KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Salvador Perez got the big hit, though Adalberto Mondesi may have made the biggest plays.

Before Alex Gordon’s walk and Perez’s game-winning single in the 10th inning, the fourth walk-off RBI of his career and second in two weeks, it was Mondesi’s two-out walk and two steals that set the stage for the Kansas City Royals’ 2-1 victory over the Cleveland Indians on Thursday night.

“His aggressiveness was great, but also his patience was fantastic in that last at-bat,” Royals manager Ned Yost said. “You kept thinking, ‘OK, if you get on, the chances of us winning this game are going to be great, even with two outs,’ because you know — boom — he’s going to put himself in scoring position and we’re just a hit away.”

Neil Ramirez (0-3), who retired the first two hitters in the 10th, tried to get Mondesi to chase a full-count slider down and in.

Mondesi laid off the pitch, then reached 30 steals in 72 games played this season after swiping second and third.

A year ago, Mondesi probably hacks away and the teams may still be playing.

“It just shows you his growth and how far he’s come, because last year that was an automatic swing 3-2 for a strikeout,” Yost said. “He’s made tremendous strides there.”

Mondesi also hit his 13th home run for the Royals (57-102) — no longer in danger of matching the franchise record of 106 losses, set in 2005 — and made a game-saving defensive play in the eighth inning.

The Indians had runners at second and third with two outs when Yandy Diaz chopped a slow roller between third baseman Hunter Dozier and Mondesi, who made a quick scoop and an off-balance throw to get a diving Diaz.

“We practice on that every day,” Mondesi said of throwing across his body, “so when it comes in the game it’s a lot easier for us.”

Yost was more effusive about the play.

“That is a play in that situation that very few shortstops are going to make, because it does require such athleticism, such range and such arm strength to be able to complete that play,” Yost said.

Jason Hammel (4-14) worked a scoreless 10th, one of five relievers the Royals used in five scoreless innings from the bullpen.

The AL Central champion Indians (89-70), who are locked into an AL Divisional Series matchup beginning next week with the reigning world champion Houston Astros, got their only run in the first.

Francisco Lindor led off with a single, took second on a botched pickoff attempt and went to third on a balk by Royals starter Glenn Sparkman. Lindor scored on Jose Ramirez’s one-out sacrifice fly.

Josh Tomlin pitched well for the Indians in his final audition for a postseason roster spot. He went 4 2/3 innings, allowing Mondesi’s only homer in the third with five strikeouts and no walks.

“I’ve finally gotten to the point where I know what my body’s going to do,” Tomlin said. “I’m not trying to force the issue. I’m just out there throwing, playing catch. It seems like I’m just playing catch.”

Tomlin, who has a 6.14 ERA this season, remains a longshot for the ALDS roster, but manager Terry Francona was encouraged by what he saw.

“One cutter for the solo homer, kind of came across the plate, but other than that he spun the ball good,” Francona said. “I thought his cutter was as crisp as we’ve seen. He got some kind of funky swings with it and stayed off the barrel.”

The Friday night high school football schedule includes:

–Junction City at Highland Park

–Manhattan hosts Emporia

–Topeka West visits Washburn Rural

–Abilene hosts Pittsburg – Colgan

–Concordia goes to Colby

–Wamego is at Marysville

–Rock Creek goes to Chapman where it’s homecoming tonight

–Clay Center hosts Smoky Valley

–Herington hosts Goessel

–Solomon goes to Bennington

–Blue Valley Randolph is at Frankfort

–Centre hosts Waverly

–Rural Vista hosts Marais des Cygnes Valley

–Wakefield goes to Hartford

 

 

 

MANHATTAN, Kan. – K-State Athletics announced today a 50/50 Raffle, a new in-game fan experience enhancement and fundraising effort that will provide participating fans the opportunity to win a cash prize, beginning with Saturday’s football game with Texas.

Fifty percent of net proceeds from each game’s raffle ticket sales will go toward K-State Athletics’ efforts to support the success and well-being of Wildcat student-athletes, while the other 50 percent of net ticket sales will go to the winning raffle ticket buyer.

 

“We continue to evaluate and implement opportunities that will improve upon the fan experience at our games as well as potentially generate revenue for our programs, and we feel this raffle can be something special for both our fans and our student-athletes,” said Athletics Director Gene Taylor. “Fans will have the opportunity to take home a significant cash prize while also helping support our overall strategic efforts supporting our sports programs.”

Tickets are priced at $5 for three, 10 for $10 or 60 for $20.  Tickets will be sold Saturday by K-State Cheer squad members throughout Bill Snyder Family Stadium.  The winner will be announced at the end of the third quarter of each game, and sales will end at the beginning of the second half.  Sales for this weekend’s raffle will be cash only, while credit card and online sales will be implemented later this season.  Winners can claim their prize at the Fan Accommodations booth on the west side of the stadium but do not have to be present to win. The winner may contact the Athletics Ticket Office at a later date to claim the prize.

 

KENNY LANNOU
Sr. Associate A.D. for Communications and Public Relations | K-State Athletics

 

CINCINNATI (AP) — Rookie Heath Fillmyer struck out a career-high nine, Adalberto Mondesi tripled, stole two bases and scored twice, and the Kansas City Royals wrapped up their 2018 road schedule with a 6-1 victory over the Cincinnati Reds on Wednesday night.

