GAME 10

KANSAS STATE (7-2) at LSU (5-3)

Saturday, December 9, 2023 >> 12:30 p.m. CT >> Pete Maravich Assembly Center (13,215) >> Baton Rouge, La.

TELEVISION

SEC Network / WatchESPN (link here)

• Mike Morgan (play-by-play)
• Jon Sundvold (analyst)
• Eric Posman (producer)

RADIO

K-State Sports Network

Flagships: // KMAN 1350 & WIBW 580

Satellite Radio: Ch. 385

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

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

LIVE STATS

www.kstatesports.com

kstate.statbroadcast.com

TICKETS

lsusports.net/tickets/mbball/

$15-$40

COACHES

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

Record at K-State: 33-12/Second Year

Career Record: 35-12/Second Year+

1. LSU: 1-0 [0-0 on the road]

LSU: Matt McMahon [Appalachian State ‘00]

Record at LSU: 19-22/2nd Year

Career Record: 173-89/9th Year

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

PROBABLE STARTERS

K-State (7-2)

G: #2 Tylor Perry

G: #5 Cam Carter

W: #24 Arthur Kaluma

W: #1 David N’Guessan

C: #15 Will McNair Jr.

LSU (5-3)

G: #1 Carlos Stewart

G: #2 Mike Williams III

G: #6 Jordan Wright

F: #9 Will Baker

F: #13 Jalen Reed

SERIES HISTORY

Overall: K-State leads 1-0

On the Road: First meeting

At Pete Maravich Assembly Center: First meeting

Active Streak: K-State, 1

First Meeting: W, 61-59 [11/23/2022 in Grand Cayman, C.I.]

Last Meeting: W, 61-59 [11/23/2022 in Grand Cayman, C.I.]

Jerome Tang vs. Matt McMahon: Tang leads 1-0

K-STATE PLAYS FIRST TRUE ROAD GAME AT LSU SATURDAY

Kansas State (7-2) plays its first true road game of the season on Saturday, as the Wildcats make their first visit to Baton Rouge, La., and the Pete Maravich Assembly Center to take on LSU (5-3) at 12:30 p.m., CT. The game will air nationally on the SEC Network. It will mark the second straight season that the teams have met after the Wildcats held on late to earn a 61-59 win over the Tigers to capture Cayman Islands Classic Championship on Nov. 22, 2022.

K-State is 4-7 in true road games under head coach Jerome Tang, including a 1-1 mark in non-conference road matchups. The Wildcats won their first true road contest under Tang with a 63-54 victory over California on Nov. 11, 2022, before dropping a 76-64 decision at Butler later that month in the Big 12/BIG EAST Challenge. The team is 1-2 away from home this season.

KEY STORYLINES

• K-State continued its success in overtime games under head coach Jerome Tang, as the Wildcats got a step back 3-pointer from senior Tylor Perry with 3.9 seconds left in the extra period to outlast Villanova, 72-71, on Tuesday in the Big 12/BIG EAST Challenge. The Wildcats are now 9-0 under Tang in overtime games, including 4-0 this season. It marked the first time in nearly 60 years that the school has played three consecutive overtime games and the first time since the Wildcats did it on the road against Nebraska, Colorado and Missouri on Feb. 3-15, 1964.
• Perry’s late-game heroics are nothing new, as his overtime triple marked the seventh time in his Division I career that he has made a shot to either win a game or send a game into overtime, including the second straight contest. He had a hand in 11 of the team’s 13 consecutive points in the win over North Alabama, including the game-tying 3-pointer with 8 seconds left.
• Perry’s theatrics against Villanova overshadowed the impressive night of junior Arthur Kaluma who nearly eclipsed his career-high with a season-high 26 points on 10-of-13 field goals to go with 9 rebounds and 4 assists in 44 minutes. He single-handedly powered K-State to an 8-point halftime lead behind his 17 points. Kaluma and Kansas’ Hunter Dickinson are the only two Big 12 players to rank in the league’s top-10 in both scoring and rebounding, as Kaluma ranks fourth in rebounding (8.5 rpg.) and ninth in scoring (16.5 ppg.).
• The K-State offense continues to be potent through the first 9 games, as the Wildcats are averaging 81.6 points on 44.4 percent shooting from the field, including 8.4 3-pointers per game and 36.6 points in the paint, and 74.4 percent shooting from line. The scoring average is the best through the first 9 games since the 1997-98 team averaged 82.8 points per game. At least four players have scored in double figures in 7 games, while three (Arthur Kaluma, Cam Carter, Tylor Perry) all rank among the Big 12’s top-10 for scoring.
• K-State ranks among the better rebounding teams in the nation, as the Wildcats place in the top-50 in 2 categories, including 19th in offensive rebounds (14.7) and 43rd in rebounds. (41.1). They have corralled at least 34 rebounds in every game this season with a season-best 63 vs. Central Arkansas, which were the most since they had 64 vs. Kansas City on Dec. 3, 1997.

