Kansas State beats Vanderbilt handily

Basketball

Kansas State beat Vanderbilt 69-58 at the Sprint Center in Kansas City last night. The Wildcats are now 8-1 in Wildcat Classic games and 17-14 at the Sprint Center all time.

In a game where Kansas State led from start-to-finish, the Wildcats defense also stifled the opponent into a season-low for points, including just 20 in the first half and just 31.9% shooting. This was a surprise as Vanderbilt had looked like a world-beater against #18 Arizona State in its last game.

Makol Mawien—in a bit of an unexpected turn of events—led all players with 15 points, while Barry Brown and Kamau Stokes had 12 each. Cartier Diarra also finished in double figures with 10, and Austin Trice had his highest score of the season with seven points.

With his third steal of the night, Brown became Kansas State’s all-time leader in steals, surpassing Jacob Pullen in the record books. Brown finished the night with three steals and now has a total of 211.

Football

Head coach Chris Klieman’s staff is still a work in progress, but in addition to Collin Klein and Blake Seiler, four assistants were announced yesterday: Courtney Messingham (offensive coordinator/TE), Jason Ray (wide receivers), Conor Riley (OL), and Joe Klanderman (safeties).

All four were previously on Klieman’s staff at North Dakota State. Messingham has Big 12 experience, as he was the offensive coordinator at Iowa State under Paul Rhoads 2012-13, and although not well loved by Cyclones fans, did have some success there. Ray is also a former Big 12 assistant, having coached receivers and kick returners at Oklahoma State 2013-14.

Riley is at least partially responsible for NDSU’s phenomenal success running the ball. In his six seasons at the school, the Bison have averaged 235 yards/game. His OL has also graded out well in the sacks department, with the line ranking 8th nationally in 2018 for fewest sacks allowed. Klanderman, at NDSU since 2013, has coached several All-America defensive backs, and his defensive backs have finished top five in interceptions four times.

And that’s it from us on this pre-holiday weekend. Safe driving, safe last-minute shopping!