No. 11/12 Kansas State vs Penn: Paradise Jam Open Game Thread

Your Kansas State Wildcats are one step closer to their goal of winning a “pre-season” tournament. Standing in the way are the Penn Quakers, a tough, seasoned team that returns 8 letter-winners, and four starters, for a team that went 24-9 in 2017-18 and won the Ivy League with an 11-2 record before giving KU a fight in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament to end their season.

That Penn team was good enough last year that they were the odds-on favorite to be the first 16-team to win (a distinction that was still made last year), so don’t expect them to roll over against K-State tonight. And their 4-0 record coming in isn’t a sham either, beating a decent Northern Iowa team and George Mason (who shows up on K-State’s schedule later this year) to open their season. And based on what’s on the other side of the bracket, this may be the toughest game of the tournament for the Wildcats.

Still, K-State should be able to assert themselves and win this game tonight, especially if they get performances from Dean Wade, Xavier Sneed, and Cartier Diarra like they did Friday night, and can keep Barry Brown out of early foul trouble. And hopefully tonight we’ll get to see K-State look more like they will come conference play, as Bruce Weber won’t be able to “experiment” as much as he’s been able to so far this season.

As with last night, tonight’s game tips off at 6:30pm CST, but unless you want to spend $30 on a month subscription to FloHoops, you’re out of luck to watch the game. If you’ve got money to burn, you can stream the game at FloHoops.com or on Apple TV 4 or Roku [FloSports App] with Trevor Williams (play-by-play) and Kevin Lehman (analyst) on the call.

For the rest of us, you will be able to listen to live audio across much of the K-State Sports Network with with Brian Smoller (play-by-play) and Ben Boyle (analyst) calling the action (no Wyatt, since he needs to be in Manhattan for the football game tomorrow). The game will also be available streaming for free online via the TuneIn app/TuneIn.com and at www.kstatesports.com/watch. Satellite coverage is also available at Sirius 135 / XM 199 / Internet 953. Live stats are available at www.paradisejam.com/stats, and Twitter updates (@KStateMBB) will also be a part of the coverage from K-State Athletics.

PROJECTED STARTING LINEUP

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

Penn (4-0)
G: #2 Antonio Woods
G: #3 Jake Silpe
G: #12 Devon Goodman
F: #25 AJ Brodeur
C: #0 Max Rothschild

Go Cats!