No. 24/25 Kansas State vs Georgia State: Open Game Thread

The last two weeks have not gone well for your Kansas State Wildcats. After starting the season 6-0, including sweeping through the 2018 Paradise Jam tournament, the Cats have faced two tough opponents and lost two straight, and have nearly tumbled all the way out of the national polls. It’s not exactly the position this team expected to be in heading to the holiday break from classes.

This is a team that returned every starter from last year’s Elite Eight run, including Preseason Big 12 PotY honoree Dean W. But in the last two games these Wildcats have looked anything but elite. Defense has been mostly solid, but the offense has sunk to new lows. Barry Brown, generally the team’s leading scorer, hasn’t broken double-digits in the last two games, and Wade has managed just 13 points combined in the last two outings. For a team returning so much experience, they sure have looked very lost the last two games.

Georgia State won’t make the Wildcats homecoming easy. And while the preseason favorites to win the Sun Belt conference have faced their only defeats away from their home court, they play tough defense and can score in bunches, especially guard D’Marcus Simonds — who was named the preseason Sun Belt Player of the Year and was a unanimous First Team All-Sun Belt selection — who ranks 23rd nationally in scoring at 22.0 points per game.

Yet again, this is a game that the Wildcats should win, but the Panthers could easily steal this one away if K-State continues in its current funk. We can only hope that the return to Bramlage will do these Cats some good.

Tonight’s game, scheduled for a 7:07pm CST tip, will be available on FOX Sports Kansas City with Ben Boyle (play-by-play), Stan Weber (analyst), and Bridget Howard (sideline reporter) on the call. You should also be able to access the game on the FoxSportsGo app, and the game will also be streamed on ESPN3. The channel listings from the SID include DirecTV 671-5 [HD] / Dish 440 or 412-28 / AT&T U-Verse 750 or 1750 [HD].

You will also be able to listen to live audio across much of the K-State Sports Network with with Wyatt Thompson (play-by-play) and Matt Walters (analyst) calling the action. 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 211 / XM 210 / Internet 965. Live stats are available at k-statesports.com, and Twitter updates (@KStateMBB) will also be a part of the coverage from K-State Athletics.

PROJECTED STARTING LINEUP

Kansas State Wildcats (6-2)
G: #3 Kamau Stokes
G: #5 Barry Brown Jr.
G/F: #20 Xavier Sneed
F: #32 Dean Wade
F: #14 Makol Mawien

Georgia State Panthers (7-3)
G: #1 Damon Wilson
G: #12 Kane Williams
G: #15 D’Marcus Simonds
F: #2 Malik Benlevi
F: #30 Jeff Thomas