GAME 3

KANSAS STATE (1-1) vs SOUTH DAKOTA STATE (1-1)

Monday, November 13, 2023 >> 7 p.m. CT >> Bramlage Coliseum (11,010) >> Manhattan, Kan.

TELEVISION

Big 12 Now on ESPN+ / WatchESPN (link here)

• Ben Boyle (play-by-play)
• Stan Weber (analyst)
• Hannah Whetstone (sideline reporter)

RADIO

K-State Sports Network

Flagships: // KMAN 1350 & WIBW 580

Satellite Radio: Ch. 375

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

• Wyatt Thompson (play-by-play)
• Matt Walters (analyst)

LIVE STATS

www.kstatesports.com

kstate.statbroadcast.com

TICKETS

www.kstatesports.com/tickets

(800) 221.CATS [2287]

Single Game: $11.25, $15, $30, $35

COACHES

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

Record at K-State: 27-11/Second Year

Career Record: 29-11/Second Year+

1. South Dakota State: 0-0 [0-0 at home]

South Dakota State: Eric Henderson [Wayne State ‘00]

Record at SDSU: 88-36/5th Year

Career Record: 88-36/5th Year

1. K-State: 0-0 [0-0 on the road]

SERIES HISTORY

Overall: Overall  K-State leads 3-0

At Home: K-State leads 3-0

At Bramlage Coliseum: First meeting

Active Streak: K-State, 3

First Meeting: W, 91-65 [1/31/1959 in Manhattan]

Last Meeting: W, 87-59 [12/3/1963 in Manhattan]

Jerome Tang vs. Eric Henderson: First meeting

K-STATE HOSTS SUMMIT LEAGUE FAVORITE SOUTH DAKOTA STATE MONDAY

Kansas State (1-1) plays its second game in a 4-day span on Monday night, as the Wildcats play host to Summit League favorite South Dakota State (1-1) at 7 p.m., CT. Despite their relative proximity, the schools will meet for just the third time on Monday, including the first time since the 1963-64 season. K-State won the last meeting, 87-59, at home on Dec. 3, 1963.

K-State has several streaks heading into the matchup with South Dakota State, having won 10 straight home non-conference games dating back to the 2021-22 season. The Wildcats have posted a 120-12 record at Bramlage Coliseum since 2006-07.

KEY STORYLINES

• K-State faces a veteran South Dakota State team, which enters the season as the preseason favorites in the Summit League after returning 7 lettermen, including 3 starters, from a team that won 19 games and placed second in 2022-23. All 3 returning starters earned Preseason All-Summit League honors, including the favorite for Player of the Year Zeke Mayo, who played at Lawrence High School in Lawrence, Kan., and is averaging 28 points and 7.5 rebounds per game.
• The Jackrabbits have made 11 trips to the postseason since 2012, including NCAA Tournament appearances in 2012, 2013, 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2022.
• K-State earned its first win of the season on Friday night with a hard-fought 83-75 win over a pesky Bellarmine squad in the home opener before nearly 10,000 fans. The Wildcats led by as many as 19 points, including with 2:11 remaining, before the Knights gave the home crowd some anxious moments with a 10-4 rally to close the gap to single digits with under a minute.
• Senior Tylor Perry led four Wildcats in double figures with a game-high 18 points, including 4 free throws in the waning seconds to close out the victory. Perry ranks second in the Big 12 in scoring at 20 points per game, but he is shooting just 33.3 percent (9-of-of-27), including 38.1 percent (8-of-21) from 3-point range. He entered the 2023-24 season with a career 43.1 field goal percentage. He was joined in double figures by a career-tying 17 points from junior Cam Carter as well as 12 points each from freshman Dai Dai Ames and junior Arthur Kaluma, which earned their first double-digit scoring games as Wildcats.
• Perry showed off his scoring ability vs. USC (11/6/23), posting a team-high 22 points to go along with team-highs in both assists (6) and steals (4). He missed his first 8 attempts before hitting an acrobatic 3-pointer right before halftime. He made 5 of his last 9 attempts to collect the most points by a newcomer in a debut since Michael Beasley scored 32 points in 2007.
• Carter has impressed with his ability to score in the early going, following his 15-point effort in the loss to No. 21/22 USC (11/6/23) by tying his career-high with 17 points in the win over Bellarmine on Friday night. He went 7-of-14 from the field, including 5-of-7 inside the 3-point arc with a pair of dunks, while he collected a career-best 4 steals in a team-high 34 minutes.
• Ames enjoyed a solid first game at Bramlage Coliseum, scoring 12 points on 4-of-9 shooting with a game-tying 6 assists and 3 steals in 26 minutes off the bench. The 12 points were the most a Wildcat freshman in his first home game since Jacob Pullen scored 18 in 2007.

