Slate: Wildcats Slam Jayhawks

Basketball

OH, WHAT A NIGHT!

Your Kansas State Wildcats did two really big things last night. Not only did they beat Kansas (which is always great) for the first time in eight tries, but with the 74-67 win the Wildcats claimed sole possession of first-place in the Big 12 (for at least 22 hours or so) and guaranteed that the Wildcats will carry at least a share of the Big 12 lead into this weekend’s suddenly huge match-up with the Baylor Bears.

It was an epic night in Manhattan, capped by two vicious dunks to end the game — both Cartier Diarra’s breakaway windmill dunk that served, basically, as the knock-out punch, and Barry Brown’s just-as-time-expired jam (that didn’t count, btw) that was built on three years of frustration against the Jayhawks (Robinett, Eagle). Barry Brown had 18 points on the night to lead the Wildcats (and co-lead the game with KU’s Dedric Lawson), and Xavier Sneed (14pts, 7rebs), Dean Wade (12pts, 9rebs), and Cartier Diarra (11pts, 3-4 FT’s) joined him in double-figures. Kamau Stokes knocked in the first 5 points for the Wildcats, but finished with just 9 points in the contest. The other big stat last night came from the K-State defense, as the Wildcats forced 23 KU turnovers to just 11 assists.

(Btw, for those of you confused, “Checks over Stripes” is a reference to Nike over Adidas and apparently is a thing that Drake came up with...so, yeah)

There’s so much out there, we’ll just give you list form:

• Wildcats Down No. 13 Jayhawks, 74-67 - Sobba/BotC
• ‘Cats Defend the Home Court, Top Kansas, 74-67 - K-State SID
• K-Statement: Wildcats storm past rival KU basketball - Green/C-J
• Breakthrough! K-State seniors get first win over KU - Robinett/Eagle
• STREAK BUSTERS: K-State tops No. 13 KU - Black/Mercury
• Kansas State puts Kansas’ Big 12 streak on the ropes - Sherman/ESPN
• Wildcats stop eight-game losing streak to No. 13 Jayhawks - Staats/NCAA.com
• Wildcats’ recent rise validated with upset of Jayhawks - Boone/CBS Sports
• K-State fans greet KU with creative signs - Robinett/Eagle
• Cartier Diarra provides signature moment - Green/C-J
• K-State Finds Second Half Fight in Win Over Kansas - McGuire/K-State Sports Extra

Go Cats!

Football

It’s National Signing Day for college football (and several other sports too). We got you caught up yesterday with a primer headed into today, and we’ve also got our regular National Signing Day post/open thread to keep you updated on the signings.

While the 2019 signing day may come without big surprises, it’s still a big moment in the early story of the new K-State football coaching staff. The current class has some talent that could play right away, and includes several prospects with pretty lengthy and impressive offer sheets. We may have to wait a year for the big names to start rolling in, but early returns show significant promise.