Whit Merrifield, who went into the game tied for the American League lead in hits and leading in stolen bases, extended his season-high hitting streak to 16 games with a third-inning single. He also stole two bases.

Alex Gordon tacked on a solo home run to help Kansas City to a third straight win and fourth in its last five games.

The only run Fillmyer allowed was Jose Peraza’s 14th homer in the first inning. Fillmyer (4-2) retired 11 straight batters in one stretch against a Cincinnati team that has scored three or fewer runs in 13 of its last 14 games. He allowed four hits and two walks while tying his career high with 7 1/3 innings.

Fillmyer also chipped in to the Kansas City offense with his first major league hit and RBI with a sixth-inning double.

The Royals finished with a 26-55 road record. They need one win in their last four games to avoid matching their single-season record of 106 losses, set in 2005.

The Reds have lost five straight games, all to teams with worse records, and six of their last seven.

After lasting six innings in his previous start, a win at Miami, Reds starter Cody Reed (1-3) could manage just 3 2/3, giving up six hits and three runs with two walks and two strikeouts.

MANHATTAN, Kan. – With anticipation building for a team with numerous preseason Top 15 rankings, the Kansas State men’s basketball hosted its annual media day at the Ice Family Basketball Center on Wednesday afternoon.

 

Seventh-year head coach Bruce Weber kicked off the day with his annual media day press conference before members of the media visited with various players and watched an open practice.

 

Returning All-Big 12 selections Dean Wade (16.2 ppg., 6.2 rpg.) and Barry Brown, Jr. (15.9 ppg., 3.1 rpg.) form the core of a veteran group returning for the Wildcats, who won 25 games and advanced to the Elite Eight for the 12^th time in school history and the first time since 2010 in 2017-18. In all, K-State returns 10 lettermen in 2018-19, including six players who combined to start all 37 games. The Wildcats also return rising juniors Xavier Sneed (11.1 ppg., 5.1 rpg.) and Makol Mawien (6.8 ppg., 3.4 rpg.) as well as point guards, senior Kamau Stokes (9.0 ppg., 3.4 apg.) and sophomore Cartier Diarra (7.1 ppg., 2.0 apg.).

 

Season tickets are currently on sale for K-State’s 16-game home schedule at Bramlage Coliseum. Fans have a variety of ticket packages from which to choose, including the Pick 5 mini plan. Tickets can be purchased toll free at (800) 221.CATS, online at www.kstatesports.com and/or in-person at the Athletics Ticket Office.

 

Full transcript from media day follows:

 

BRUCE WEBER, HEAD COACH

Opening statement…

“This is always a fun time of the year for our players. They have been going about six months since we got going again in the spring and they have worked really hard and they anticipate this and you always look forward to practice, and then it starts and they’re all like oh my goodness we have to go through this again for the next six weeks. But I think that this group is very focused, very dedicated to being special and it’s been fun, the spring, summer and fall with them because they work really hard and I anticipate it will be fun through this early part of practice and getting ready. So as a coach, as a staff, you’ve got veteran players back, you’ve got lots of minutes, lots of points, lots of experience. So it makes it easier on us as far as the teaching and now we’ve approached it a little bit different than how we have in the past, we have a few new guys that have to learn some stuff but with the older guys we have tried to go as slow as possible, not putting too much stress on them right now and building up as we get into practice. Every time we go at it full go they compete so hard that it’s almost like we have to call it off because we don’t want anyone to get hurt and it’s way too early. It’s that kind of team because of their leadership and their experience and toughness it makes it different as a staff to kind of coach them. We’re looking forward to it, there is no double about that, and I know they are.”

 

On the vibe going into practice this week…

“They’re excited, there’s no doubt about it. The season last year, we won 25 games and ended up in one of the best 10-team leagues in history and finished fourth. All those four teams finished in the Sweet Sixteen, three in the Elite Eight, one in the Final Four. They felt good about themselves. I said a year ago, ‘getting into the NCAA Tournament, winning one game is a great motivator.” And I really believe that it is another step that we took and it has helped with our guys, they’re driven. Barry (Brown Jr.) wants to be special, he wants to be one of the elite in school history. Dean (Wade) wants to do the same type of thing. Kamau (Stokes), you feel bad for him because it has been up and down for two seasons with injuries and he would like to finish on a good note. And the other guys, Xavier (Sneed), kind of having a breakout in the NCAA Tournament. Mike McGuirl getting his opportunity. Makol (Mawien) having a great game against Kansas. They all have little special moments and their opportunities and I think that has kind of kept them very driven. Our weight coach Ben (O’Donnell) has done a great job. We did the 185 bench press max, which is the test that they use in the NBA. We always try to prepare our guys to help them if they get to the combine or get a tryout they know the different tests and have been through it. We would have three guys, Makol, Dean and Barry would have been one, two, three in last year’s combine on the 185 max. So Ben has done a great job, the guys have done a great job in buying into it and it makes it fun for the coaches and makes it easier on the coaches. The last two weeks we have been gone on the road recruiting, I think I came back for one day to do workouts then recruit on the weekend if we have a football game. But just trying to give them their space and time and letting them push themselves and fight through the adversity of conditioning and the challenges that Ben put in front of them and again, it makes it easier on us.”

