Kansas State will play in the South Region of the men’s NCAA Basketball Tournament. The Wildcats ( 25-8 ) have drawn UC-Irvine ( 30-5 ) as a first-round opponent. The Wildcats are a fourth seed while UC-Irvine is a 13-seed. The game is scheduled at 1 p.m. CT on Friday in San Jose, California.

If K-State wins in the first round they would play the winner of the Wisconsin – Oregon matchup in the second round.  The top seed in the South is Virginia while Tennessee is the number two seed.

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The Kansas Jayhawks will play in the Midwest Region of the tournament. The Jayhawks, a fourth seed,  have drawn Northeastern, a 13th seed. The teams will play at approximately 3 p.m. Thursday in Salt Lake City.

If KU wins they would meet the winner of Auburn – New Mexico State in the second round. North Carolina is the top seed in the Midwest Region while Kentucky is the number two seed.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Lindell Wigginton found his way to Iowa State from Canada, Marial Shayok took a detour through the University of Virginia, and Michael Jacobson started his career at the University of Nebraska.

Three players from three very different backgrounds now have something in common: a title.

The trio helped the fifth-seeded Cyclones race to a big early lead against No. 17 Kansas on Saturday night, then contributed to enough crucial stops down the stretch, preserving a 78-66 victory over the Jayhawks in the Big 12 Tournament finale at Sprint Center.

“When you do something special, you win a championship, you got a connection for the rest of your life,” said Cyclones coach Steve Prohm, who brought together his team from far and wide.

“Hopefully this is just step one. We’ll enjoy this for a while, figure out where we’re going for the NCAA Tournament and then we’ll focus on that.”

Wigginton finished with 17 points, Shayok had 15 on his way to winning tournament MVP, and Jacobson finished with 14 for the Cyclones (23-11), who became the lowest-seeded team ever to win the conference tournament. They also improved to 2-0 against Kansas (25-9) in the finals.

“I think it was our best team win of the year because it was gritty,” said Shayok, who like Jacobson sat out last season after transferring. “Everybody stepped up.”

Dedric Lawson had 18 points and Devon Dotson added 17 for the third-seeded Jayhawks, whose last chance to win some hardware will be the NCAA Tournament. Their run of 14 consecutive regular-season crowns ended last weekend, and they failed to defend their Big 12 Tournament title.

 

MANHATTAN, Kan. – After leading Kansas State to its second Big 12 title in his tenure, head coach Bruce Weber was recently named a finalist for the Skip Prosser Man of the Year and Jim Phelan National Coach of the Year honors, as announced by their respective organizations.

 

The Skip Prosser Man of the Year is presented annually to head coach who not only achieve success on the court but who also display moral integrity off it as well. It is named for the late Skip Prosser, who died suddenly in 2007 while the head coach at Wake Forest and won nearly 300 games at Loyola, Xavier and Wake Forest.

 

Weber is joined on the Prosser Man of the Year list by 24 other coaches nationally, including UCF’s Johnny Dawkins, Temple’s Fran Dunphy, Murray State’s Matt McMahon, Buffalo’s Nate Oats, UMBC’s Ryan Odom, Purdue’s Matt Painter, Southern Miss’ Doc Sadler and Wofford’s Mike Young.

 

The Jim Phelan Award is presented annually to the top coach in Division I. It is named for legendary Mount St. Mary’s head coach Jim Phelan, who amassed 830 wins in all divisions.

 

Weber is joined on the Phelan Award list by 24 other coaches nationally, including Tennessee’s Rick Barnes, Texas Tech’s Chris Beard, Michigan’s John Beilein, Virginia’s Tony Bennett, Gonzaga’s Mark Few, Michigan State’s Tom Izzo, Nevada’s Eric Musselman, Oats, Painter, Houston’s Kelvin Sampson and North Carolina’s Roy Williams.

 

Weber, who became the first K-State head coach to win 25 games in consecutive season, led the Wildcats to their second Big 12 title in 2018-19 as the squad tied No. 7/6 Texas Tech with identical 14-4 league records. K-State is currently 25-8 overall entering its anticipated NCAA Tournament selection. He became the third K-State head coach (Fred “Tex” Winter and Jack Hartman) to win 150 games at the school in the 70-61 win over TCU in the tournament quarterfinals on Thursday.