A K-STATE WIN WOULD…

• Extend its home non-conference winning streak to 11 games.
• Push its home non-conference mark to 120-12 since 2006-07.
• Extend its winning streak to 4 games vs. South Dakota State.
• Push its home record vs. Summit League foes to 48-0.
• Give it 2 straight wins after starting 0-1.

NOTES ON SOUTH DAKOTA STATE (1-1)

• South Dakota State (1-1) has not played since an 83-55 win over Dakota Wesleyan on Wednesday night at home in Brookings, S.D. The Jackrabbits opened the year with an 81-75 loss to Akron on Monday, Nov. 6. This will be SDSU’s first road game of the year.
• South Dakota State is averaging 79 points per game on 48.4 percent shooting, including 37.5 percent from 3-point range, while allowing just 68 points on 34.8 percent shooting, including 28.4 percent from long range. The Jackrabbits are shooting 70.4 percent from the free throw line. They are also averaging 43 rebounds per game with 5 players averaging 4 or more boards.
• The Jackrabbits are led by Preseason Summit League Player of the Year and junior guard Zeke Mayo, who paces the squad in scoring at 28 points per game on 60 percent shooting. He is one of three players averaging in double figures along with sophomore William Kyle III (16.5 ppg.) and senior Luke Appel (11.5 ppg.). Kyle averages a team-best 8.0 rebounds per game, while Mayo is second at 7.5 boards per game.
• South Dakota State was picked as the preseason favorite in the Summit League, earning 27 of a possible 36 first-place votes to total 600 points in the preseason poll. In addition to Mayo, the Jackrabbits had two other players chosen to the preseason all-league teams, along with Appel (first team) and Kyle (second team).
• South Dakota State returns 7 lettermen, including 3 starters, from a team that went 19-13 overall in 2022-23, including a second-place finish in the Summit League standings with a 13-5 record. Mayo is the league’s top returning scorer from both overall (18.8 ppg.) and league-only (21.2 ppg.) games and is the only all-league first team selection back from 2022-23.
• South Dakota State is led by fifth-year head coach Eric Henderson, who has an 88-36 record. He led the Jackrabbits to three Summit League regular season championships, including a perfect 18-0 mark in 2021-22, in which, the team posted a 30-5 record. He was named the Summit League Coach of the Year in both 2020 and 2022. He took over for current Iowa State head coach T.J. Otzelberger when he left for UNLV in 2019-20.

SERIES HISTORY

• K-State leads the all-time series with South Dakota State, 3-0, in the first such matchup since 1963-64 season. The Wildcats won the 3 meetings more than 60 years ago, picking up a 91-65 victory on Jan. 31, 1959, an 85-52 win on Dec. 1, 1959 and an 87-59 victory on Dec. 3, 1963.
• K-State is 54-3 all-time vs. Summit League opponents, including a 47-0 mark at home. This is the first matchup against a Summit League foe since a 69-53 win over Kansas City on Nov. 17, 2022.
• South Dakota State will be the first of 2 matchups with Summit League foes this season, joining Oral Roberts, which visits on Nov. 28.

ALL-TIME MEETINGS

LAST MEETING:

K-STATE 87, SOUTH DAKOTA STATE 59 [12/3/63]

• Willie Murrell paced four Wildcats in double figures with a game-high 21 points, as K-State posted an 87-59 win over South Dakota State on Dec. 3, 1963, at Ahearn Fieldhouse in the last meeting between the schools.
• Murrell collected a 20-10 double-double in the win, adding 11 rebounds to go with his 21 points. Dave Nelson and Roger Suttner each posted 14 points and Bob McConnell added 13 points off the bench.

SUCCESS IN NON-CONFERENCE PLAY

• K-State has posted a 172-54 (.762) record in non-conference play since the 2006-07 season. During that span, the Wildcats have a 130-14 (.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 120-12 (.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 enter the 2023-24 season with a 1,722-1,224 (.585) all-time record as a program, which includes 32 NCAA Tournament appearances and 21 conference championships.