 

On Freshman Shawn Williams getting acclimated…

“You know, he’s two months behind. He wasn’t here for the summer, the summer is the introduction. When the NCAA changed that rule for freshmen to come to campus, I think it was such a benefit because it has helped kids graduate, because they get their six hours or nine hours, whatever. But the other part is just getting acclimated to campus. It’s almost to me a dress rehearsal or a trial run, so he missed that part. Then all of a sudden he is thrown into full-load of classes, weights, conditioning, all of that stuff, which it used to be that’s how every freshman went through it, and I used to say to all of the freshmen, ‘two weeks into it you want to quit and transfer three times in these first two weeks.’ I am sure he went through that because it was hard. Then you throw in an older team, and these are experienced veteran guys who have played a lot of games so it doesn’t make it any easier for him but I told him, ‘it’s going to take you two months to catch up at least.’ You can see after last week after we did our team workout it was probably his best one of the year where we are starting to feel a little more comfortable and understand what we are doing, catching up with everything, but it’s not easy. It’s not easy on Austin (Trice) either, even with being here this summer more than anything because we have so many veterans. And those guys, I say a drill and they know what it is, where those two (Trice and Williams) look at me and still don’t have that name recognition and not only understand how to run the drill but what we are trying to do in the drill, and that will just take some time.”

 

On the veterans setting an example…

“It’s the thing that coaches talk about and what coach (Bill) Snyder has done for years. Building the brand. And they set that, we encourage it, but they set it. They have to set those expectations, those standards on a daily basis. You know, Rodney (McGruder) was an unbelievable leader, and I have had some other guys through the years, but Barry (Brown Jr.) might take the top. It’s just amazing. I mean, he’s a hooper, he loves it, he wants to be around us. He was there this morning, he’s there every morning. He’s in with the coaches talking, sometimes it’s just chatter, but he just feels comfortable with being there. We added a new device in the gym, it’s called Shot Tracker, it tracks every shot that they take. Barry has some weeks were its 3,500-4,000 shots in a week. That’s unbelievable. He wants to be good. Now, everybody is like, because it’s on the board, ‘can I compete with Barry? Can I get to 3,000?’ So it just pushes them. Same thing with the weight room, they have set the standards. You talk about Dean (Wade), when he got here he could barely do one on the 185. Then he got it up to five or six (reps), then you know he had pneumonia and was back to one or two when he first got here. But now you’re talking 17 of those. Even Kamau (Stokes) was at a career-high in that number where he was at 9 or 10 on the 185, before he was two probably. So they’ve set the standard and it pushes to everybody in the program and makes it easy on the coaches. Hopefully that will continue for us as a program.”

 

On spreading out playing time between guards…

“You know, last year I talked about the one thing that we had was competition and then all of a sudden Mike (McGuirl) was hurt, and then Kamau (Stokes) got hurt, and it ended up that all of those things happened, and you think things in life happens for a reason and it did. You know, Cartier (Diarra) got his chance, Mike got a chance later on and came back and fought through his adversity. Now it created a little bit of a dilemma, now, I would like to say it is going to be tough but is everyone going to stay health? That’s the first factor. But if they do stay healthy, the thing that I’ve talked about since day one, and I showed them Villanova’s minutes, the national player of the year averaged 32 minutes. The sixth man got drafted and had 27-28 minutes a game. I show them, and it’s not just how many minutes they get, but what they do with their minutes that help as a freshman, everyone wants to play all of these minutes, but as a freshman Barry (Brown Jr.) couldn’t do anything at the end, he had no life, no energy. So that is what we talked about, having energy at the end of games, having energy at the end of the season, getting more out of your minutes and competing. That’s the thing that I have talked about with our guys and again we’ll see how it plays out. I hope we don’t have injuries, but we’ll have some along the way, no major ones. But if that happens, hopefully we can get more out of the guys and be more efficient with their minutes.”

 

On Kamau Stokes’ recovery…

“His (Kamau Stokes) foot, as far as his actual physical foot is the best it has been since he got hurt. We just did an MRI, his latest x-ray and you could say it is healed. He has had a couple of little setbacks, tweaking and things, working out on orthodox, stuff like that, but I would say he is close. More 90 some percent, where when he played, you have got to give the kid credit when he played for us in the NCAA tournament, because he was probably 60-65 percent. We didn’t realize until even after the season where he was. He wanted to help and be a part and obviously do something special.”

