K-State/Georgia To Air on ESPNU at 1 pm CT
Sep 06, 2017 | Men's Basketball
MANHATTAN, Kan. – Kansas State's game with Georgia as part of the fifth annual Big 12/SEC Challenge Presented by Sonic will be broadcast nationally on ESPNU at 1 p.m., CT on Saturday, January 27, 2018 at Bramlage Coliseum, the two conferences announced Wednesday.
The game will be one of 10 contested between the two leagues for the fifth consecutive season with ESPN providing coverage of all games on ESPN, ESPN2 or ESPNU. All the contests will occur on January.
The Big 12, which collected its most non-conference wins (116) in five seasons in 2016-17 on a .784 winning percentage, has won three of the four Challenge series, posting a 25-15 (.625) record. The leagues split their 10 Challenge games last season. Overall, the Big 12 is 53-35 (.602) in its last four challenge series (vs. Pac-10 and SEC) dating back to 2007.
The Big 12 has been No. 1 in RPI in four of the last seven seasons, including second-best league in 2016-17.
The matchup will mark the third meeting in the past four seasons for the two schools, but the first in the Challenge event. The teams split a home-and-home series during the 2014-15 and 2015-16 seasons with the Bulldogs earning a 50-46 win at Bramlage Coliseum on December 31, 2014 and the Wildcats getting a last-second shot from then freshman Dean Wade to post a 68-66 victory at Stegeman Coliseum on December 4, 2015.
Overall, K-State is 161-149 all-time against teams from the SEC, which includes a 2-2 mark in the Big 12/SEC Challenge series with wins over Ole Miss at home in 2013 (61-58) and 2016 (69-64) and losses at Tennessee in 2014 (64-65) and 2017 (58-70). The Wildcats have met at least one SEC opponent in each of the last nine seasons.
The contest will also serve as another homecoming for ninth-year Georgia head coach Mark Fox, who is a native of Garden City, Kansas, and a former assistant coach at K-State from 1994-2000. During his six-year stint on the coaching staff of head coach Tom Asbury, Fox helped the Wildcats post an 85-88 overall record with three postseason appearances, including a trip to the 1996 NCAA Tournament. Fox's wife, Cindy, also spent time in the K-State Athletics Department, serving five years as Assistant AD for Marketing and Senior Woman Administrator.
The Bulldogs are set to return 11 players, including 10 with starting experience, from a team that posted a 19-15 overall record and advanced to the NIT in 2016-17. The team, which knocked off Texas last season in the Challenge series, returns one of the country's top big men in senior forward Yante Maten. A two-time All-SEC pick, Maten averaged 18.2 points on 51.9 percent shooting with 6.8 rebounds and 1.5 blocks per game as a junior.
The Wildcats will return eight lettermen, including three players – Barry Brown, Kamau Stokes and Dean Wade – who started all 35 games for a Wildcat squad that won 21 games and advanced to the NCAA Tournament. Brown and Stokes are the team's top returning scorers with identical 11.7 points per game averages, while Stokes was the team leader in 3-point field goals (64), assists (4.1 apg.) and minutes (33.3 mpg.) in 2016-17. Brown set a single-season school record for steals with 82, while Wade averaged 9.3 points on nearly 50 percent shooting and is the team's top returner in both rebounding (4.5 rpg.) and blocked shots (0.7 bpg.).
In addition, K-State will welcome seven newcomers (graduate transfer Mawdo Sallah, juniors Makol Mawien, Patrick Muldoon and Amaad Wainright and freshmen Mike McGuirl, Nigel Shadd and Levi Stockard III) as well as redshirt freshmen Cartier Diarra and James Love III, who both missed the 2016-17 season due to injury.
Season tickets for the 2017-18 season are currently on sale with a variety of pricing options available, including the return of the Big Game and Pick 5 Mini-Plans. Fans can purchase season tickets in a variety of ways, including toll free at (800) 221.CATS (2287), online at www.kstatesports.com/tickets and in-person at the Athletics Ticket Office located in Bramlage Coliseum.
The remaining game times as well as the third-tier television slate will be released in the coming weeks.
Big 12 / SEC Challenge Presented by Sonic
Baylor at Florida, ESPN, 11 a.m. CT
Texas Tech at South Carolina, ESPN2, 11 a.m. CT
Georgia at Kansas State, ESPNU, 1 p.m. CT
Mississippi at Texas, ESPN2, 1 p.m. CT
Oklahoma at Alabama, ESPN, 1:15 p.m. CT
Tennessee at Iowa State, ESPNU, 3 p.m. CT
TCU at Vanderbilt, ESPN2, 3 p.m. CT
Texas A&M at Kansas, ESPN, 3:30/6 p.m. CT
Kentucky at West Virginia, ESPN, 3:30/6 p.m. CT
Oklahoma State at Arkansas, ESPN2, 5 p.m. CT
The game will be one of 10 contested between the two leagues for the fifth consecutive season with ESPN providing coverage of all games on ESPN, ESPN2 or ESPNU. All the contests will occur on January.
