K-State Wildcats vs. Drake Bulldogs: Basketball lineups, time, TV and prediction
The details
When/where: 1 p.m. Wednesday at Bramlage Coliseum in Manhattan, Kansas.
TV/radio: ESPNU; KKGQ (92.3 FM) in Wichita, KCSP (610 AM) in Kansas City.
Projected lineups
P | No. | Drake | Ht. | Yr. | PPG* |
C | 51 | Darnell Brodie | 6-10 | Jr. | 0.0 |
G | 3 | Garrett Sturtz | 6-5 | Jr. | 7.4 |
G | 0 | D.J. Wilkins | 6-2 | Jr. | 8.9 |
G | 14 | Noah Thomas | 6-3 | Sr. | 5.7 |
G | 12 | Roman Penn | 6-0 | Jr. | 12.0 |
P | No. | Kansas State | Ht. | Yr. | PPG* |
F | 1 | Kaosi Ezeagu | 6-10 | So. | 3.2 |
F | 23 | Montavious Murphy | 6-9 | So. | 5.2 |
G | 00 | Mike McGuirl | 6-2 | Sr. | 6.9 |
G | 3 | DaJuan Gordon | 6-4 | So. | 5.0 |
G | 24 | Nijel Pack | 6-0 | Fr. | 0.0 |
*stats from last season
About Drake (20-14, 8-10 Missouri Valley in 2019-20): The Bulldogs are coming off a 20-win season under coach Darian DeVries. They got off to a hot start last year and then faded a bit in Missouri Valley Conference play. But they did advance to the semifinals of the conference tournament before falling to Bradley. Drake is led by Roman Penn, a junior guard who averaged 12 points per game last season. The Bulldogs will rely on him to help replace the loss of last season’s leading scorer, Liam Robbins. Darnell Brodie is an imposing big man who transferred from Seton Hall.
About Kansas State (11-21, 3-15 Big 12 in 2019-10): It’s time to see what Bruce Weber’s rebuilt roster can do. A year after winning only 11 games and finishing last in the Big 12 standings, the Wildcats brought in nine new scholarship players during the offseason. Weber seems cautiously optimistic about what this group can accomplish this season with a cast of promising newcomers surrounding senior guard Mike McGuirl. But not even he is sure what to expect, as the Wildcats haven’t even scrimmaged against an opposing team. Nijel Pack, a four-star rectruit, is expected to lead the way at point guard as a freshman. K-State’s front court will also look different with Kaosi Ezeagu and Davion Bradford splitting time down low.
Prediction: Good luck trying to make sense of this matchup. Nobody has seen either team play or practice since last March, and both coaches will rely on newcomers immediately during this unusual season.
A junk defense could be difficult for both sides to handle.
The coaching staff that makes the best adjustments on the fly in this game will have an advantage. The Wildcats don’t return much scoring from last season’s roster so it will be interesting to see who steps up and makes some shots in Game 1.
Still, K-State is the more talented team on paper and should beat Drake at home, albeit without fans at Bramlage.
Kansas State 66, Drake 61.