A K-STATE WIN WOULD…

• Extend its winning streak to 5 games, longest since January.
• Push its record to 5-7 in true road games under Jerome Tang.
• Give it back-to-back wins over LSU in consecutive seasons.
• Push Jerome Tang’s record vs. SEC foes to 4-0 all-time.
• Give it a non-conference road win for the 3rd straight season.

NOTES ON LSU (5-3)

• Under second-year head coach Matt McMahon, LSU has rebounded to win 4 of its last 5 games after starting the season with a 1-2 mark. The Tigers have won their last 2 home games (North Florida and SE Louisiana) sandwiched between an 80-57 loss at Syracuse in the inaugural ACC/SEC Challenge.
• LSU is averaging 74.5 points per game on 46.5 percent shooting, including 32.5 percent from 3-point range, while allowing 68.6 points on 38.6 percent shooting, including 35.7 percent from long range. The Tigers are connecting on 72.4 percent from the free throw line. The team ranks 19th nationally and first in the SEC with 9.8 steals per game.
• Two players are averaging in double figures led by one of the nation’s top big man in senior transfer Will Baker, who is averaging 14.9 points on 55.3 percent shooting, including 46.2 percent from 3-point range, to go with 5.8 rebounds per game. Fellow transfer Jordan Wright averages 12.5 points on 34.8 percent shooting, including 31.6 percent from 3-point range, with team-highs in both assists (13) and steals (17). Two others (sophomores Jalen Reed and Tyrell Ward) average better than 9 points per game, while Reed averages team-highs in rebounding (5.9 rpg.) and blocks (11).
• LSU was picked 13th in the preseason SEC poll after the Tigers returned 5 lettermen, including 1 starter, from a team that posted a 14-19 overall record, including a 2-16 mark in SEC play, in 2022-23. The Tigers added a number of high-profile transfers in the offseason, including Baker (Nevada), Wright (Vanderbilt), Daimion Collins (Kentucky), Jalen Cook (Tulane) and Derek Fountain (Mississippi State) among others.
• McMahon came to LSU in 2022-23 after a 7-year stint at Murray State, where he led the Racers to three NCAA Tournament appearances, including a 31-3 record and a trip to the second round in 2021-22. He is 172-88 in eight seasons as a head coach, including 18-21 in year two at LSU.

FAMILIAR OPPONENT

• K-State will face big man Will Baker at his third school, having matched up with him at both Texas (2019-20) and Nevada (2021-23) in his career. Last season, K-State was able to outlast Nevada, 96-87, in overtime in the semifinals of the Cayman Island Classic on Nov. 22, 2022. Baker scored 19 points on 8-of-13 shooting with 5 rebounds in nearly 33 minutes.

SERIES HISTORY

• K-State and LSU have met just once with the Wildcats holding on to beat the Tigers, 61-59, in the championship game of the Cayman Islands Classic on Nov. 23, 2022. The teams will play again next season in Manhattan.
• K-State is 170-155 all-time against SEC competition, including 49-86 in road matchups. Head coach Jerome Tang is 3-0 vs. SEC foes with wins over LSU, Florida at home in the Big 12/SEC Challenge on Jan. 28, 2023, and Kentucky in Greensboro, N.C., in the NCAA Tournament on March 19, 2023.

ALL-TIME MEETINGS

LAST MEETING:

K-STATE 61, LSU 59 [Nov. 23, 2022]

• Senior Keyontae Johnson’s jumper with 4.7 seconds helped lift K-State to a 61-59 win over LSU in the first-ever meeting between the schools to capture the 2022 Cayman Islands Classic Championship on Nov. 23, 2022.
• Johnson (16 points) and fellow seniors Markquis Nowell (18 points) and Desi Sills (16 points) combined for 50 of the Wildcats’ 61 points, including 22 of their 28 second-half points, in which, the team rallied from an 11-point deficit with 17:27 to play.

