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The football/basketball overlap season has arrived, and the hoops guys got the weekend off to a good start in exhibition play last night. What will Coach Klieman and the football team accomplish against the No. 5 Oklahoma Sooners today?
Basketball
As we recapped last night, the new-look Kansas State Wildcats opened fast and finished strong against Emporia State, cruising to an 86-49 win. K-State got 18 points from both senior Xavier Sneed and freshman Antonio Gordon. Coach Weber lauded Gordon and front-court mate Montavious Murphy not only for their production, but also for how hard they played. (Robinett, Eagle) At the Capital-Journal (subscription), Grant Guttisberg also praised Gordon’s performance.
Not everything is peaches on the squad, unfortunately. James Love and Nigel Shadd are battling injuries, and sophomore guard Sean Williams has been suspended from the team, apparently the result of some undisclosed off-court shenanigans.
Football
Coach Klieman’s team will get an early start today, hosting the No. 5 Oklahoma Sooners at 11:00. AMS provided all the details about how to watch, and yesterday TB kicked Oklahoma’s tires and found them to be quite sound. Also, our own Brandon Payne gave his view on the game to Crimson and Cream Machine, along with suggestions for pre- and post-game
The athletic department provided its usual preview, and Kellis Robinett weighed in, predicting a 44-17 win for the Sooners. At CBS Sports, Ben Kercheval picks OU to win but says they won’t cover the 21.5-point Vegas spread. Hey, that’s something, at least.
Volleyball
After the football festivities, the volleyball team will finish off the first half of its conference season at Iowa State tonight in Ames. The Cats are 7-12, while the Cyclones are 12-7. The teams’ conference records are only a game apart, though, as K-State’s win over Kansas moved them to 2-5, while Iowa State is 3-4 in league play.