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Basketball
On Sundays, we like to take a bottom-up view to relaying important Kansas State news. So we’ll just start with the bad news, shall we?
The men’s basketball team continued its road trip, traveling this time to Oklahoma to take on Tulsa. Unfortunately, the 16th-ranked Wildcats could not find much semblance of an offense and lost the game to the Golden Hurricane in heartbreaking fashion 47-46.
Already slow out of the gate, Kansas State was hampered by Tulsa’s charging defense, ultimately shooting only 31 percent from the field for the whole game, including just 26 percent from three-point range. The 46 points scored were the team’s lowest output in three seasons. Xavier Sneed did manage a double-double, leading the team with 13 points (with nine of those coming in the second half) and 10 rebounds, but Kansas State didn’t get production from Dean Wade, and both Barry Brown and Kamau Stokes missed key layups in the final minutes of the game.
Things don’t get any easier for the Wildcats, as Georgia State comes to Bramlage Coliseum next Saturday. The opponent is not to be taken lightly and is already 2-0 against SEC teams.
Not all the news on the hardcourt was bad though. The women’s basketball team is on a bit of a tear and beat Little Rock 53-47 for the team’s fourth straight win.
The win was keyed by a strong first quarter. The Wildcats jumped out to a 16-point lead early on and then built on it in the second to lead 31-20 at halftime. The Trojans came out strong in the third quarter to cut into the lead. Indeed, the Wildcats’ lead was narrowed to just one, but Kansas State went 8-of-10 from the free throw line in the final minutes of the game to seal the victory.
Kayla Goth led the team with 15 points, while teammates Peyton Williams and Rachel Ranke scored 12 each.
The team is back in action next Sunday, traveling to Lacrosse, Wisconsin to take on #17 Arizona State.
Track and Field
They’re baaaaack.
Now that Kansas State is—for all practical purposes—a track school, it is only appropriate that we mark the beginning of the 2018 track campaign here. The teams kicked off their seasons with two events on Friday and Saturday.
At the K-State Winter Invitational at Ahearn Field House, and competing against UMKC and several unattached athletes, the Wildcats got to flex and show off a bit, and also try events they do not normally compete in.
The day belonged to Brett Neely in shot put. He threw for 20.15 m, breaking a 37-year old Kansas State record and becoming the first Wildcat ever to throw for more than 20 m.
On Friday, at the Carol Robinson Winter Pentathlon, Kansas State’s combined events athletes got their first competition of the season out of the way. Aaron Booth, continuing where he left off in 2018, won the event with 3,873 points, with high jump specialist Tejaswin Shankar, debuting in the event, finishing second with 3,826 points. The women’s event was won by Lauren Taubert who finished with 3792 points, almost 200 points ahead of teammate Ariel Okorie (3696).
Both men’s and women’s teams will be back in competition for the indoor season after the holidays.
Football
From good news to basically no news we go.
Just a week ago, we heard that Kansas State head coach Bill Snyder was stepping away from the sport. But somehow, this many days later, we still have no idea who will be replacing him. The Seth Littrell bandwagon as come and gone, and we are none the wiser for it.
Will it be Mike Norvell? Or maybe Neal Brown? What about Jim Leavitt? These are all questions we have, but sadly, answers are not yet forthcoming. Stay tuned!
Miscellany
Bring on the Cats would like to take this opportunity to congratulate all of the student-athletes at Kansas State who are graduating this December. We wish them much future success both on the field and off.