Open Game Thread: K-State vs. Troy

Who: K-State (6-3) vs. Troy (4-3)

When: December 15, 2013 | 5:10 p.m. CST

Where: Bramlage Coliseum

Media: 1350 KMAN | FSKC

K-State meets Troy for only the second time in history, the first being a 64-60 win in Manhattan in 2001. Of course, if you'd like to be pessimistic, Bruce Weber has coached against Troy only once, losing to the Trojans 77-69 in the Yahoo! Invitational in Hawai'i back in 2000 when he was at Southern Illinois.

It's early in the season, but the two teams have two opponents in common already. Troy lost to both Central Arkansas and Mississippi, which bodes well for the Cats. Senior Antoine Myers leads the Trojans with 13.6 ppg, and junior Kevin Thomas pours in 12.9 a game as well as averaging 9.0 boards. Phil Cunningham, who served as an assistant to Ray Harper at Western Kentucky last year, helping to lead the Hilltoppers to the NCAA Tournament, is in his first year on the bench for the Trojans. Prior to last year, Cunningham had spent 12 years as an assistant to Rick Stansbury at Mississippi State.

This is one the Wildcats can't allow to get away, as the remaining non-conference schedule is pretty twitchy. A win guarantees the Cats will enter conference play with a winning record. EMAW!