Kansas State vs Northern Arizona: Open Game Thread

The Kansas State Wildcats are off to a 3-0 start for the third-straight season, and 13th of the last 15, and will be looking for their third-straight 4-0 start as well.

They face off against the Northern Arizona Lumberjacks from Bramlage Colisuem as the second of two home-court match-ups as part of the the Continental Tire Las Vegas Invitational. After tonight, the Cats will head west of the final games of the Las Vegas Invitational, where on Thanksgiving Day when they face Pac-12 foe Arizona State (4-0) at 6 p.m. CT, in the second semifinal at the Orleans Arena. On Friday, the Cats will take on either George Washington (2-1) or No. 15/17 Xavier (3-0), depending on the outcome of both games.

The Wildcats will face a first-time opponent for the third time in their first four games tonight, as Northern Arizona joins American University and Florida A&M as first-time visitors to Manhattan. K-State is 17-5 all-time against Big Sky teams, including 15-3 at home. The lumberjacks were picked to finish 11th out of 12 teams in the Big Sky preseason poll, so should be a game similar to American where the cats should win handily. This will also be a good mirror game, as NAU faced off against Arizona State on Friday night, and lost to the tune of 97-62.

The question for tonight is who will step up in the 5-spot tonight. There has been a different answer in each of the first three games this season, with Makol Mawien, Mawdo Sallah, and Levi Stockard each taking top honors at the spot. Will this be Nigel Shadd’s turn, as the Arizonan against an Arizona school? Or will Mawien or Sallah take their turn again in the rotation?

Tonight’s contest tips off at 7pm CST, and there are plenty of tickets available, starting at $10 through the K-State ticket office.

The game will be available on, wait for it, FOX Sports Kansas City, K-StateHD.TV [free], and ESPN3 with Ben Boyle (play-by-play) and Stan Weber (analyst) on the call. Be sure and check out Jon Morse’s full How To Watch post for more details.

The game can be heard over-the-air on the K-State Sports Network with Wyatt Thompson (play-by-play) and Matt Walters (analyst) on the call (you can also listen online for free at TuneIn.com or at KStateSports.com). There is no satellite radio available tonight.

PROJECTED STARTING LINEUP

Kansas State (1-0)
G: #3 Kamau Stokes
G: #5 Barry Brown Jr.
G: #20 Xavier Sneed
F: #32 Dean Wade
F: #14 Makol Mawien

Northern Arizona (0-3)
G: #0 Torry Johnson
G: #3 Gino Littles
G/F: #32 Chris Bowling
F: #25 Brooks DeBisschop
F: #33 Isaiah Thomas

Go Cats!