 

On scheduling opponents …

“Well I think scheduling, as I have talked about before, it goes back to conversations with coach (Gene) Keady when I was a young guy, it can be at times more important than recruiting. If you have a young team, you don’t want to over schedule. If you have an older team, you want to give your guys competition so you’re ready. You know, you’re looking at the bigger goals. Every year you have to be smart about it, sometimes, and the other thing is, I was at an NBA practice yesterday and talking to Tad Boyle from Colorado, and he just said to me, ‘is scheduling getting tougher for you?’ and it’s tough all the time. And he was just saying, ‘I couldn’t get a BCS team to play me.’ So people just don’t understand, they think just call some team and we’re going to get a game, it’s not happening. Then who’s refs, what place, and all that stuff, it’s just a difficult process. We have a veteran team, we thought we could challenge ourselves, the only thing that we really didn’t get that we thought we could get was a higher BCS team at home this year, and we just couldn’t do it. I had a lot of cuss words on text messages sent to me from a lot of coaches. But still, Marquette, BPI, they’re rated number four in the country, on the ESPN thing or something or one of those. So they’re very good, they have one of the best guards in the country, they have big guys, so it will be a challenge. Obviously we get to play Missouri with (Jontay)  Porter, All-American on somethings, (Jeremiah) Tllmon, (Kevin) Puryear,, you’ve got some really good veteran players. At Texas A&M, they were a Sweet-16 team last year, they do a great job there. And even, I think the other thing we have really done is our other games, Georgia State is going to be really good. Southern Miss is going to be really good. George Mason is a really well-coached team. Instead of trying to get some guys experience, we have that experience. Now it is going to be a challenge every single year finding games and hopefully preparing us later on. We’re playing Georgia State because they play a zone. I talked to Tom Izzo after they (Michigan State) lost to Syracuse in the NCAA’s, he just said, ‘our one day prep, we didn’t have enough time to be prepared for Syracuse’s zone.’ Now we get to play Baylor, so you play as many different styles and different conferences and all that stuff and hopefully it helps us in our preparation.”

 

On Makol Mawien’s recovery…

“Yea he’s back, fine. We held him out about a month. I think it was July they held him out. And you can see what he did, he got in the weight room and if you haven’t seen him he is just huge. It’s like, how the heck did this happen. You know, for him, motivation, he came to us after Kentucky last year, he said, ‘man coach, those dudes are big, strong and if I want to compete with them I have to get bigger. So I think that pushed him, and then when he had the injury, instead of wearing down and running up and down he took that opportunity and got in that weight room and really worked at it. Right now, I would say he’s 100 percent. Everyone gets worked up and has sore muscles after conditioning but he’s doing fine and is ready to go.”

 

On Barry Brown Jr. returning for his senior season…

“Well I think it started when Kamau (Stokes) got hurt last year after Texas Tech. It’s the story where he said, ‘we’re practicing tomorrow coach whether you guys can be there or not.’ That showed his determination and his leadership and he just said this team is not failing. He put it on himself and he takes credit for Dean (Wade) taking a big step and that’s fine if he helped him, and that has continued, it has not stopped. When people say, ‘oh he put his name in (to the NBA), he’s not going to come back,’ I think he handled it really well, it was an experience to learn, to listen to people to find out what they said, and it’s probably the same thing we said, but now it’s Magic Johnson, or it’s the (Brooklyn) Nets’ GM or whatever. He has taken that in and he wants, 1. To leave a legacy here, 2. He wants to prepare himself for a chance to play professional basketball and play in the NBA. It would be  a great story. Rodney McGruder is a great story, Wesley Iwundu is a great story, Barry would be an unbelievable story, if he gets that opportunity. But he knows that it’s hard. It’s hard. If he was 6’5” it would be different, and he’s not, but he gets the most out of his ability and playing without the ball was one thing that they all told him, and he has worked on that and his consistency, 3-point shot he’s worked on that, passing, cutting down on the turnovers. Those are all things that we will see as the season goes on. It will be, obviously, whatever our team does that will leave the legacy, but all of those things will help him and help us.”

 

On Xavier Sneed’s confidence…

“They have all worked hard and he’s in that mix, because of his athleticism and he does bring the excitement. He does some things that nobody else on our team can do. His thing is just to get better at ball handling, putting it on the floor, being able to shoot off the move. I think he’s playing at a high level. Two weeks ago we had a team workout and it might have been the best he has ever played, he looked like he understood and he knew what he was doing. With all of those guys, one of the number one things we need to do is rebounding, so obviously we addressed it, hopefully with Austin (Trice) and bringing him in, but it will also be those guys. Makol (Mawien) has to be better, Dean (Wade) has to be better, Xavier (Sneed) has to be better. If they are all better, then you add Austin to the mix, they could take a negative and hopefully make it a strength.

 

DEAN WADE, SENIOR FORWARD

On where he’s at with his recovery from injury…

“I’m feeling normal right now. There’s days where sometimes I feel like my conditioning went down a little bit, but we took a little break after the season so I think everyone’s trying to get their conditioning back. I feel pretty normal right now.”

 

On the frustration felt getting injured and missing the end of the season…

“It felt like I played all the hard parts of the season, then when we got to the fun part, I had to sit in timeout the whole time. It was just great to be a part of it really. March Madness is amazing, no words can describe how it felt. I’m just glad to be a part of it.”

 

On his level of confidence after experiencing success last season…

“I have the utmost confidence in myself. I’ve made huge strides the past three years, four years now I guess, on the basketball court and as a person. I’ve got the utmost confidence in myself and always think I’m the best player out on the court, every time I step on the court – but that’s just the basketball mentality, all the great basketball players always have that mentality. I think it was just me coming into myself and realizing I can play basketball at the highest level.”