LAST TIME OUT: K-STATE 83, BELLARMINE 75

• Powered by 18 points from senior Tylor Perry and a career-best 17 points from junior Cam Carter, K-State ushered in a new year at Bramlage Coliseum with a hard-fought 83-75 win over a pesky Bellarmine team in the home season opener on Friday night before 9,947 fans. The Wildcats are now 30-3 in the building in home openers, while they moved to 16-1 under Jerome Tang.
• K-State (1-1) led by as many as 19 points in the second half before Bellarmine (0-2) used a late 10-4 rally to close to within single digits with under a minute to play. The Wildcats had a 79-63 lead after a dunk by senior David N’Guessan with 2:11 to play before the Knights scored 7 straight to close the gap to 79-70 with 51.6 seconds.
• After Perry knocked down a pair of free throws, they got a 3-pointer from graduate student Bash Wieland, who had team-high 17 points off the bench, to get within 81-73 with 35 seconds left. However, they could get no closer as Perry canned another pair of free throws to extend the game back to double figures. Perry finished a perfect 6-of-6 from the line.
• In the early moments of an up-and-down game, K-State got a big boost from true freshman Dai Dai Ames, who scored 11 of his 12 points during a pivotal 13-5 run in the first half. He hit his first career 3-pointer to give the Wildcats a 10-4 then showed off his versatility with a step back jumper 32 seconds later to push the lead to 12-7. He finished the run with a pair of 3-pointers to give the Wildcats a 20-9 advantage and force an early Bellarmine timeout with 11:42.
• After the Knights got to within 24-17 with just over 8 minutes to play before halftime, Carter sparked the home team with the first 6 points in an 18-6 run to push ahead 42-23. The lead stood at 46-31 at the half, as Carter led all scorers with 15 points on 6-of-10 shooting.
• In all, four Wildcats scored in double figures as Ames (12 points) and junior Arthur Kaluma (12 points) collected their first double-digit scoring games in a K-State uniform. The team also got 8 points each from senior Will McNair Jr. and freshman R.J. Jones, while senior David N’Guessan chipped in 6 points to go with his game-high 9 rebounds.
• Perry scored his game-high 18 points on 4 3-point field goals and 6 free throws while adding 5 assists and 4 rebounds in just over 32 minutes. Carter added a career-best 4 steals to go with his career-tying 17 points, going 7-of-14 from the field in 34 minutes. Ames went 4-of-9 from the field with 3 triples in his 12-point effort, while adding a game-tying 6 assists and 3 steals. Kaluma scored his 12 points on 5-of-14 shooting with 7 rebounds and a pair of steals.
• Bellarmine connected on 48.4 percent (30-of-62) of its field goals, including 42.1 percent (8-of-19) from 3-point range, and made 7-of-8 free throw attempts. Three players scored in double figures led by Wieland’s 17 points on 7-of-9 shooting in 27 minutes. He also added a team-high 7 rebounds and 3 assists. Junior Langdon Hatton scored all 14 of his points in the first half, going 6-of-11 from the field, while sophomore Ben Johnson added 12 points.

POSTGAME NEWS & NOTES

• K-State was able to take advantage of Bellarmine’s turnovers, converting those 15 miscues into a 27-11 edge in points off turnovers. Twenty of those 27 points came in the first half, as the Wildcats built a 15-point halftime advantage. The home team tallied 10 steals on the night, including a career-best 4 from junior Cam Carter and another 3 from freshman Dai Dai Ames.
• K-State scored its 83 points on 44.4 percent (28-of-63) shooting, including 38.7 percent (12-of-31) from 3-point range, and made 68.2 percent (15-of-22) from the free throw line. In addition to the 27 points off turnovers, the Wildcats had 26 in the paint, 14 on fast breaks and 22 from the bench.

NEW OFFENSE, MORE 3-POINTERS

• K-State made the switch to the 5-out offense in the offseason to utilize its versality in talent, as the offense is structured around spacing with all 5 players required to pass, cut, screen, dribble and shoot.
• The Wildcats scored eclipsed 100 points in exhibition play for the first time since 1993 with a 102-68 win over nationally ranked Division II opponent Emporia State on Nov. 1 then scored 83 points in the home opener on Friday night against Bellarmine.
• The new offense has so far increased the number of 3-pointers, as the team has already attempted 64 from beyond the arc, including 33 in the opener vs. No. 21/22 USC (11/6/23), which ranked as the seventh-most in a game in school history. The Wildcats followed with 31 3-point attempts vs. Bellarmine (11/10/23), while hitting on double-digit makes (12) for the first time.
• The Wildcats rank fifth in the Big 12 in 3-point field goals/game (10.0), while they are ninth in 3-point field goal percentage (31.3). The 64 3-point attempts are the second-most in the Big 12 behind BYU’s 70. Senior Tylor Perry is tied for second in the Big 12 with 4.0 3-point field goal makes per game, while junior Cam Carter is right behind in fifth place at 3.0 treys per contest.
• Seven players have attempted at least one 3-pointer, including 5 players making at least one triple. Perry (8) and Carter (6) have combined for 14 of the team’s 20 3-point makes, while freshman guards Dai Dai Ames and R.J. Jones have 3 and 2 treys off the bench.

