Football
After completion of a 7-5 regular season campaign, you Kansas State Wildcats have been selected as the Big 12’s participant in the TaxAct Texas Bowl, slated for January 4th, 2022. For the penultimate game of the 2021 football season, the Wildcats will face off against the Tigers of LSU, who secured bowl eligibility in the final game of the regular season by beating overrated Texas A&M at home. Both teams have story lines with the coaching staff, as K-State just released offensive coordinator Courtney Messingham and TE coach Jason Ray late last week, while LSU, who had fired head coach Ed Orgeron earlier this season, named now-former Notre Dame head man Brian Kelly as head coach last week.
Basketball
The K-State men’s basketball team did something they had struggled with since the 2018-19 team won a Big 12 title: they won a tough neutral/road game against a quality opponent (and earned bragging rights in the process). Last night’s game at Wichita’s Intrust Bank Arena was technically a neutral site contest, but being in the hometown of the Shockers meant that the crowd definitely had a heavy black & gold bent. But the Wildcats, spurred by Markquis Nowell’s 16 points and 8 rebounds, earned a hard-fought 65-59 victory over Wichita State.
Next up for the Wildcats is the Big 12/Big East Battle on Wednesday night, and the Wildcats will be hosting the Marquette Golden Eagles (again), now led by Shaka Smart. It’s already been announced that the Wildcats will be wearing the two-tone lavender/purple uniforms, and Wildcats fans are asked to wear lavender to Bramlage for the game. The game will be broadcast on ESPN2, with a start time set for 8pm CST.
Way back on Friday night, the Wildcat women fought hard with No. 1/1 South Carolina, but were unable to overcome early foul trouble for Ayoka Lee, falling 65-44 to the host Gamecocks. The MittieCats were down just 12-15 at the end of the first quarter, and had pushed the score to 17-19 in the second quarter immediately following Lee’s departure with 3 fouls, but that was it for the Wildcats in the first half, entering halftime trailing 17-30. A 22-point 3rd quarter for the Gamecocks essentially put the game out of reach, but the Wildcats did win the 4th quarter 17-13 to make the game a bit more respectable on the final stat line. Despite playing a season-low 23 minutes, Lee still managed to lead the team with 14 points and 6 rebounds, and did avoid fouling out. The only other Wildcat in double figures was Brylee Glenn, as the freshman dropped in 10 points in the losing effort.
Next up for the MittieCats is a Wednesday evening game at Omaha, where the Cats and Mavericks will square off at 5pm CT at Baxter Arena. The game can be seen on Mavs All-Access, with K-State audio on online at K-StateSports.com.
Volleyball
It was a short stay in the 2021 NCAA Tournament, as the VolleyCats got swept by Florida State to finish their season at 15-13 (6-10 Big 12). Aliyah Carter again led the way on offense for the Cats, but managed just 9 kills in the match. Despite the disappointing end to the season, the future looks promising for the Wildcats. Barring transfers, the Wildcats lose just three players this season, RS senior Jacque Smith and RS juniors Holly Bonde and Kayley Hollywood; and only Bonde was a regular starter/player this season.