 

On considering last year his last at K-State and entering the NBA Draft at any point…

“No, not really. Honestly, I was like if I get to that point, I’ll worry about it after the season. Then I got hurt and there was no point in me doing it, even looking into it really. I couldn’t work out for any teams or anything. If I was going to do it, I was going to look at it after the season and I didn’t make it to that point so there was never really a point where I looked at it like it really was my last season.”

 

On thinking about the chance to potentially play in the NBA after this season…

“It’s kind of different, coming from St. John, small town and thinking I’ll have the opportunity to play in the NBA, that’d be great. Nothing’s promised, I still have to come out and work everyday, do what I can.”

 

On constantly being associated with his hometown of St. John, Kan., and small-town-kid identity…

“St. John really made me who I am today. All the people in St. John pretty much raised me as one of their own. It’s an amazing little community, I can’t thank them enough. Anytime they say Dean Wade from St. John, I’m proud of it.”

 

On how many more rebounds Coach Weber has challenged him to get this year…

“Just a few more. Really the only thing is you have to have the drive to go get it. At times last year I didn’t really have the drive in games to go get it, go outside my rebounding zone and get loose balls and stuff like that. This year I’m going to be driven to go out of my own zone and really chase rebounds.”

 

BARRY BROWN, JR., SENIOR GUARD

On the team’s overall improvement over the summer…

“It was great man, we came here everyday and worked hard. But we’ve still got something to prove, and so everything we are doing in order to prove it has been great. I think we all improved and we all had something to get better at on the court. I feel like we all made those adjustments and we are just getting better day by day.”

 

On his main areas of focus…

“I have really been trying to work on my 3-point shot. My passing, my decision making, stuff like that.”

 

On how special the team could be this year…

“We could be real good, we’ve got the team to do it. We had a great run last year, but we didn’t really play as well as we wanted to in the Big 12. So I think that’s one of our main goals, is to come out and compete everyday in the Big 12, and the non-conference.”

On what he wants to leave behind…

“Just as someone that came here, worked hard, played every game like his last. Care about his teammates, care about his fans. I get my drive from knowing that I have to be better and by putting myself in the best position to help my team win.”

 

KAMAU STOKES, SENIOR GUARD

On the areas he’s worked on the most for improvement…

“The biggest area I have been working on is getting stronger in the weight room. Of course, coming off my injury last year I didn’t shoot the ball as well, mainly because I didn’t have my legs underneath me. So, I’ve been in the gym shooting, everyday. I feel great, foot feels fine.”

 

On getting back into the rhythm of practices…

“The hardest thing to get back and used to was trusting my foot. Trusting that I can do things without it hurting or thinking that it was going to hurt. I feel like that was my biggest thing, but now I am getting back into the rhythm of playing and being there.”

 

On the new players that joined the team…

“We got two new guys, Austin (Trice) and Shaun (Williams). They are in the learning process right now, but they are doing real good. They are picking up things. They finished conditioning, which was probably tough on them, but they are bringing a lot of energy to us right now and I feel like that’s the biggest thing right now. Right now, I feel great about the team, we’re like a family. We stick together, we’re having fun and ready for this year.”

 

XAVIER SNEED, JUNIOR FORWARD

On this year’s team compared to last year…

“Just that hunger and we got more experience overall as well – another year of knowledge and having that is key.”

 

On returning starters’ chemistry…

“It just comes from on and off the court, just being here with these guys all the time, and you know we just love each other and that family experience that we have. Just having that on the court goes a long way.”

 

On biggest challenge this team faces…

“Making sure we don’t get complacent. You know, of course we got a lot of big tags over our heads right now but just staying on course and make sure we don’t stay complacent.”

 

On expectations for this year…

“We got a big year ahead of us, of course we’re trying to win the Big 12 championship first off, and of course we want to be undefeated in our conference. Just having those goals and that mind for us to just push us everyday and keep going hard.”

 

CARTIER DIARRA, SOPHOMORE GUARD

On how competitive the guard spot is…

“It’s very competitive. We try to push each other everyday and make each other better. We need competition and that’s how we’re going to get our guards better and play hard. It really comes down to team pace. Nobody cares about how many minutes they played, we just work hard and try to make each other better.”

 

On the team’s mentality at practice…

“Everybody goes out there and plays the best that they could play. Whenever coach wants a sub or anything like that, then everyone is cool with that. We’re just trying to win games.”

 

On how he wants the team to be remembered…

“I envision something greater than the Elite 8. I envision a tournament championship, going undefeated, those are the things that will be remembered forever. I mean, knocking Kansas off of Big 12 champs, things like that is how you become legends.”

 

MAKOL MAWIEN, JUNIOR FORWARD

On where he’s at with his recovery from injury…

“I don’t think it affected me too bad. It was something I had to get through during the summer, but right now I’m healthy and things are pretty good.”

 

On Austin Trice…

“He’s really an energy guy, relentless off the boards which will be good for our team.”

 

On his progress in the weight room…

“From last year I put 25 pounds on. I am about 250 now. I made a point to get stronger and I think I have done that. I still need to progress and put on more weight if I can. On the court, I feel like I am a little stronger.”