BETTER DEFENSIVE EFFORT

• K-State will need to improve its defensive effort after allowing 157 points (78.5 ppg.) in the first 2 games on 50 percent shooting, including an average of 45 points in the paint.
• The Wildcats rank last in the Big 12 in both scoring defense (78.5 ppg.) and field goal percentage defense (50.0), while they are 10th in 3-point field goal percentage defense (33.3).

PERRY MORE THAN JUST A SCORER

• Senior Tylor Perry proved that he is more than just a scorer in the opener vs. No. 21/22 USC (11/6/23), leading the team in both assists (6) and steals (4) to go with 6 rebounds and his team-best 22 points.
• The performance was the first in his Division I career that he posted 20 or more points, had 6 or more rebounds, 6 or more assists and 4 or more steals. Only once did he even accomplish three of those stats, as he had 23 points, 7 rebounds and 6 assists against Sam Houston in the 2023 NIT First Round.
• Perry’s 6 assists were one shy of a career-high and the most since he had 7 vs. Paul Quinn on Nov. 22, 2022. His 4 steals were also one shy of a career-high, which he recorded in his last game against UAB in 2023 NIT Championship game. His 6 rebounds also fell one board short of his career-high of 7, which he did on 3 occasions at North Texas in 2022-23.
• Perry missed his first 8 field goals, including his first 6 from 3-point range, before making his acrobatic 3-pointer at the halftime buzzer. The shot seemed to spark the fifth-year senior, as he finished the game making 5 of his last 9 field goals, including 4 of his last 6 3-point baskets.
• Perry’s 22 points were the most by a Wildcat newcomer in a debut since Michael Beasley scored 32 points in his first game against Sacramento State on Nov. 9, 2007. In fact, Perry is the first Wildcat to post a 20-point game in a season opener since Mike McGuirl had 22 points vs. Drake on Nov. 25, 2020.
• After 18 points vs. Bellarmine, Perry has now scored in double figures in 11 straight games dating back to his last season at North Texas in 2022-23, while he has a 20-point game in 5 of his last 7 games, also dating back to last season.
• Perry ranks second in the Big 12 in scoring (20.0 ppg.) and 3-point field goals made (4.0), while he is fifth in assists (5.5 apg.) and assist/turnover ratio (5.5), seventh in free throw percentage (93.3) and ninth in steals (2.5 spg.).
• Perry recently eclipsed 2,000 career points in his college career, which includes stints at Coffeyville Community College (2019-21) and North Texas (2021-23). He currently has 1,083 points at the Division I level.
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BUCKET GETTER

• Head coach Jerome Tang has said that he wants guard Cam Carter to be a bucket getter and that’s what the junior has delivered in the first 2 games, averaging 16 points per game. He leads the Wildcats in field goals made (11) and steals (6), while he is second to Tylor Perry in 3-point field goals (6).
• Carter played perhaps his best game in a Wildcat uniform in the win over Bellarmine (11/10/23), tying his career-high with 17 points on 7-of-14 field goals, including 2-of-7 from 3-point range, to go with a career-best 4 steals, 4 rebounds and 2 assists in 34 minutes. He also electrified the home crowd with a pair of dunks.
• Carter opened the year with a 15-point effort in the loss to No. 21/22 USC (11/6/23), tying a career-best with 4 3-pointers, to go with 5 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 steals in just under 28 minutes. The 15 points were the fourth-most points in a Wildcat uniform, just shy of his career-high of 17 points in a win at No. 6/6 Texas (1/3/23) and 16 points vs. Kansas City (11/17/23). His 4 triples tied his career-high, which he also hit in the game vs. Kansas City (11/17/23).
• Carter has now scored in double figures in 12 games, including 10 times as a Wildcat. Five of those double-digit totals have come in the last 11 games.
• His performance in the first 2 games came after Carter led the team in the exhibition win over Emporia State on Nov. 1 with a game-high 20 points on 7-of-13 shooting in just 14 minutes of action.

