GAME 17

11/13 KANSAS STATE (15-1, 4-0 Big 12) AT 17/17 TCU (13-3, 2-2 Big 12)

Saturday, January 14, 2023 >> 1:05 p.m. CT >> Schollmaier Arena (6,800) >> Fort Worth, Texas

TELEVISION

ESPN2 / WatchESPN (link here)

• Ted Emrich (play-by-play)
• King McClure (analyst)
• Jim Piscitelli (producer)

RADIO

K-State Sports Network

Flagships: // KMAN 1350 & WIBW 580

Satellite Radio: Sirius XM 385/975

Online: Varsity Network [free] / www.kstatesports.com/watch [free]

• Wyatt Thompson (play-by-play)
• Stan Weber (analyst)

LIVE STATS

www.kstatesports.com

tcu.statbroadcast.com

TICKETS

www.gofrogs.com

COACHES

K-State: Jerome Tang [Charter Oak State College ‘07]

Record at K-State: 15-1/1st Year

Career Record: 17-1/1st Year+

1. TCU: 0-0 [0-0 at K-State]

TCU: Jamie Dixon [TCU ‘87]

Record at TCU: 130-87/7th Year

Career Record: 458-210/20th Year

1. K-State: 7-10 [6-10 at TCU]

SERIES HISTORY

Overall: K-State leads 20-10

Big 12 Era: K-State leads 17-8

In Fort Worth: K-State leads 8-3

At Schollmaier Arena: K-State leads 8-3

Active Streak: K-State, 1

Tang vs. TCU: 0-0 [0-0 at K-State]

Tang vs. Jamie Dixon: 0-0 [0-0 at home]

PROJECTED STARTING LINEUP (Based off the last game)

11/13 Kansas State (15-1, 4-0 Big 12)

G: #1 Markquis Nowell

G: #5 Cam Carter

F: #11 Keyontae Johnson

F: #35 Nae’Qwan Tomlin

C: #23 Abayomi Iyiola

17/17 TCU (13-3, 2-2 Big 12)

G: #1 Mike Miles, Jr.

G: #10 Damion Baugh

F: #5 Chuck O’Bannon, Jr.

F: #2 Emanuel Miller

C: #4 Eddie Lampkin, Jr.

OPENING TIP

No. 11/13 Kansas State (15-1, 4-0 Big 12) returns to the road this weekend, as the Wildcats take on No. 17/17 TCU (13-3, 2-2 Big 12) at Schollmaier Arena in Fort Worth, Texas on Saturday afternoon at 1 p.m., CT on ESPN2. It will pit two high-flying offensive teams (78.8 ppg. to 77.8 ppg.) in the first Top 25 matchup in series history. In a strange twist on home court advantage, the Wildcats have won 3 of the last 4 meetings in Fort Worth, including the last 2 games, while the Horned Frogs have won 3 of the last 4 in Manhattan, including each of the last 3 games.

KEY STORYLINES

• K-State continued its best start (15-1) since the 1958-59 season after knocking off Oklahoma State, 65-57, in its return to Bramlage Coliseum to extend its winning streak to 9 games. The Wildcats won their first game as a ranked team in nearly 4 seasons, as they proved their ability to win in a defensive slugfest after scoring a school-record 213 points in the wins over No. 6/6 Texas and No. 19/17 Baylor last week. Although they connected on a season-low 35.6 percent from the field, the Wildcats were able to flex their defensive muscle, holding the Cowboys to their third-lowest point total on 33.3 percent shooting, while scoring 19 points off 16 turnovers.
• K-State’s 15-1 start under head coach Jerome Tang is the best by a first-year coach in school history, surpassing the previous 14-2 starts by Zora G. Clevenger (1916-17) and Bruce Weber (2012-13). Tang’s 15-1 start ranks as the best by all current first-year coaches in Division I, just ahead of the 13-3 start by Missouri’s Dennis Gates.
• K-State has won 9 consecutive games since absorbing its first loss of the Jerome Tang era against Butler on Nov. 30, which ties Kansas and Providence for the third-longest active streak among Power 6 Conference schools, trailing UCLA (11) and Xavier (10). It is the sixth-longest overall streak in Division I with Charleston leading the way with 16 straight wins. The Wildcats have averaged 82 points per game during their current 9-game winning streak on 48.3 percent (262-of-543) shooting with 4 players averaging in double figures.
• For the first time K-State swept both Big 12 weekly Player of the Week honors, as senior Markquis Nowell was named the Player of the Week for the second time this season and senior Keyontae Johnson earned the Newcomer of the Week nod for the third time. The tandem combined to score 120 points at No. 6/6 Texas and No. 19/17 Baylor on 59.4 percent (38-of-64) shooting, which is the most points by 2 Wildcats over a 2-game span in the last 50 seasons.
• Nowell, who earned four National Player of the Week honors, continued his impressive play against Oklahoma State with a team-high 20 points and a game-high 7 assists. He is the only player in the last 25 seasons across all of Division I to post a 5-game stretch of 20 points per game on at least 50 percent shooting from the field and 50 percent shooting from 3-point range to go with 10 assists per game. He continues to be one of the leaders nationally in assists. His 8.8 assists per game rank second nationally, while his 140 total assists place third.
• The Wildcats have quite the dynamic 1-2-3 scoring punch with Johnson (18.4 ppg.) and Nowell (17.2 ppg.) and junior Nae’Qwan Tomlin (11.1 ppg.) combining to average 46.7 points per game on 48.3 percent (253-of-524) shooting. They are the second-best scoring trio in the Big 12 after Baylor’s Adam Flagler, Keyonte George and L.J. Cryer (48.4 ppg.) and just ahead of Kansas’ Jalen Wilson, Gradey Dick and Kevin McCullar (45.3 ppg.).