The Big 12, which collected its most non-conference wins (116) in five seasons in 2016-17 on a .784 winning percentage, has won three of the four Challenge series, posting a 25-15 (.625) record. The leagues split their 10 Challenge games last season. Overall, the Big 12 is 53-35 (.602) in its last four challenge series (vs. Pac-10 and SEC) dating back to 2007.
The Big 12 has been No. 1 in RPI in four of the last seven seasons, including second-best league in 2016-17.
The matchup will mark the third meeting in the past four seasons for the two schools, but the first in the Challenge event. The teams split a home-and-home series during the 2014-15 and 2015-16 seasons with the Bulldogs earning a 50-46 win at Bramlage Coliseum on December 31, 2014 and the Wildcats getting a last-second shot from then freshman Dean Wade to post a 68-66 victory at Stegeman Coliseum on December 4, 2015.
Overall, K-State is 161-149 all-time against teams from the SEC, which includes a 2-2 mark in the Big 12/SEC Challenge series with wins over Ole Miss at home in 2013 (61-58) and 2016 (69-64) and losses at Tennessee in 2014 (64-65) and 2017 (58-70). The Wildcats have met at least one SEC opponent in each of the last nine seasons.
The contest will also serve as another homecoming for ninth-year Georgia head coach Mark Fox, who is a native of Garden City, Kansas, and a former assistant coach at K-State from 1994-2000. During his six-year stint on the coaching staff of head coach Tom Asbury, Fox helped the Wildcats post an 85-88 overall record with three postseason appearances, including a trip to the 1996 NCAA Tournament. Fox's wife, Cindy, also spent time in the K-State Athletics Department, serving five years as Assistant AD for Marketing and Senior Woman Administrator.
The Bulldogs are set to return 11 players, including 10 with starting experience, from a team that posted a 19-15 overall record and advanced to the NIT in 2016-17. The team, which knocked off Texas last season in the Challenge series, returns one of the country's top big men in senior forward Yante Maten. A two-time All-SEC pick, Maten averaged 18.2 points on 51.9 percent shooting with 6.8 rebounds and 1.5 blocks per game as a junior.
The Wildcats will return eight lettermen, including three players – Barry Brown, Kamau Stokes and Dean Wade – who started all 35 games for a Wildcat squad that won 21 games and advanced to the NCAA Tournament. Brown and Stokes are the team's top returning scorers with identical 11.7 points per game averages, while Stokes was the team leader in 3-point field goals (64), assists (4.1 apg.) and minutes (33.3 mpg.) in 2016-17. Brown set a single-season school record for steals with 82, while Wade averaged 9.3 points on nearly 50 percent shooting and is the team's top returner in both rebounding (4.5 rpg.) and blocked shots (0.7 bpg.).
In addition, K-State will welcome seven newcomers (graduate transfer Mawdo Sallah, juniors Makol Mawien, Patrick Muldoon and Amaad Wainright and freshmen Mike McGuirl, Nigel Shadd and Levi Stockard III) as well as redshirt freshmen Cartier Diarra and James Love III, who both missed the 2016-17 season due to injury.
Season tickets for the 2017-18 season are currently on sale with a variety of pricing options available, including the return of the Big Game and Pick 5 Mini-Plans. Fans can purchase season tickets in a variety of ways, including toll free at (800) 221.CATS (2287), online at www.kstatesports.com/tickets and in-person at the Athletics Ticket Office located in Bramlage Coliseum.
The remaining game times as well as the third-tier television slate will be released in the coming weeks.
Big 12 / SEC Challenge Presented by Sonic
Baylor at Florida, ESPN, 11 a.m. CT
Texas Tech at South Carolina, ESPN2, 11 a.m. CT
Georgia at Kansas State, ESPNU, 1 p.m. CT
Mississippi at Texas, ESPN2, 1 p.m. CT
Oklahoma at Alabama, ESPN, 1:15 p.m. CT
Tennessee at Iowa State, ESPNU, 3 p.m. CT
TCU at Vanderbilt, ESPN2, 3 p.m. CT
Texas A&M at Kansas, ESPN, 3:30/6 p.m. CT
Kentucky at West Virginia, ESPN, 3:30/6 p.m. CT
Oklahoma State at Arkansas, ESPN2, 5 p.m. CT
Players Mentioned
G
/ Men's Basketball
G
/ Men's Basketball
F
/ Men's Basketball
F
/ Men's Basketball
G
/ Men's Basketball
F
/ Men's Basketball
F
/ Men's Basketball
F
/ Men's Basketball
F
/ Men's Basketball
G
/ Men's Basketball
G
/ Men's BasketballK-State Men's Basketball | Game Replay vs Cincinnati - February 11, 2026
Thursday, February 12
K-State Men's Basketball | Coach Tang Press Conference vs Cincinnati
Thursday, February 12
K-State Men's Basketball | Game Highlights vs Cincinnati
Thursday, February 12
K-State Men's Basketball | Postgame Press Conference at TCU
Saturday, February 07