 

On future rebounding improvement…

“We have no ceiling. I feel like we have gotten surprisingly better from last year which is crazy to me since we were already pretty good. Everybody has improved in rebounding.”

 

On his decision to pick to K-State last year…

“Beforehand you do not know what you are going to get into but it was a good decision on my part. From the jump I felt pretty good about my decision and now that I can look back I know it was the right choice.”

 

On the Elite Eight run…

“It was really fun. Going through those games and going that far in the tournament was amazing.”

 

AUSTIN TRICE, JUNIOR FORWARD

On process of building up weight during off-season…

“It was a tough process. In the weight room constantly, everyday working hard. On the court working hard and then off the court just eating the right things, putting the right things in my body like protein, vegetables, fruits. I’m feeling good and I feel like it’s had an affect on my athleticism.”

 

On the way this team works together…

“Ever since day one I found out that this team is very close, you know we’re like brothers, on and off the court, it’s unbelievable. So I feel like that’s one of the main key points of our success and how successful we’ll be this year because we work on an everyday culture, all the time someone is getting better and we work to get better everyday.”

 

On what his role on this team is…

“I go out on the court everyday with a Dennis-Rodman mentality. I try to rebound, I feel like rebounding is my niche. During the season I will try and go get 20 rebounds a game.”

 

On biggest adjustment when coming into an experienced group…

“The high level of competition, the intensity, the work ethic, it’s a lot different than junior college but I’ve jumped right into the path of everything and I feel like I’m rolling right along with the team.”

 

LEVI STOCKARD III, SOPHOMORE FORWARD

On focus during the off-season…

“Just getting better, you know we had a great run but now it’s over and we just have to keep getting better for this next season.”

 

On team routine over the summer…

“We’ve just been hitting the weights hard, we’ve been focussing on getting our bodies right. You know coming off of a long season, just getting our bodies better, stronger and more explosive.”

 

On personal goals for the season…

“I just want to come out and compete, man, just whatever I can do to help the team win.”

 

– www.k-statesports.com —

 

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

 

 