 

Weber was recently named the U.S. Basketball Writers Association District VI Coach of the Year.

 

Both awards will be announced on April 5 at the College Insider Awards Event at the Final Four in Minneapolis.

 

–www.kstatesports.com–

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

 

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Dedric Lawson transferred to Kansas in part to win championships.

He’ll have that chance Saturday night.

The former Memphis standout scored 24 points and the No. 17 Jayhawks, who failed to win a share of the Big 12 regular-season title for the first time in 15 years, roared into the conference tournament title game with an 88-74 victory over West Virginia on Friday night.

“It wasn’t our best game,” Lawson said, “but looking forward to going out there and playing for a championship. Looking forward to going out there and winning something meaningful.”

Quentin Grimes added 18 points before leaving late with cramps, Devon Dotson had 13 and Marcus Garrett 11 for the third-seeded and reigning champion Jayhawks (25-8). They

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Marial Shayok hit back-to-back 3-pointers right in front of his own bench to give Iowa State the lead in the final minute, and the fifth-seeded Cyclones held on at the foul line to beat No. 15 Kansas State 63-59 on Friday night in the Big 12 semifinals.

The Cyclones (22-11) trailed 55-52 when Shayok’s first 3-point bounced off the rim, then off the glass and dropped through. Then, after the Wildcats’ Cartier Diarra missed a 3 at the other end, the Cyclones’ senior guard dropped a 3 that gave his team the lead.

Barry Brown’s driving layup got Kansas State (25-8) to 59-57 with 20.3 seconds left, but Nick Weiler-Babb answered with a pair of free throws. Shayok answered by Kansas State’s Xavier Sneed with two of his own, and the Cyclones began to celebrate another trip to the finals.

Shayok finished with 21 points, and Weiler-Babb had 12, as Iowa State advanced to play Kansas or West Virginia on Saturday night. The Cyclones are 4-0 when playing for the title.

Cartier had 15 points to lead five players in double figures for the Wildcats, who shared the regular-season title with Texas Tech. The Red Raiders were knocked out in the quarterfinals.

The Wildcats once again played without All-Big 12 forward Dean Wade, who sat on the bench with a walking boot on his right foot. It remains unclear whether he’ll be ready for the NCAA Tournament.

Kansas State got off to a hot start, unlike its quarterfinal win over TCU, but the Cyclones and their massive contingent of fans slowly turned the tide late in the first half.

It began when Sneed missed a layup for the Wildcats and Tyrese Haliburton scored a third-chance basket at the other end for Iowa State. Kansas State went on to miss 12 straight field-goal attempts while the high-flying Cyclones went on a 21-4 charge to end the half.

Momentum promptly switched in the locker room.

The Wildcats, who had the Big 12’s best defense this season, buckled down to start the second half, and they put together an 11-0 run that made it 38-all with 15 minutes to go.

They kept the run going, too, when Diarra was whacked on the way to the basket and needed to get treatment on the sideline after his free throws. Sneed finally knocked down a 3-pointer, Mawien added a bucket in the paint, and Brown’s fast-break layup forced Iowa State to call timeout.

The Cyclones eventually got back on track, wiping out a five-point deficit in the final couple minutes with a couple of big 3-pointers from Shayok and some clutch foul shots down the stretch.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Kansas took the first step toward redemption against Texas on Thursday night.

After the No. 17 Jayhawks failed to win a piece of the Big 12 regular-season title, ending their record streak of 14 straight crowns, they leaned on freshmen Devon Dotson and David McCormack in a 65-57 victory over the Longhorns in the quarterfinals of the conference tournament.

Two more wins and they’ll hoist some hardware after all.

Dotson finished with 17 points and McCormack had 13 points and a career-best nine rebounds for the third-seeded Jayhawks (24-8), who advanced to play West Virginia in the semifinals Friday night.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Kamau Stokes had just been hammered by TCU on the way to the basket, and Kansas State’s senior guard was still lying face-down on the floor when a scratchy voice rang out inside Sprint Center.

“Make your free throws!” Wildcats coach Bruce Weber yelled.

