Slate: Well, It’s Thursday

Fair warning, yes, lots of things happened yesterday,

Basketball

Before we get to Tuesday’s loss for the men’s team, the MittieCats suffered a loss of sorts of their own earlier this week. After emerging from the Christmas holiday break, the women’s basketball team had to shut down due to COVID-19, and due to continuing issues with positive tests within the program, K-State announced on Tuesday that the suspension will continue at least through next week. This postpones games at Baylor on Sunday, January 10th, and against TCU at home on Thursday January 14th.

Yes, the WeberCats lost a tough one on the road. Yes, Doug Sirmons still likes to run me-first officiating and make himself part of the game (even though Bruce is too nice to call him out after the game). But there were some positives to take from the 82-71 loss, notably that the Wildcats scored more points in regulation against the Red Radiers than anyone else so far this season, and only shot nine free throws to do it. Also, we’re continuing to see progress from the freshmen, like Nijel Pack’s career night that wasn’t enough by itself to earn a victory, but sure creates a good step to keep moving forward. But depth is still an issue for the Wildcats, and according the Bruce Weber, sophomore forward Montavious Murphy may be looking at another knee surgery which could sideline him for a good chunk of the season, if not all of it.

Oh, and be sure and check back later today for the latest power rankings from Tim.

Football

Tuesday’s Sports Extra covered some important numbers for the Wildcats’ 2020 season. Two players that stood out in the in house analysis were true freshman Deuce Vaughn as well as sophomore Phillip Brooks — Vaughn for being amazing all-around, and Brooks for his return abilities. Well it wasn’t just the staff in-house that was paying attention, as those two were both named to Phil Steele’s All-American teams, as announced this morning. Brooks was named to the third team as a punt returner, while Vaughn picked up honorable mention honors at running back.