RV/RV Kansas State vs Southern Miss: Open Game Thread

Things could be worse. Things could always be worse. But things don’t seem super-great around the Kansas State Wildcats men’s basketball program right now either.

A 1-2 start to December, including the nasty 46-47 loss to Tulsa, and losing Dean Wade during last Saturday’s win over Georgia State for an indefinite period has really tamped out the early excitement for K-State basketball. At this point, the Wildcats have tumbled themselves right out of the national polls, and for a team that started the season with high expectations, the current trajectory is pointing in the wrong direction.

And Southern Miss, like Georgia State, is not going to be an easy team to help keep turn that trajectory back around. The Golden Eagles are sitting at 7-3 so far this season, and hold an impressive win against SMU and took Wichita State to the wire last Saturday in a road loss. Doc Sadler’s bunch will not be an easy-out for these Wildcats.

So the Wildcats will have to replace Dean Wade’s minutes. It appears as though, like in the NCAA Tournament last year, Bruce Weber will go with a guard-heavy rotation to start the game, with Cartier Diarra filling in the open spot. Weber also mentioned that walk-on forward Pierson McAtee may see more minutes during non-garbage time action to replace some of Dean’s minutes, so be on the look-out for a fan-favorite entrance.

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 448 or 412-36 / 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 146 / XM 199 / Internet 953. 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 (7-2)
G: #2 Cartier Diarra
G: #3 Kamau Stokes
G: #5 Barry Brown Jr.
G/F: #20 Xavier Sneed
F: #14 Makol Mawien

Southern Miss (7-3)
G: #0 Dominic Magee
G: #1 Cortez Edwards
G: #20 Kevin Holland
G: #55 Tyree Griffin
F: #32 Leonard Harper-Baker

Go Cats!