SUCCESS IN NON-CONFERENCE PLAY

• K-State has posted a 177-55 (.762) record in non-conference play since the 2006-07 season. During that span, the Wildcats have a 135-14 (.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 125-12 (.908) mark at Bramlage Coliseum.
• K-State’s 12-1 non-conference mark in 2022-23 was the best since the 2009-10 team went a program-best 13-1. The 12 wins last season matched the 2008-09 and 2010-11 teams for the second-most in that span.

1700 WINS AND COUNTING

• K-State’s overtime 96-87 win over Nevada on Nov. 22, 2022, 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 1,728-1,225 (.585) all-time record as a program, which includes 32 NCAA Tournament appearances and 21 conference championships.

LAST TIME OUT: K-STATE 72, VILLANOVA 71 [OT]

• Senior Tylor Perry’s step back 3-pointer with 3.9 seconds left in overtime proved to be difference in a back and forth affair, as K-State remained perfect in overtime under head coach Jerome Tang with a 72-71 win over Villanova in the fourth annual Big 12/BIG EAST Battle before 10,140 fans at Bramlage Coliseum.
• It marked the second straight game that Perry has come through in the clutch after helping the Wildcats force overtime in an eventual win over North Alabama on Saturday with a similar step back triple with 8 seconds left in regulation. Perry has now made seven shots to either win a game or send a game into overtime in his Division I career dating back to his days at North Texas.
• K-State (7-2), playing in its third consecutive overtime game for the first time in nearly 60 years, equaled the feat of the Wildcats’ last Final Four team in 1964 by winning its third straight game in overtime, following victories over Oral Roberts and North Alabama. The 1964 team won road games at Nebraska, Colorado and Missouri, all in overtime, from February 3-15. The team remains a perfect 9-0 in overtime games under Tang, including 4-0 this season.
• Three Wildcats scored in double figures, as Perry’s theatrics overshadowed the impressive night of junior Arthur Kaluma who nearly eclipsed his career-high with a game- and season-high 26 points on 10-of-13 shooting, including 3-of-3 from 3-point range, to go with 9 rebounds and 4 assists in 44 minutes. Junior Cam Carter added 16 points on 7-of-12 field goals to go with 4 rebounds and 3 assists, while Perry had 10 points and a game-high 6 assists.
• K-State, which led by 8 points at the half and by as many as 10 points in the second half, had to fight off a challenge from Villanova, which scored the last 6 points of regulation to tie the game at 63-all and force overtime at 63-all. The visitor continued that momentum in overtime, scoring the first 3 points before leading 71-67 after a 3-pointer by senior Eric Dixon with 90 seconds to play.
• From there, Perry’s magic in end game situation came alive, as he saved a loose ball in the backcourt then got it Kaluma who then pushed it to senior David N’Guessan for a layup with 48 seconds left. After a missed jumper by junior Jordan Longino with 25 seconds, N’Guessan grabbed the rebound to give K-State one last chance, as Tang called his last timeout with 16 seconds.
• With his first and second options defended, Perry shook off his defender with his step back move, canning the 3-pointer to give K-State a 72-71 lead with 3.9 seconds left. Villanova attempted a final shot, but it was not in time.
• K-State connected on nearly 50 percent (49.2/29-of-59) from the field, including 36.4 percent (8-of-22) from 3-point range, and made all 6 of its free throw attempts. The Wildcats scored 38 points in the paint, as the squad shot 56.8 percent (21-of-37) inside the 3-point line.
• Villanova (6-4) lost for the third consecutive game after winning the Battle 4 Atlantis, as the Wildcats connected on just 34.8 percent (23-of-66) from the field but made 11 3-pointers from 6 different players. Five players registered double figures, including a team-high 16 points by Longino.

POSTGAME NEWS & NOTES

• The dramatic win over Villanova (6-4) gave K-State its first win in four tries in the Big 12/BIG EAST Battle… The Wildcats are now 2-0 vs. BIG EAST members this season after defeating Providence in overtime earlier this year.
• K-State has won 15 straight at home at non-conference play since 2021-22… The team is now 178-55 in non-conference play since 2006-07.
• K-State is now 9-3 under head coach Jerome Tang in games decided by 5 or less points, including 3-0 this season.