Game 8
Kansas State at 8/8 Oklahoma

Date: Saturday, October 27, 2018

Kickoff: 2:30 p.m.

Location: Norman, Okla.

Stadium: Memorial Stadium (83,489)

Series: Oklahoma leads, 75-19-4

Coming off a dominating second-half effort in a 31-12 victory over Oklahoma State and a bye week, Kansas State travels to face eighth-ranked Oklahoma on Saturday inside Gaylord Family-Oklahoma Memorial Stadium. The game will kick off at 2:30 p.m., and be shown nationally on FOX with Gus Johnson (play-by-play) and Joel Klatt (analyst) and Jenny Taft (sidelines) on the call. The game can be heard across the 39-station K-State Sports Network with Wyatt Thompson (play-by-play), former K-State quarterback Stan Weber (analyst) and Matt Walters (sidelines) calling the action, in addition to SiriusXM Channel 83 and the TuneIn app.

A LOOK AT K-STATE

• The running game is solidified by Alex Barnes, who ranks first in the Big 12 at 112.6 yards per game with a league-high nine rushing scores. He ran for a career-best 250 yards at Baylor, the fifth-most in a game in school history, while recording three touchdowns on the day.
• Against Oklahoma State, Barnes had 181 rushing yards and four scores, and he was also the team’s leading receiver with 51 yards on three catches.
• The Wildcats’ rushing attack is anchored by five offensive linemen who were all returning starters from a year ago. The group is led by Midseason All-American Dalton Risner at right tackle.
• Quarterback Skylar Thompson has started six games, throwing for 880 yards and five scores, while he has added 305 rushing yards and three touchdowns.
• Isaiah Zuber leads the Wildcats with 39 catches on the year, totaling 478 receiving yards and three scores.
• Defensively, K-State has averaged 3.0 sacks, 6.5 tackles for loss and two interceptions over the last two games after putting together averages of 1.0 sacks, 3.0 TFLs and 0.8 interceptions in the first five contests.
• The Wildcats are coming off an impressive performance against an Oklahoma State team that was averaging 523.3 yards and 44.0 points per game. K-State held OSU to 311 yards and just 12 points.

A LOOK AT OKLAHOMA

• Eighth-ranked Oklahoma came off a bye week to earn a 52-27 victory at TCU last week.
• OU enters the week ranked seventh nationally by averaging 526.3 yards of offense, while they are third in scoring offense at 48.6 points per game.
• Much of the offense runs through quarterback Kyler Murray, who is averaging 282.4 yards through the air with 25 TDs, while he ranks second on the team with 428 yards and five scores.
• Trey Sermon leads the team on the ground with 458 yards and five touchdowns.

MANHATTAN, Kan. – For the 17th time in school history, the Kansas State men’s basketball team earned a ranking in The Associated Press Preseason Top 25 poll earlier today (October 22), placing 12^thwith 922 points.

 

It was the highest preseason ranking since K-State started the 2010-11 campaign at No. 3, while it was the 12th time debuting in the AP preseason Top 15 (1951-52, 1952-53, 1953-54, 1956-57, 1957-58, 1958-59, 1961-62, 1964-65, 1965-66, 1975-76 and 2010-11) in school history.

 

Overall, the Wildcats have earned preseason rankings in the AP poll in 16 other seasons, including 1949-50 (No. 20), 1950-51 (No. 20), 1951-52 (No. 5), 1952-53 (No. 2), 1953-54 (No. 8), 1956-57 (No. 14), 1957-58 (No. 5), 1958-59 (No. 3), 1960-61 (No. 20), 1961-62 (No. 8), 1964-65 (No. 8), 1965-66 (No. 10), 1972-73 (No. 17), 1975-76 (No. 14), 2007-08 (No. 25) and 2010-11 (No. 3).

 

Kansas was selected No. 1 with 1,581 points and 37 first-place votes, followed by No. 2 Kentucky with 1,529 points and 19 first-place votes, No. 3 Gonzaga (1,461 points and 1 first-place votes), No. 4 Duke (1,452 points and 4 first-place votes) and No. 5 Virginia (1,286 points and 2 first-place votes). The rest of the Top 10 included No. 6 Tennessee (1,268 and 1 first-place vote), No. 7 Nevada (1,230 points), No. 8 North Carolina (1,221 points), No. 9 Villanova (1,085 points and 1 first-place vote) and No. 10 Michigan State (1,024 points).

