Oct 23, 2024; Kansas City, MO, USA; Kansas State Wildcats head coach Jerome Tang talks to media during the Big 12 Men’s Basketball Media Day at T-Mobile Center. Mandatory Credit: Jay Biggerstaff-Imagn Images The Arkansas-Pine Bluff Golden Lions look to end a six-game losing streak on Sunday when they take on Kansas State in Manhattan, Kan.
The Golden Lions (1-7) have been on the road for all but one of their eight games this season. Each of their seven losses were by at least 12 points, but the most recent game was the closest. Arkansas-Pine Bluff led Pacific 41-40 at halftime before falling 83-71 on Wednesday.
Dante Sawyer and Klemen Vuga each had 16 points for the Golden Lions. Raphael Dumont added 14 points and a team-high six rebounds.
Christian Moore leads the team in scoring at 12.1 points per game, followed by Sawyer (12.0) and Vuga (11.1). Robert Lewis is pulling down a team-best 6.3 rebounds per game. Moore is dishing out 3.6 assists per game.
Kansas State (5-2) tries to rebound after a disappointing trip to the Virgin Islands. The Wildcats claimed third place in the Paradise Jam tournament with an 80-64 victory over Longwood on Monday in St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands.
However, the Wildcats were frustrated by a 67-65 loss to Liberty in the semifinals on Sunday.
Trailing by two points, K-State had three chances to take the lead or at least tie the score in the final 10 seconds but couldn’t find the bottom of the net. Dug McDaniel rebounded a Liberty miss and headed up the court, missing a 3-pointer with 5 seconds left. The miss was rebounded by David N’Guessan, whose tip-in was off target. McDaniel rebounded the miss and launched up a 3-pointer that rimmed out at the buzzer.
“I told the guys this was going to be a one-possession game, and we have to embrace being in a place of fire,” head coach Jerome Tang said. “That’s an NCAA Tournament team there, and that’s why we’re here, to learn from this, to grow from this. We don’t need this thing to be easy.
“We had two opportunities to get a score. That’s all you can ask for. I’ll take Dug’s shot and David’s (shot) on the glass all the time.”
Brendan Hausen and N’Guessan share the team’s scoring leadership, each at 13.7 points per game. No other player averages double figures. Coleman Hawkins tops the Wildcats with 7.4 rebounds per game.
McDaniel averages a team-high 5.2 assists per game, followed by Hawkins (3.7).
–Field Level Media