N’GUESSAN GRABS A DOUBLE-DOUBLE

• Senior David N’Guessan grabbed his first career double-double in the opener vs. No. 21/22 USC (11/6/23), as he scored 10 points on 5-of-8 field goals to go with his career-best 10 rebounds in just over 27 minutes.
• The 10 rebounds surpassed his previous-high of 9 against Cornell (12/8/21) while playing at Virginia Tech and 2 more than he had as a Wildcat last season. He registered double-digit points for the 12th in his career with his 10 points vs. the Trojans, including his eighth time in a K-State uniform. He now has 10 or more points in 3 of the last 5 games dating back to last season.
• N’Guessan gained valuable experience this past summer training with the Dutch National Team, as the Orange Lions competed in the FIBA Olympic Pre-Qualifying Tournament in Istanbul, Turkiye August 13-16.
• N’Guessan averaged 9 points on 55.6 percent shooting with 6.3 rebounds in 26.6 minutes per game in the 3-game pool play tournament. He opened the tournament with a near double-double of 17 points and 9 rebounds in the Lions’ narrow overtime loss to Sweden on August 13.

‘CATS CRACK 100 IN LONE EXHIBITION

• K-State connected on 52.1 percent from the field, including 55.6 percent in the second half, as the Wildcats eclipsed 100 points in home exhibition play for the first time since 1993 in a 102-68 win over Division II Emporia State on Nov. 1 before 9,268 fans at Bramlage Coliseum. It was the team’s first and only public exhibition before the start of the 2023-24 season.
• It was the first 100-point game in home exhibition play since a 101-80 win over Fort Hood on Nov. 22, 1993, while it was the most in a home exhibition game since scoring 111 in a win over Michigan AAU on Nov. 15, 1991. The victory also extended K-State’s winning streak in home exhibition play to 29 games, which dates to 2003, and includes 6 wins over Emporia State.
• Junior Cam Carter paced four Wildcats in double figures with a game-high 20 points on 7-of-13 field goals in just 14 minutes to go with 3 assists and 2 steals, while sophomore Jerrell Colbert added 13 points off the bench on 5-of-5 shooting, along with 5 rebounds, also in 14 minutes. Freshman Dai Dai Ames and junior Arthur Kaluma also broke double-digits with 11 and 10 points, respectively. Freshman Macaleab Rich collected a game-high 9 rebounds to go with his 8 points off the bench. Senior Tylor Perry, who picked up 2 early fouls, dished out a team-best 5 assists to go with 8 points.
• The 100-point game was the eighth in the school’s exhibition history since 1964, including the fifth in Bramlage Coliseum. K-State scored its 102 points on 38 made field goals, including 29 coming inside the 3-point line, while knocking down 17 of 19 attempts (89.5 percent) from the free throw line. The Wildcats scored 56 points in the paint to go along with 25 fast-break points, 21 points off turnovers and 53 bench points. They also had assists on 26 of their 38 field goals with 9 players having at least 2 assists led by Perry’s team-high 5.

KALUMA, PERRY NAMED TO PRESEASON ALL-BIG 12 TEAM

• Junior Arthur Kaluma and fifth-year senior Tylor Perry were each chosen as Honorable Mention selections to the Preseason All-Big 12 Team by the league coaches when the league office announced its annual preseason teams.
• Kaluma and Perry are the first Wildcats named to the Preseason All-Big 12 since Barry Brown Jr. and Dean Wade in 2018-19.
• A 6-foot-7, 225-pound wing, Kaluma transferred to K-State after an impressive 2-year stint (2021-23) at Creighton, where he helped the Bluejays to 47 wins, including 26 in BIG EAST play, a pair of NCAA Tournament appearances (2022, 2023) and the school’s first trip to the Elite Eight in 2022-23.
• Kaluma averaged double-figure scoring both seasons at Creighton, totaling 758 points (11.1 ppg.) on 43.3 percent shooting (270-of-624), including 29.1 percent (68-of-234) from 3-point range, and 71.4 percent (150-of-210) from the free throw line in 68 games with 67 starts. As a sophomore, he averaged 11.8 points on 42.3 percent (146-of-345) shooting to go with 6.0 rebounds and 1.7 assists in starting all 37 games for the Bluejays.
• A 5-foot-11, 182-pound guard, Perry came to K-State after a decorated 2-year career (2021-23) at North Texas, where he led the Mean Green to 56 total wins, including a school-record 31 in 2022-23, the 2023 NIT Championship and 2022 C-USA regular-season title. In addition to being the 2023 C-USA Player of the Year and NIT Most Outstanding Player, he was twice named to the C-USA First Team (2022, 2023) while was the league’s Sixth Man of the Year in 2022.
• Perry scored 1,043 points in his North Texas career on 43.1 percent (299-of-694) shooting from the field, including 41.3 percent (184-of-445) from 3-point range, and 85.9 percent (261-of-304) from the free throw line. He was the Mean Green’s leading scorer (17.3 ppg.) in 2022-23 while leading the C-USA in 3-point field goal percentage (41.3), free throw percentage (87.2) and minutes (34.2) and placing second in 3-pointers/game (3.11) and fourth in scoring. He scored in double figures in 33 of 36 games played with 14 20-point performances highlighted by his career-best 35-point effort vs. San Jose State on Nov. 25.