 

K-State was one of four Big 12 teams in the AP Preseason Top 25 poll with No. 13 West Virginia (678 points) and No. 20 TCU (311 points). Texas Tech (6 points) and Texas (5 points) were among 28 teams receiving votes.

 

The Wildcats enter the 2018-19 season having been ranked in the AP poll in 208 weeks. It is the first overall AP ranking since coming in at No. 25 in the 10^th week of the 2016-17 season, while it is the first in the AP Top 15 since concluding the 2012-13 season at No. 12.

 

It is not the first preseason ranking for K-State, including No. 11 by NBCSports.com, Yahoo! Sports, Street & Smith’s, Lindy’s and Athlon, No. 12 by ESPN.com, CBSSports.com, USA Today, Stadium, No. 13 by The Athletic, Blue Ribbon Yearbook and No. 14 by SI.com.

 

Picked by the league coaches to finish second in the annual Big 12 preseason poll, K-State returns 10 lettermen, including six players who combined to start all 37 games a season ago, for a squad that won 25 games for just the sixth time in school history and advanced to the Elite Eight for the first time in eight years.

 

Season tickets for the 2018-19 season are currently on sale with a variety of pricing options available, including the Big Game, Pick 5 and Holiday mini-plans as well as Wildcat 4 Packs and Bramlage Bundles. Fans can purchase 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.

 

Preseason AP Top 25

1. Kansas (37)                         1,581
2. Kentucky (19)                    1,529
3. Gonzaga (1)                        1,461
4. Duke (4)                               1,452
5. Virginia (2)                          1,286
6. Tennessee (1)                   1,268
7. Nevada                                1,230
8. North Carolina                   1,221
9. Villanova                              1,085
10. Michigan St.                       1,024
11. Auburn                                 974
12. K-State                                 922
13. West Virginia                      678
14. Oregon                                 638
15. Virginia Tech                      630
16. Syracuse                              620
17. Florida St.                            530
18. Mississippi St.                    451
19. Michigan                              437
20. TCU                                        311
21. UCLA                                     297
22. Clemson                              268
23. LSU                                        187
24. Purdue                                 170
25. Washington                        165

 

–www.kstatesports.com–

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

 

 

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Kansas coach Bill Self sees big holes when he looks at his roster after losing three starters, including Associated Press All-American Devonte’ Graham.

The voters in the AP Top 25 poll see something different: a roster restocked so well that Jayhawks will start the season as the nation’s top team.

Kansas checked in at No. 1 in the preseason poll released Monday, earning the top spot to start a season for the third time in program history, all under Self. The Jayhawks topped the ballot for 37 of 65 voters, nearly double that of No. 2 Kentucky.

“Obviously we lost a lot off last year’s team with Devonte’, Svi (Mykhailiuk) and Malik (Newman), so I’m a little surprised that the writers put us there this preseason,” Self said in a statement to the AP. “It’s definitely a spot we welcome and certainly know the goal is to be playing to that ranking by when it counts the most.

“With the young players, we know it’s going to take some time before we’re anywhere close to where we’re going to be, but I do like this team and I think we have a chance to be very good.”

The Jayhawks return veteran starters in junior 7-footer Udoka Azubuike and senior Lagerald Vick from a team that reached its first Final Four since 2012. They’re also adding transfer help from Memphis twins Dedric and K.J. Lawson as well as California’s Charlie Moore — all double-digit scorers on their previous teams.

And yet, the previous two times the Jayhawks started at No. 1 didn’t end well. The 2004-05 squad lost to Bucknell in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. And the 2009-10 team that held the top spot for 15 of 19 weeks overall and won 33 games lost to Northern Iowa in the second round.

The ranking comes as the program finds itself entangled in the federal corruption case tied to payments used to steer recruits to certain schools. Testimony during the recent first trials included references to Self and sophomore forward Silvio De Sousa , though Self isn’t charged with wrongdoing and it’s unclear if De Sousa’s status will be affected.

CLEAR CHOICES

Voters established a clear top tier: Kansas, Kentucky, No. 3 Gonzaga and No. 4 Duke. Those four teams appeared in some combination at the top of nearly half the ballots (32 of 65).

John Calipari’s latest group of touted recruits helped the Wildcats earn 19 first-place votes to open as a top-5 team for the eighth straight season.

Gonzaga’s ranking is the program’s highest in a preseason AP poll, though the Zags have reached No. 1 during the regular season before. As for Duke, the Blue Devils had started No. 1 in each of the past two preseason AP polls.

