St. Louis to highlight Kansas State's upcoming home basketball schedule

The nonconference portion of Kansas State’s basketball schedule for the 2015-16 season is set, Wildcats coach Bruce Weber said Wednesday, and a game against St. Louis at Bramlage Coliseum will highlight the unannounced home slate.

The game, which will be played in late December, will start a home-and-home series with the Billikens. The return game will be played at St. Louis the following season.

“We wanted a nice home game around Christmas time, which we have had, and we thought they were a good opponent for that,” Weber told the Eagle during an interview at the Wichita Catbackers banquet.

The return game will also allow D.J. Johnson, a St. Louis native, to play in his hometown as a senior.

“He will get to go home,” Weber said. “That was one of the big reasons for that.”

St. Louis, of the Atlantic 10 Conference, is coming off a down season in which it went 11-21. Previously, it made three straight NCAA Tournaments.

The rest of K-State’s nonconference schedule will feature unannounced games against Columbia, Maryland-Eastern Shore, South Dakota, South Carolina State, Coppin State and North Dakota.

The Wildcats will also play previously announced games against Mississippi (at home), Missouri/Northwestern/North Carolina (CBE Classic), Colorado State (Wichita) as well as road games against Texas A&M and Georgia.

K-State is expected to officially announce the schedule later this week, Weber said.

This story was originally published June 10, 2015 at 8:46 PM.