Slate: We’re Ready for the Weekend

Sorry we missed you yesterday. The winter weather in the Manhattan area Wednesday night into Thursday played havoc with your local correspondent’s schedule.

But that means you get a nice full Slate today, so let’s jump right in.

Previously

Wednesday, TB dropped by to give us his attempt the quantify the bowl results by conference.

Thursday, Luke Thompson did have some content for you yesterday. First up, the latest edition of Bring on the PodCats featuring 247Sports.com national college basketball writer Kevin Flaherty, and yours truly, as we talked about the Oklahoma State game on Wednesday night, as well as the upcoming game in Lawrence this weekend. Then Luke brought us our first, and maybe a bit too early, Tournament Thursday of 2018. The Cats are still on the bubble at the moment, thanks to a very weak non-conference schedule, but there is still a chance the Cats could make up ground.

Men’s Basketball

There was a game Wednesday night. You might have heard that Barry Brown went off, scoring a career high 38 points that led to a 86-82 win over Oklahoma State. It was the most points ever for a single player under Bruce Weber, and the first time a Wildcat has dropped 38 since Jacob Pullen did it twice during his senior season in 2011.

Your other recaps of the game:
Official K-State Sports Recap
Kellis Robinett, Wichita Eagle
Kevin Haskin, Topeka Capital-Journal
Ryan Black, Manhattan Mercury
Mark Cooper, Tulsa World
Micah Allen, CRFF

Matt Galloway at the Topeka Capital-Journal takes a different approach to the game, instead focusing on freshman guard Cartier Diarra’s efforts in replacing Kamau Stokes — and Diarra looked pretty good in his first starting outing.

There’s that game on Saturday too.

Kellis Robinett talked to the last K-State coach to win a game in Allen Fieldhouse, and Jim Woolridge has plenty of stories from that game nearly 12 years ago.

With one of the Big Four down, the Wildcats stepped up and had big games (aside from Barry’s points, and Diarra’s effort, Xavier Sneed had his first career double-double), and are all eager to get to Lawrence to take on KU. Matt Tait at KUSports.com (yeah, sorry) also reports on that eagerness, and has no new news on the two freshman that KU have been waiting on, who will not be available this weekend. Joe Buettner at DieHards reports that Bill Self is sure the Wildcats will be fueled, at least in part, by the controversial end to the game last season.

Women’s Basketball

The K-State women had a nice come-back victory on the road against Iowa State. Our own Luke Sobba pulled double-duty and brought you both the men’s recap above, as well as the recap of the 67-60 victory over the Cyclones. The Wildcats needed a big 4th quarter push to claim the victory, as a scoring drought in the middle of the 3rd quarter nearly sealed the Cats fate. But Kayla Goth’s 16 points, and Peyton Williams 15-point, 11 rebound double-double led the Wildcats to a much-needed road win.

Others: The official K-State Sports recap; staff reports from the Manhattan Mercury; and Jack MacDonald at Iowa State Daily, who reports that is was also “The Office” night in Ames.

Oklahoma State will again be in Bramlage this weekend, this time it is the Cowgirls who will be traveling north to face the Wildcats. Game time is set for 1:00 p.m. CST, and it is Junior Wildcat Day and Willie’s Birthday so get out and take the kids.

Track & Field

K-State is hosting the fourth annual KU-KSU-WSU Triangular at Ahearn Field House this Saturday. It’s not just a big event for having three D-1 programs, it’s also big for school pride and in-state bragging rights. K-State last won the triangular in 2015, and has had the high point scorer award the last three years, with Akela Jones earning top points in 2015 and 2016, with Wurrie Njadoe claiming that honor last year. This year’s meet will include a new twist: a mixed 4x400-meter relay with two males and two females from each team.

Football

Yes, there is football news! Kellis Robinett reports that K-State is expected to hire former K-State running back Eric Hickson as an assistant coach for running backs, to fill the 10th and final spot on the coaching staff. After his illustrious career in Manhattan, Hickson signed with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 1999 and then played in the XFL and the Arena Football League. He then left for the coaching ranks, starting his college coaching career at Garden City Community College in 2014, and has been at Akron since 2015.