K-State Weekly Football Press Conference September 25, 2018 MANHATTAN, Kan. – Kansas State head coach Bill Snyder and select players met with members of the media Tuesday at the Vanier Family Football Complex to preview Saturday’s Big 12 home opener against 18th-ranked Texas. Selected comments from Snyder’s press conference (also streamed live and archived here) are posted below, along with a collection of comments from players.   Saturday’s game against the Longhorns is set for a 2:30 p.m., kickoff and can be seen nationally on FS1. A Wildcat 4-Pack of tickets start at less than $50 per ticket in the lower bowl and approximately $37 per ticket in the view level. Fans can order tickets online at www.k-statesports.com/tickets, by phone at 1-800-221-CATS or at the main ticket office inside Bramlage Coliseum. K-STATE FOOTBALL WEEKLY PRESS CONFERENCE QUOTES BILL SNYDER, K-STATE HEAD COACH On the quarterback situation for Saturday… “I would anticipate both of them would play. Both of them played reasonably well in the course of the ballgame at West Virginia. The decision to go from one to the other was not necessarily because Skylar (Thompson) was playing bad, it was because we had to get a touchdown on the board, which certainly was not Skylar’s fault. It was just a collective number of things. We will see who gets the start, but I will anticipate, as always, that both of them will be on the field contributing.”   On how he feels about the 2018 team going forward… “Every day is a new day and thoughts and feelings change from day to day. They are always reactive and then on how your players are doing and what their response is day to day, what their effort has to be during the course of a practice. We had a good practice yesterday, yet last week we had a good Monday practice and practiced poorly on Tuesday and Wednesday. Today becomes a very critical day. Right now, based on yesterday’s work, I feel pretty good about that and tomorrow will kind of depend on today. It is not a team yet with an identity, that remains to be seen, but nothing has changed in that respect. I am looking for improvement in all aspects of the game. You see some of it and you see some of it that maybe occurs then disappears. Penalties came back to get us, and we thought we had really reduced those, and we thought we handled our discipline and focus. We thought we had gotten through dropped passes, and that popped up again through the course of the ballgame. The consistency is not there for sure. We need to improve to the point where we are consistently improving.”   On Texas quarterback Sam Ehlinger… “He is a well-rounded quarterback that can do a lot of things. He is very athletic. He can throw the ball. They will throw the ball short, but they will put the ball downfield and take their shots depending on how well they are doing over the course of the ballgame. His athletic ability is good. He is a big, physical guy who can run. The quarterback run game hurt us last year. His scrambling and quarterback draws hurt us last year. He is versatile enough to impact all phases of the game and can manage the game quite well, too.”   On his input with offensive coaches… “We constantly have dialogue about that. The fact that we are not getting it into the endzone, I do not fault anybody in particular, I do not fault our coaches or our players. Everybody has improvement to make and that starts with me and our coaching staff. We have to get better at what we are doing. This is an offensive staff that is different when you consider the assignments of each and they are growing together. Part of it, I think, is improving that has not shown up with points on the board, but nevertheless I see that improving. It is getting acclimated to it and continuing to make the improvement. The interaction with it has not changed from day one.”   On this team compared to other teams in recent years… “I was just visiting with our coaches a little bit ago and I do not know right now. We have not really established an identity. I do not know if I can answer that question, but I think we will find out rather quickly. With a 2-2 start last year, we will have something to compare it with, quite obviously, when we get through the next few ballgames. Watching tape of last year’s ballgame with Texas and watching our offense, which is mostly the same people, and you go back and it was a close ballgame. We lost that game on a penalty in the second overtime, so offensively we did alright. We played reasonably well against a good Texas defensive football team. To me there is not any reason why we should not be a better team from an offensive standpoint, being able to score as readily as we did and to move the ball enough to score 40 points or whatever the number was, it has not happened. There are all these things that need to be corrected and I know that but we identify the problems, and we work hard at trying to get them corrected and the players work hard at trying to get them corrected. It does not remain consistent and they pop back up again. It is developing that consistency and being able to improve very improvable mistakes.   “When I look at defense and special teams as well, I think we are going through some growing pains, but nevertheless in all reality they had one big play that scored seven points in the first half, that is how it could have played out. So, they were doing some very, very good things, which tells me there is a capability to be able to do that even if we are banged up a little bit and altering positions.   “Special teams, we have been okay but we have not excelled quite like we should, particularly in our return game. Our kickoff cover game has been pretty good and our punt game picked up a little bit last week as far as hitting the ball – we had a 65-yard punt that we killed on the four-yard line which is a major play in a ball game. It dramatically impacts the field position. The cover unit, with that exception of one long kick and an 18-yard return, had been pretty good. It is our return team that has not done very much. In the kicking game, that is where the most improvement needs to come. I think there is a lot of reasons why it is not there right now, but most of them are just doing what you are supposed to do and things will work out. If you go back and look at our last ballgame, I know for our players it is hard to believe, and I really should not harp on it. I am trying to allow them to realize how close they really are.”   On how surprised he is by the offensive line’s performance this year… “First and foremost, it is not all on the offensive line. There are a lot of things going into whether we are effective moving the ball or not and all of it is not those five guys up front. They have a hand in it, certainly, and it falls on all of us; it is a collective thing. However, your expectations would be elevated a great deal because we have all of the guys returning up front and they have the capacity to play together and understand each other. We have not played to the capabilities that we have. One of the highlights of our practice yesterday was the offensive line. There was some spirit with them and communication that I have not seen during the course of this season so far. I mean football communication as in being able to pick up movements and stunts and all that goes along with it, how they interacted before and after each snap in practice to try and help each other out. I was pleased with the way they approached the practice. They realize they have to get better as well, they understand that.”   On defensive tackle Jordan Mittie… “He is a smart player. He is not one of those guys that lines up and says, ‘It is me against you and I am going to knock you around.’ You have to use that element of it, but he is a young guy who understands a good deal about what offensive tendencies exist and how to play against certain guys that he lines up against and how to react to it. He is a guy that processes information pretty well before the snap, so he can read and react a little quicker than others. He is a smart player.”   On Terence Newman and Mark Simoneau being inducted into K-State Hall of Fame… “It is a special honor, and any time we can get young guys that have been in our program recognized in that way, I think it is pretty special. They are guys that still follow the program and have still have an emotional investment in the program. They are guys that want to see good things happen and continue to happen. They are always there for you if you need them, and they are very deserving of the awards. They are good young men.” ZACH REUTER, SENIOR WIDE RECEIVER On the opportunity to win this game to create a confidence booster… “Absolutely. Another ranked team coming in, this is definitely a game we need to come out and be at our best because we have a lot to prove now. We’ve shown twice that we’ve taken steps back and we really need to take a big step forward to kind of push our season in the right direction.”   On offensive struggles… “It’s all across the board, it’s consistency. I feel repetitive saying it, but it’s the small things – they seem small, but they’re big in the grand scheme of a drive, or a game. Really, it’s just being able to be detail oriented and being able to execute at the maximum level.”   On how the running game affects the passing game… “With the games we’ve been playing, we’ve been getting a lot of one-high teams. It really hasn’t changed a whole lot of our game because they’re not necessarily dropping everyone back. They’re still honoring the run, even though we (receivers) were having a little bit of success in the past. Overall, I don’t think it has a huge effect in the past game. Going forward it will. It will definitely impact how teams will play us and approach our offense.”   On getting back on the right track before hitting the road… “It’s a huge game for us to put this season in the right direction. We started a little slow and in past years it’s happened also. I think this is a great opportunity to really be able to show what we’re capable of and execute as we’re capable.”   ADAM HOLTORF, JUNIOR OFFENSIVE LINEMAN On the running game… “Yeah, it’s been frustrating as an offensive line because the biggest thing is we can do it, but we’re not doing it consistently. First play out of the gate at West Virginia, we pop the run for eight or so yards. Consistency is hit or miss. We know what we’re capable of. We know we’ve got great backs, quarterbacks around the ball too. We’re lacking that consistency to hit that 200-yard mark in a game. So, yeah, that’s frustrating.”   On not yet reaching the point they want to be at this year… “I say it all the time, but I think it’s a consistency thing. We each sometimes take our turn having a bad play here or there, and eventually those bad plays add up. I think that’s what’s been holding us back a lot lately. It’s just that lack of consistency, play in, play out, drive in, drive out.”   On blocking better for the run against West Virginia… “Yeah, absolutely. I think we did some good things, but at the same time we didn’t do it consistently enough to put the drives together. We had a couple of drives where we’d move the ball pretty well down the field, and then there was one that stalled out at the eight. We’d move the ball 30, 40 yards and then it just kind of fizzles out. In those instances, you’d like to be able to run the ball better. I think we can do good things, whether that’s consistency or finishing drives. That’s what’s hurting us right now.”   On Texas’ defensive front… “They’ve always been physical guys up front. Great defensive front to try and play against. We know the challenge it presents, being they’ve been so successful against the run and not allowing yardage. That just increases the challenge. We know we’ve been struggling in the run game, and here’s a great team that’s been playing really well against the run. It makes that challenge even greater for us.”   ALEX BARNES, JUNIOR RUNNING BACK On the running game… “It is for sure going to be a challenge. We’ve had our struggles, and they’ve had their successes in the run game. It’s just about how we execute and come back to preform.”   On coming back from being 2-2… “We do a lot of the same stuff. There is a lot of resilience in this team that we had back then. It’s just about us being able to control what we can control and to just come back each and every day and do our best in practice and games. We’ve got to do a little bit more and we are realizing that.”   On offensive problems… “The problems are obviously frustrating. We want to have success, and when you aren’t getting that success, it’s frustrating. Like I said, it just about being able to control what we can control and be better at what we do.”   On bouncing back with confidence… “If were able to come back and get a victory this week in Manhattan against a ranked opponent, that would be huge for our guys going forward, confidence and everything. We’re going to do everything we can to play our best football and that the ultimate goal were looking for.”   On the season so far… “It’s really surprising. We’re just trying to figure out what is wrong, how to get better and how to improve. It’s a day-by-day process. That is something we’re still working on.”   On the main problem with the running game… “I’m not really sure what the main problem is. Defense is checking whenever we can check at the line. We’re getting a lot of looks we’re not expecting at certain times and its resulting in struggles. If it were easy to fix, it’d be fixed. We’d be doing a lot better if it were easy to fix.”   JOE DAVIES, JUNIOR DEFENSIVE TACKLE On the defensive tackle group at this point of the year… “I feel like we’re just rough around the edges. There are some good things that we’re doing as a defensive tackle group, but there are still some things we can do to improve on it to be even better.”   On Jordan Mittie’s contributions… “He was able to give us some experience coming in, and he’s definitely shown it on the field. That definitely helps boost our talent in the group.”   On facing Texas quarterback Sam Ehlinger vs. previous styles of quarterbacks… “The quarterbacks that we see at Texas are more of a pocket passer, but they will move around, kind of similar to Will Grier in terms of scrambling to extend the play. We’re seeing them more as a pocket passer than a scrambler.” Ryan Lackey