NOTES ON 17/17 TCU

• No. 17/17 TCU (13-3, 2-2 Big 12) enters Saturday’s game having lost back-to-back vs. Top 25 opponents, including a 69-67 last-second home loss to No. 25/25 Iowa State and a 79-75 setback at No. 10/10 Texas. The Horned Frogs had won 11 in a row prior to the 2-game skid, which included notable victories over California, Iowa, Providence, SMU, Utah, Texas Tech and Baylor.
• TCU is averaging 77.8 points on 45.9 percent shooting, including 29.6 percent from 3-point range, with 37.9 rebounds, 16.4 assists, 8.6 steals and 5.3 blocks per game, while allowing 64.4 points on 40.7 percent shooting, including 29.6 percent from 3-point range. The Horned Frogs are connecting on 70.8 percent from the free throw line.
• TCU leads the nation in fastbreak points (21.4 ppg.), while ranking in the top-40 in several other categories, including 10th in turnover margin (+5.1), 26th in free throw attempts/game (22.4), 27th in assists/game (16.4), 33rd in assist/turnover margin (1.39) and free throws made/game (15.9).
• Three players led by Big 12 Preseason Player of the Year Mike Miles, Jr. are averaging in double figures, as he ranks second in the Big 12 at 19.5 points per game on 53.2 percent shooting, while seniors Emanuel Miller and Damion Baugh are averaging 14.1 and 12.3 points per game. Miller is tops in rebounding (6.1 rpg.), while Baugh has a team-high 55 assists.
• TCU is led by seventh-year head coach Jamie Dixon, who has a 130-87 record with 4 20-win seasons. Overall, he has a 458-210 record in his 20th season as a head coach. He is 7-10 all-time vs. K-State.

SERIES HISTORY

• K-State holds a 20-10 lead in the all-time series with TCU, including a 17-8 mark in the Big 12 era. The Wildcats have an 8-3 record in games played in Fort Worth, including wins in 3 of the last 4 visits (2019, 2021, 2022).
• K-State has a narrow 6-4 lead in the last 10 meetings with TCU, including a split of the home-and-home series in 2022. The Horned Frogs won for the third straight season in Manhattan with a 60-57 win on Jan. 12 before the Wildcats earned a 75-63 victory in Fort Worth on Feb. 5.

LAST 10 MEETINGS [6-4]

Date                    Rank     Result   Score                   Location

3/4/2019            18/—    W          64-52                   Fort Worth

3/14/2019          15/—    W          70-61                   Kansas City

1/7/2020            —/—     L             57-59                   Manhattan

2/15/2020          —/—     L             57-68                   Fort Worth

3/11/2020          —/—     W          53-49                   Kansas City

1/2/2021            —/—     L             60-67                   Manhattan

2/20/2021          —/—     W          62-54                   Fort Worth

3/10/2021          —/—     W          71-50                   Kansas City

1/12/2022          —/—     L             57-60                   Manhattan

2/5/2022            —/—     W          75-63                   Fort Worth

LAST MEETING: K-STATE 75, TCU 63

• Sophomore Nijel Pack paced four Wildcats in double figures with a game-high 20 points, as K-State avenged its earlier loss to TCU with a near wire-to-wire 75-63 victory over the Horned Frogs in the last meeting between the schools on Feb. 5 in Fort Worth.
• K-State, which had its share of close games, finally jumped out on a Big 12 opponent and didn’t let up, leading a TCU squad that had won 3 of its last 4 games, for more than 38 minutes, including as much as 16 points.
• In addition to Pack’s 20 points, the Wildcats got double-digit scoring efforts from senior Mark Smith (16 points and 10 rebounds), junior Markquis Nowell (14 points) and senior Mike McGuirl (13 points).