So much for sympathy.

Stokes made the first and clanked the second, but the Wildcats secured the rebound and Stokes buried a 3-pointer to atone for the miss. The four-point play allowed Kansas State to edge ahead, and the regular-season champs never trailed down the stretch in a 70-61 victory over the Horned Frogs on Thursday in the quarterfinals of the Big 12 Tournament.

“Coach Weber always talks about toughness and I’m pretty sure he wanted me to get up,” said Stokes, who finished with 11 points. “Just had to let the pain wear off a bit.”

He’ll have 24 hours to rest before a semifinal date with No. 5 seed Iowa State.

Xavier Sneed led all scorers with 19 points, none bigger than a 3-pointer as the shot clock sounded in the final minute. Barry Brown added 12 points and Makol Mawien had 10 for the Wildcats (25-7), who played without All-Big 12 forward Dean Wade in their first game as a No. 1-seed since 1977.

Wade watched the game from the sideline with a boot on his right foot, and probably had a hard time not leaping from his seat when Kansas State seized control in the second half.

“Just proud of our guys continuing to be resilient and fight,” Weber said.

Kansas State will meet TCU in the Big 12 Tournament at Sprint Center in Kansas City, Missouri at 1:30 p.m. Thursday. The game can be heard on 107.9 FM and 1420 KJCK AM with the pregame broadcast starting at 1 p.m.

TCU opened tournament play with a 73-70 win over Oklahoma State Wednesday night, while Kansas State had a first round bye. The other game in the tournament Wednesday evening saw West Virginia edge Oklahoma 72-71.

K-State forward Dean Wade is expected to miss the entire Big 12 Tournament due to a foot injury. Wildcats coach Bruce Weber has indicated that Wade would spend most of his time this week getting treatment.

MANHATTAN, Kan. – Kansas State head coach Bruce Weber was selected as the U.S. Basketball Writers Association District VI Coach of the Year, while seniorsBarry Brown, Jr., and Dean Wade were each named to the All-District VI team for the second consecutive season, the organization announced on Tuesday (March 12).

District VI encompasses the states of Iowa, Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma, Nebraska and North and South Dakota.

Weber is the third Wildcat head coach to be named USBWA District Coach of the Year, joining Bob Huggins (2007) and Frank Martin (2010), while Brown and Wade are the first Wildcat duo to repeat All-District VI honors.

The duo become the 16^th and 17^th Wildcats to earn recognition from the USBWA, which has been selecting All-District Teams since the 1956-57 season. They are the fourth tandem to be selected for All-District honors in the same season, following Michael Beasley and Bill Walker in 2008 and Denis Clemente and Jacob Pullen in 2010.

FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) — Texas Tech sophomore guard Jarrett Culver is The Associated Press Big 12 player of the year after helping lead his hometown Red Raiders to a share of the regular season conference title.

Chris Beard was named coach of the year after his third season with the Red Raiders, who are 26-5 after going to their first NCAA Elite Eight last year. Seventh-ranked Texas Tech won its first Big 12 regular-season title, sharing the crown with No. 15 Kansas State.

Culver is averaging 18.3 points and 6.2 rebounds a game, and is one of three unanimous picks for the AP All-Big 12 first team released Tuesday.

Kansas junior forward Dedric Lawson, the league’s top scorer and rebounder (19.1 ppg, 10.6 rpg), and Kansas State senior guard Barry Brown Jr. (15.1 ppg, league-leading 2.0 steals a game) were the other players listed on all 18 ballots from a panel of journalists who regularly cover the Big 12 in the league’s five states.

Iowa State senior guard Marial Shayok and Kansas State senior forward Dean Wade were the other first-team picks.

Culver got 14 votes for AP player of the year. The remaining four votes went to Lawson, the former transfer from Memphis who got 12 of 18 votes to be named Big 12 newcomer of the year.

Beard was picked as coach of the year on 15 ballots.

Makai Mason, the first graduate transfer ever to play for Baylor, led the AP second-team picks. The other second-teamers were Texas freshman forward Jaxson Hayes, Texas Tech sophomore guard Davide Moretti and TCU teammates Desmond Bane and Alex Robinson.