The Kansas State – Baylor football game on October 6th in Waco will kick off at 2:30 p.m. at McLane Stadium. The Big 12 Conference and Fox Sports made the announcement.

The game will be televised by FS1 and carried on 1420 KJCK AM.

 

After winning his first three starts, all away from Arrowhead Stadium, the second-year pro finally made his regular-season home debut Sunday. Mahomes responded by torching San Francisco’s banged-up pass defense for 314 yards and three touchdowns in a 38-27 victory over the 49ers.

Mahomes now has 13 touchdown passes without an interception, breaking the NFL record for TD passes in the first three weeks of a season. Peyton Manning threw 12 to start the 2013 campaign.

Mahomes’ touchdown passes to Chris Conley, Demetrius Harris and Sammy Watkins , along with a pair of TD runs by Kareem Hunt, helped Kansas City (3-0) race to a 35-7 lead late in the first half.

Few leads are safe against the Chiefs’ porous defense, though.

The 49ers (1-2) rallied behind running backs Matt Breida and Alfred Morris, who kept gouging the Chiefs’ defensive front, and Jimmy Garoppolo, who threw for 251 yards and two scores . It was Garoppolo’s 11-yard pass to Marquis Goodwin early in the third quarter that started the comeback, and Morris scored on a short touchdown run later in the quarter to make it 35-24.

After the Chiefs tacked on a field goal early in the fourth to extend their lead, the 49ers came back with a grinding, 17-play drive that wiped out more than half the period. But it ended in a strange sequence that began with Garoppolo taking a hard hit from Steven Nelson along the sideline. Garoppolo easily could have stepped out of bounds, but instead he was crushed on his throwing shoulder and had to leave.

C.J. Beathard came in and threw what appeared to be a fourth-down touchdown pass to George Kittle, but it was wiped out by offensive pass interference.

There was only 5:17 left, but rather than go for it on fourth-and-goal at the Kansas City 25, 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan elected to kick a field goal — keeping it a two-possession game.

San Francisco proceeded to kick it deep rather than try an onside kick. The Chiefs picked up a first down on a penalty, and Hunt churned his way for two more first downs to put the game away.

The 49ers have not won in Arrowhead Stadium since Dec. 26, 1982.