LAST TIME OUT: 11/13 K-STATE 65, OKLAHOMA STATE 57

• Senior Markquis Nowell continued his impressive play with a team-high 20 points and game-high 7 assists, as No. 11/13 K-State won its first game as a ranked team in nearly 4 seasons with a gritty 65-57 win over Oklahoma State on Tuesday night before a sold-out crowd of 11,000 at Bramlage Coliseum.
• K-State, which continued its best start to a season in more than 60 years, extended its winning streak to 9 games, which is the longest since a 10-game streak from Nov. 24, 2013, to Jan. 7, 2014. The team is also 4-0 to start Big 12 play for the first time since 2012-13.
• As expected, the Wildcats took the best shot of a long and athletic Oklahoma State team, which leads the Big 12 in scoring defense (61.5) and ranks third nationally in field goal percentage defense (36.4), 14th in 3-point field goal percentage defense (28.4) and 17th in blocked shots (5.5 bpg.).
• The Cowboys rode that elite defense to much as a 5-point lead in the first half, including 32-30 at halftime. However, the Wildcats scored 5 of the first 7 points out of halftime to take the lead for good on a trey by junior Ish Massoud at 35-34 and force a timeout by coach Mike Boynton, Jr., at the 17:17 mark.
• K-State twice built a 10-point lead, including 51-41, with just over 10 minutes remaining to cap a 9-0 run and 56-46 after a layup by junior Nae’Qwan Tomlin with just over 7 minutes left. However, OSU make a furious comeback with 9 straight points to cut the deficit to 56-55 right before the last media timeout with 3:10 to play.
• The Wildcats were able to make key plays down the stretch to end the game on a 9-2 run, which included a highlight alley-oop dunk by senior Keyontae Johnson from Nowell with 38 seconds left. This 9-2 ending included a pair of free throws from senior Abayomi Iyiola and Nowell, the dunk by Johnson and 3 free throws from reserve senior Desi Sills.
• Nowell was joined in double figures by Johnson, who kept his double-digit scoring streak alive at 16 games with 12 points on 5-of-11 shooting to go with 6 rebounds and 2 assists, and Sills, who added 11 points on 3-of-8 field goals and 5-of-6 free throws to go with 3 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 steals.
• After scoring 213 points in back-to-back wins over No. 6/6 Texas and No. 19/17 Baylor last week, including a school-record 116 points vs. the Longhorns, K-State proved it can win in a variety of ways, including on defense. The Wildcats connected on a season-low 35.6 percent (21-of-59) from the field, including 33.3 percent (9-of-27) from 3-point range, but took advantage of 16 turnovers by the Cowboys to score 19 points.
• Oklahoma State was held to its third-lowest point total (57) of the season on 33.3 percent (22-of-66) shooting, including 22.7 percent (5-of-22) from 3-point range. After connecting on 45.7 percent (14-of-31) in the first half to lead 32-30 at the break, the Cowboys made just 22.9 percent (8-of-35) of their field goals in the second half, including 14.3 percent (2-of-14) beyond the arc.

POSTGAME NEWS & NOTES

• K-State won its first game as a ranked team since knocking off TCU, 70-61, in the Big 12 Championship quarterfinals on March 14, 2019.
• K-State has now eclipsed its win total (14) from the 2021-22 campaign.
• K-State had 16 turnovers, including allowing an opponent-high 11 steals, but Oklahoma State scored just 10 points off those miscues, while scoring 19 points off 16 OSU turnovers.
• K-State held OSU to 57 points on 33.3 percent (22-of-66) shooting, including 22.7 percent (5-of-22) from 3-point range, while registering just 11 fouls.

