No. 13 seed UC Irvine upsets Kansas State 70-64
UC Irvine got back-to-back 3-pointers from Evan Leonard to spark the deciding run in a 70-64 upset over Kansas State that marked the Anteaters' first NCAA Tournament victory in school history.
2019 ScheduleAll times ET
2019 Schedule
25-9, 1st in Big 12
- 11/9W 56-41
- 11/12W 64-56
- 11/16W 95-68
- 11/18W 64-48
- 11/19W 82-67
- 11/24W 77-58
- 12/1L 83-71
- 12/8L 47-46
- 12/15W 71-59
- 12/19W 55-51
- 12/22W 69-58
- 12/29W 59-58
- 1/2L 67-47
- 1/511L 63-57
- 1/9W 71-69
- 1/1220W 58-57
- 1/1620W 74-61
- 1/19W 65-55
- 1/2214W 58-45
- 1/26L 65-53
- 2/2W 75-57
- 2/513W 74-67
- 2/9W 70-63
- 2/12W 71-64
- 2/1623L 78-64
- 2/18W 65-51
- 2/23W 85-46
- 2/2515L 64-49
- 3/2W 66-60
- 3/4W 64-52
- 3/9W 68-53
- 3/14W 70-61
- 3/15L 63-59
- 3/2213L 70-64
- Full Schedule
Joel Anderson ESPN
UC Irvine's victory over Kansas State today was the first for the Big West conference in the round of 64 since Hawai'i beat California as a 13 seed in 2016. The Anteaters, in only their second-ever NCAA tournament, also extended their winning streak to 17 games and their school record for wins in a season to 31.
Joel Anderson ESPN
Kansas State star Barry Brown is going to want to forget the final game of his college career for a number of reasons, but he suffered through an absolutely disastrous stretch in the final 1:38 of this upset loss to UC Irvine. Brown first clanged a long 3 early in the shot clock, threw the ball away on another possession, and then missed another 3 with 14 seconds left, capping an afternoon where he finished with 5 points on 2-of-9 shooting. His struggles typified the Wildcats' poor offensive performance (37.3 percent shooting overall, 29.6 from 3) in their defeat.
Joel Anderson ESPN
We've got a little more than 8 minutes left in San Jose and UC Irvine has a 2-point lead, no fear, and a virtual home-court advantage here in the SAP Center. Kansas State simply can't find anyone who can reliably get to the basket, a continuation of a season-long trend. The Wildcats, already one of the nation's worst-shooting (248th) and scoring teams,(321st) is currently shooting 39.1 percent against the 13th-seeded Anteaters.
Joel Anderson ESPN
Here's how much Kansas State misses injured senior forward Dean Wade so far: The Wildcats scored just 6 points in the paint in the first half and attempted as many threes (14) as twos (14), which isn't a good sign for a team that ranked 224th in the nation in 3-point shooting percentage (33.6).
Joel Anderson ESPN
Not only did Max Hazzard's buzzer-beating 3 tie the game up at halftime for the first time since tipoff, but UC Irvine also held Kansas State without a field goal for the final 6:18 of the first half. It was quite the momentum change for the underdog Anteaters, who trailed throughout despite holding the fourth-seeded Wildcats to 35.7 percent shooting.
Joel Anderson ESPN
We're early into the first game at San Jose today but it's pretty clear UC Irvine, which is located 385 miles south of the SAP Center, has a decided home-court advantage over No. 4-seeded Kansas State. UC Irvine's fans had the "Let's go Eaters!" chants going even before tipoff.
Joel Anderson ESPN
At this point it seems clear All-Big 12 forward Dean Wade will miss Kansas State's NCAA Tournament opener against UC-Irvine today. Wade, who's missed the conference tournament with a lingering foot injury, remained in his warmups and was wearing a boot on his foot minutes before tipoff. Yesterday, Wildcats coach Bruce Weber told reporters that "we can't take a chance" in playing Wade, who is the team's leading rebounder and second-leading scorer.
Weber says KSU can't 'take a chance' with Wade
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Marial Shayok hit back-to-back 3-pointers right in front of his own bench to give Iowa State the lead in the final minute, and the fifth-seeded Cyclones held on at the foul line to beat No. 15 Kansas State 63-59 on Friday night in the Big 12 semifinals.
Haliburton slams it on 3 defenders (0:33)
Sneed throws down the one-handed hammer (0:31)
Diarra pulls off a James Harden step back to nail 3-pointer (0:19)
Wigginton blows by a defender for a wide open slam (0:17)
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Kansas State's tremendous hustle leads to alley-oop spike (0:29)
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2018-19 Big 12 Standings
| TEAM | CONF | GB | OVR |
|---|---|---|---|
| Texas Tech | 14-4 | - | 31-7 |
| Kansas State | 14-4 | - | 25-9 |
| Kansas | 12-6 | 2 | 26-10 |
| Baylor | 10-8 | 4 | 20-14 |
| Iowa State | 9-9 | 5 | 23-12 |
| Texas | 8-10 | 6 | 21-16 |
| TCU | 7-11 | 7 | 23-14 |
| Oklahoma | 7-11 | 7 | 20-14 |
| Oklahoma State | 5-13 | 9 | 12-20 |
| West Virginia | 4-14 | 10 | 15-21 |
Top Performers 2018-19
- Offense
- Defense
Team Stats
Points Per Game65.8
Rebounds Per Game33.3
Assists Per Game13.6
Points Allowed59.64th
2019 Polls & Rankings
| AP | COACHES |
|---|---|
| 18 | 19 |
2019 Recruits
| NAME | POS | STATUS | GRADE |
|---|---|---|---|
| Montavious Murphy | PF | Signed | 81 |
| DaJuan Gordon | SG | Signed | 79 |
| Antonio Gordon | PF | Signed | - |
| Goodnews Kpegeol | SG | Signed | - |
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Tournament History
| Final Fours | 4 |
| Tournament Record | 34-33 |
| Championship Seasons | None |
| Tournament Appearances | 29 |