KALUMA NAMED TO PRESEASON WATCH LIST FOR JULIUS ERVING AWARD 

• Kaluma was also one of 20 players named to the preseason Watch List for the 2024 Julius Erving Award, which annually recognizes the nation’s top small forward, by the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame.
• This is the second time that Kaluma has been named to a preseason Watch List after he was chosen to the Watch List for the Karl Malone Power Forward of the Year Award in 2022-23 while playing at Creighton.

K-STATE, TANG AGREE TO EXTENSION THROUGH 2029-30 SEASON

• After a record-setting first season, head coach Jerome Tang agreed to a new 7-year contract through the 2029-30 season to continue his leadership of the Kansas State men’s basketball program, Director of Athletics Gene Taylor announced on September 25.
• The new contract replaces his original 6-year deal that Tang agreed to become the 25th men’s basketball coach in school history on March 21, 2022. Tang now has 7 years left on his agreement that runs until April 30, 2030. The second-year head coach will be paid $3 million in 2023-24 and receive a $100,000 increase to his salary in each remaining contract year culminating in a $3.6 million base for the 2029-30 season. There are also four retention bonuses of $200,000 following the 2023-24, 2024-25, 2025-26 and 2026-27 seasons.
• Armed with just two returning players, the Wildcats posted a 26-10 overall record in Tang’s inaugural season, which included a tie for third place in the nation’s most difficult conference – the Big 12 – with an 11-7 mark and the school’s 13th appearance in the Elite Eight and the first since 2017-18. The 26 wins are the third-most in school history, trailing the school-record 29 in 2009-10 and the 27 in 2012-13, and just the eighth 25-win campaign.

ONCE-IN-A-LIFETIME TRIP

‘CATS SPENT 10 DAYS IN AUGUST IN ISRAEL, ABU DHABI, U.A.E.

• K-State got a jump start on its preparations for the 2023-24 season with a historic 10-day trip to Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, Israel and Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates [UAE] from August 9-20.
• During the Israeli portion of the trip, the team enjoyed walking tours of the Old City Jerusalem, the City of David, Bethlehem and Old City Jaffa, visits to the Yad Vashem – the World Holocaust Remembrance Center – as well as the Western Wall and the Dead Sea. While in Abu Dhabi, they visited the Abraham Peace Accords House and the Grand Mosque.
• The Wildcats played 3 games on the tour, defeating the Israeli Select Team, 94-87, on August 15 in Tel Aviv before an 83-81 setback to Team Mexico on August 17 and a 112-72 win over Al-Sharjah on August 18, both in Abu Dhabi. Senior Tylor Perry paced 4 Wildcats in double figures on the tour, averaging 22.7 points on 56.8 percent shooting.
• K-State, along with the University of Arizona, are the first college teams to ever take a foreign tour to Abu Dhabi.
• The exhibition tour was generously sponsored by Athletes for Israel and its Founder Daniel Posner as well as the Abu Dhabi Tourism Board. In their efforts to combat antisemitism and racism, Athletes For Israel brings athletes to Israel so they can experience the Holy Land and

develop a connection with its history, culture, innovation and people.

• For more information on the organization and its mission, visit athletesforisrael.org.

UP NEXT: VS. PROVIDENCE (2-0)

• K-State heads to The Bahamas on Tuesday for the Baha Mar Bahamas Hoops Championship, where the Wildcats will face BIG EAST foe Providence (2-0) on Friday at 5 p.m., CT. The game will air nationally on CBS Sports Network. The winner will face either Georgia (2-1) or Miami (2-0) in the finals on Sunday at 1:30 p.m., CT.