BEVO BEAT Men's Basketball
Men’s preview: Texas at Kansas State
Wildcats enter play Saturday riding a six-game losing streak; Horns can clinch first season sweep since 2016
Posted February 21st, 2020
Texas at Kansas State
When: 1 p.m. Saturday
Where: Bramlage Coliseum (capacity 12,528)
TV/radio: CBS/104.9 The Horn
About the series: Kansas State leads the all-time series 22-17. The Longhorns won the previous matchup on Jan. 11 in Austin 64-50. Matt Coleman, Jase Febres and Courtney Ramey all finished in double figures, although two of those aren’t likely to play in this rematch.
TEXAS (15-11 overall, 5-8 Big 12)
No. Pos. Player Class Ht. PPG RPG
3 G Courtney Ramey Soph. 6-3 10.5 3.0*
1 G Andrew Jones Soph. 6-4 10.8 2.2
4 G Donovan Williams Fr. 6-6 3.2 1.0
33 F Kamaka Hepa Soph. 6-9 3.1 2.1
5 F Royce Hamm Jr. Jr. 6-8 2.2 2.4
Coach: Shaka Smart (86-77, 5th year at Texas; 249-133, 11th year overall)
*-indicates assists per game.
About the Longhorns: Freshman Will Baker wasn’t going overboard about his 20-point performance Wednesday against TCU. He simply wants to have a similar performance Saturday against K-State. “This is only motivating for me,” he said. “I’m not satisfied at all, so just gotta keep growing keep working.” The Horns, who are without three injured starters, hear the growing noise for a coaching change. But all they can do is press forward. “We got a lot of adversity that we’re fighting through internally right now in the program,” Jones said. “But we’re still confident. We’re still pushing forward and just try to make the best season as good as we can.”
KANSAS STATE (9-17 overall, 2-11 Big 12)
No. Pos. Player Class Ht. PPG RPG
2 G Cartier Diarra Jr. 6-4 13.0 4.4*
4 G David Sloan Jr. 6-0 5.2 1.2
20 F Xavier Sneed Sr. 6-5 14.3 4.6
23 F Montavious Murphy Fr. 6-9 5.2 3.7
14 F Makol Mawien Sr. 6-9 7.2 5.3
Coach: Bruce Weber (159-106, 8th year at Kansas State; 472-261, 22nd year overall)
*-indicates assists per game.
About the Wildcats: Weber’s squad was one of the few that’s given Texas Tech a good scare at home. The Red Raiders have lost only twice at home this season by a total of seven points. Tech needed an 8-2 run late to hold off K-State in a midweek game and win 69-62. The Wildcats are currently on a six-game losing streak, the longest in Weber’s time in Manhattan. Sneed had four steals against Tech, giving him 186 in his career, fourth-most in school history. Freshman Antonio Gordon is finding his rhythm. He scored a season-high 14 points on 6-of-7 shooting and hit two 3-pointers. Texas has not swept the regular-season series since 2016.
Contact Brian Davis at 512-445-3957. Email bdavis@statesman.com.
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