The points gap between the Jayhawks and the Blue Devils (129 points) at fourth was slimmer than between Duke and fellow Atlantic Coast Conference program Virginia (166 points) at No. 5.

MANHATTAN, Kan. – The Big 12 Conference and FOX Sports announced Monday that Kansas State’s game at TCU on November 3 will kick off at 2:30 p.m., and be televised nationally by FS1.

It will be the third-straight year that the Wildcats and Horned Frogs will play a day game. The road team has won four of the six games since TCU joined the Big 12. The last time the two teams squared off in Fort Worth, K-State earned a 30-6 victory in 2016, a game that featured a 336-yard rushing effort by the Wildcats.

Following the game at TCU, the Wildcats return home for their final two home games of 2018 – a November 10 game against Kansas in the Dillons Sunflower Showdown and a November 17 contest against Texas Tech. Tickets for the final two home games can be purchased through the K-State Athletics Ticket office online at www.k-statesports.com/tickets, by phone at 1-800-221-CATS or at the main ticket office inside Bramlage Coliseum.

The Wildcats travel to face eighth-ranked Oklahoma this Saturday inside Memorial Stadium in Norman, Oklahoma. The game will kick off at 2:30 p.m., and be televised nationally by FOX.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Patrick Mahomes threw for 358 yards and four touchdowns, Kareem Hunt finished with three scores and the Kansas City Chiefs rebounded from their first loss by throttling the Cincinnati Bengals 45-10 on Sunday night.

Mahomes was 28 of 39 with his only big mistake an underthrown interception, though the Chiefs (6-1) were already so far ahead of Cincinnati (4-3) by that point it didn’t really matter.

Mahomes spread the wealth, too, connecting with eight targets. Tyreek had seven catches for 68 yards and a touchdown, and Demetrius Harris had the other scoring grab for Kansas City.

The Bengals’ Andy Dalton was held to just 148 yards passing with a touchdown and an interception by the NFL’s worst defense. Joe Mixon managed 50 yards rushing on 13 carries.

 

LUBBOCK, Texas (AP) — Alan Bowman threw for 408 yards and three touchdowns while playing for the first time since suffering a partially collapsed lung three weeks ago, and Texas Tech beat Kansas 48-16 on Saturday.

“Looked like he never even had an injury,” receiver Antoine Wesley said.

Bowman completed 36 of 47 passes while showing accuracy on short and deep passes, with only one interception. The true freshman was the nation’s leading passer when he got crushed between two West Virginia defenders in Texas Tech’s last home game Sept. 29, and was released from the hospital four days later.

“It’s been a while. We just wanted to make sure practice went well. Didn’t want any setbacks,” coach Kliff Kingsbury said. “We felt confident … a few days after he got out of the hospital that he’d be ready for this date. We just wanted to make sure he held up, felt good. His breathing was fine.”

After coming out early in that loss to West Virginia, Bowman missed only one game. Jett Duffey started a 17-14 win at TCU. On his only drive in the fourth quarter Saturday, Duffey completed all three of his passes for 33 yards before DeMarcus Felton’s 34-yard TD run for a 48-9 lead.

Wesley, who entered the game third nationally with 117 yards receiving a game, had nine catches for 155 yards and a nifty one-handed grab for a 6-yard touchdown. T.J. Vasher and Seth Collins also had TD catches for the Red Raiders (5-2, 3-1 Big 12), who had 553 total yards despite three turnovers.

Kansas (2-5, 0-4) lost its 43rd consecutive true Big 12 road game, dating back to a 35-33 win at Iowa State on Oct. 4, 2008.

But the Jayhawks weren’t surprised to see Bowman in the game, no matter how coy Kingsbury had been about who would be his starting quarterback.

“Our defensive game plan was all around Bowman,” senior linebacker Joe Dineen Jr. said. “Our coaches knew that he was going to be able to go this week, so we really prepared for him.”

The Jayhawks played their first game since offensive coordinator Doug Meacham was fired. Peyton Bender threw for 221 yards and two touchdowns while freshman Pooka Williams had 16 carries for 70 yards to finish 38 yards below his rushing average that was second-best in the Big 12.

“We’re disappointed because we didn’t do enough to help us win,” coach David Beaty said of the overall offensive output. “We had a firm understanding of what we were doing. I think everybody felt comfortable there. They were engaged the entire time.”