TANG DEBUTS AS HEAD COACH

• First-year head coach Jerome Tang enjoyed a successful a debut, as the Wildcats posted a 93-59 win against UTRGV on Nov. 7, becoming the 24th man and the first full-time black head coach in school history. He followed with his first road victory at Cal to start his tenure off with a 2-0 record. He is the sixth minority men’s head coach in K-State Athletics history, including the third in men’s basketball following interim head coach Darryl Winston (1984-85) and former full-time head coach Frank Martin (2007-12).
• K-State’s 15-1 start under head coach Jerome Tang is the best by a first-year coach in school history with Zora G. Clevenger (1916-17) and Bruce Weber (2012-13) each starting their tenures at 14-2. Tang’s start is among the best by all first-year head coaches in Division I, just ahead of the 13-3 start by Missouri’s Dennis Gates.
• This is not Tang’s first time being a head coach, as he served as athletics director and head coach at Heritage Christian Academy in Cleveland, Texas from 1993-2003, leading the school to 5 TAPPS Division A State Championships.
• In addition, Tang twice served as interim head coach in his 19 seasons as an assistant and associate head coach at Baylor, leading the Bears to 4-0 record. He helped Baylor to wins over Texas (86-79 in OT) and at Texas Tech (82-48) during the 2012-13 season, while he guided the squad to wins over Louisiana (112-82) and Washington (86-52) to open the 2020-21 season. Tang is only credited with the wins in 2013, moving his college head coaching record to 17-1.

A TEAM OF WINNERS

• Head coach Jerome Tang has remarked on a number of occasions that he recruited a team ‘full of winners’ as exemplified by the number of championships that the collective group has won.
• There are a combined 8 state championships among the 15 players on the roster, including 2 each won by seniors Desi Sills and Abayomi Iyiola and true freshmen Taj Manning. In addition, sophomore Jerrell Colbert and true freshman Dorian Finister also won state titles during their senior seasons.
• In addition to the high school success, a number of players have been a part of winning college programs, including Sills and Iyiola being members of Arkansas’ Elite Eight team in 2021 and senior Keyontae Johnson (Florida) and junior David N’Guessan (Virginia Tech) being a part of 2 NCAA Tournaments.
• This championship mentality stretches to the staff, as associate head coach Urlic Maligi has been part of 5 NCAA Tournament and 5 conference title teams in his career. Assistant coach Jareem Dowling has been involved with teams that have won 4 conference titles and earned 4 postseason trips, while assistant coach Rodney Perry is coming off a 2021-22 year in which he led Link Academy to a national runner-up finish at the GEICO National Tournament before helping MOKAN Elite to its third Nike Peach Jam title.

1700 WINS AND COUNTING

• K-State’s overtime 96-87 win over Nevada in the semifinals of the Cayman Islands Classic represented the 1,700th win in school history. The Wildcats are the 43rd Division I team to eclipse 1,700 wins, including the sixth Big 12 school.
• The Wildcats have a 1,710-1,214 (.586) all-time record as a program, which includes 31 NCAA Tournament appearances and 21 conference championships.

SUCCESS IN NON-CONFERENCE PLAY

• K-State has posted a 170-53 (.762) record in non-conference play since the 2006-07 season. During that span, the Wildcats have a 128-14 (.901) mark at home venues (includes games played at Bramlage Coliseum, INTRUST Bank Arena in Wichita and the T-Mobile Center in Kansas City) in non-conference play, including a 118-12 (.908) mark at Bramlage Coliseum.
• The Nebraska win on Dec. 17 also gave K-State double-digit non-conference victories for the first time since going 10-3 in 2018-19.  The Wildcats collected their 11th non-conference victory vs. Radford on Dec. 21, giving them their most since also winning 11 in 2017-18. The team earned 10 or more non-conference wins in 12 of 13 seasons from 2006-07 to 2018-19, but they had managed just a 19-16 record in non-conference action from 2019-22.
• K-State’s current 11-1 non-conference mark is the best since opening the 2016-17 season with a similar 11-1 record. The Wildcats won a program-best 13 non-conference games in 2009-10, while they won 12 in 2008-09 and 2010-11.

POTENT OFFENSIVE ATTACK

• K-State is averaging 78.8 points this season on 47.2 percent (447-of-948) shooting, including 35.6 percent (117-of-329) from 3-point range, while hitting on 73.7 percent (250-of-339) from the free throw line. The Wildcats lead the BIg 12 in assists (18.9 apg.), while they are third in scoring offense and free throw percentage, fourth in 3-point percentage and fifth in field goal percentage.