Chiefs capitalized on a variety of miscues by the Baltimore Ravens and extended their winning streak to eight games with a 34-14 victory Sunday.

Tyvon Branch returned a fumble 73 yards for a touchdown in the first quarter and Marcus Peters clinched the victory with a 90-yard interception return for a score with 4:36 left.

Kansas City (9-5) also scored touchdowns following a drive-extending penalty by Baltimore and a failed fake punt.

With the victory, the Chiefs became the first team in NFL history to follow a five-game skid with eight successive wins in the same season. Kansas City also kept itself in the thick of the AFC playoff picture.

Baltimore (4-10) lost its third straight and fell to 2-5 at home. It’s the first time in their 20-year history that the Ravens have lost five home games.

WICHITA, Kan. (AP) – Justin Edwards and Wesley Iwundu combined to score 19 second-half points, leading Kansas State over Colorado State 61-56 on Saturday.

Dean Wade scored all of his 13 points in the first half for Kansas State (8-2). Edwards finished with 12 points while Iwundu added 11.

Emmanuel Omogbo had 13 points and 14 rebounds for Colorado State (6-5). Prentiss Nixon scored 11 for the Rams, and Tiel Daniels had 10.

Colorado State played without senior guard, Gian Clavell, who averages 20.8 points. Clavell has an injured left hand.

The Rams cut the Kansas State lead to two, 48-46, on a Prentiss Nixon 3-pointer with 4:15 remaining.

The Wildcats responded with seven points in 62 seconds, including a Stephen Hurt 3-pointer and an Iwundu baseline drive that gave Kansas State a 55-48 lead with 2:40 to play.