It’s Senior Day in Manhattan, can the Wildcats send off David N’Guessan with a bang?
It’s been a long season for the Kansas State Wildcats.
After blowing up a roster that went 19-15 last season, a lost in the first round of the NIT, Jerome Tang brought in nine transfers and a high school recruit to try and turn things back in the right direction. Except that he quickly discovered that having 10 new faces every year isn’t actually a good thing.
After a roller coaster 2024-25 season, the TangCats enter today’s regular season finale at 15-15 overall and 9-10 in Big 12 play. This squad has seen losing streaks of six and four games, sandwiched around a six-game winning streak. A streak that included today’s opponent in their own house.
A win today would the third in another streak, and would improbably put the Wildcats in the top-half of the Big 12 and give them a first-round bye in the Big 12 Tournament next week. It would like also give them an opportunity at another NIT appearance. Seriously, for a team that lost three-straight non-conference games, and was sitting at 7-11, 1-6 near the end of January (and looking like they may not win another game), they’ve come a long way. And to their credit, they never gave up even when they easily, and justifiably, could have.
For David N’Guessan, who joined Jerome Tang in 2022 as part of his first crop of transfers, as well as newcomer Coleman Hawkins and walk-on Spencer Bain, today is certainly the last time they step on the court at Bramlage Coliseum in competition (even if the Cats somehow snag an NIT berth, K-State won’t be hosting any games). Fellow newcomer Max Jones is also a senior, but after playing his first two seasons in NCAA’s Division 2, he’s got a waiver application already submitted that may give him at least one more year of eligibility.
Regardless, the Cats are facing a very good Iowa State squad (22-8, 12-7 Big 12) that they somehow surprised in Ames on the first day of February. And it wasn’t just a surprise win, K-State dominated the second half to win 80-61 for what is easily the most impressive win of the season. So K-State has shown they know how to beat the Cyclones. And they will have a much more friendly home crowd behind them today.
So can they do it again? Can they send the seniors out with a win? Can they finish this stupid, crazy season with a bang?
Time to find out.
We’ve got an 12:36pm CT tipoff for the game this afternoon from Bramlage Coliseum, and you can catch the action on CBS (yeah, the big one) with Andrew Catalon (play-by-play) and Steve Lappas (analyst) on the call.
If you can’t get to a screen with CBS on it, the game can be heard across portions of the 28-station K-State Sports Network with Wyatt Thompson (play-by-play) and Stan Weber (analyst) calling the action. The game will also be available online at K-Statesports.com and via the Varsity Network app, as well as on satellite radio on SiriusXM Ch. 384. Live stats are also available at k-statesports.com, and social media updates (@KStateMBB) will also be a part of the coverage.
Go Cats!