Kansas State will renew a long-dormant rivalry as they take on Drake in the Wildcat Classic at T-Mobile Center in Kansas City, Mo.
The Wildcats and Bulldogs have met 27 times in their history, with 16 of those matchups occurring in the early 20th century when both programs were members of the Missouri Valley Conference. Kansas State leads the all-time series 20-7. The teams last faced off in 2020, when Drake claimed an 80-70 victory in Manhattan, Kan.
Both teams feature different leadership since their last meeting. K-State head coach Jerome Tang is in his third season, while Drake is thriving under first-year coach Ben McCollum, who is off to a perfect 9-0 start.
McCollum arrived in Des Moines after a stellar 15-year tenure at Division II Northwest Missouri State, where he captured four national championships (2017, 2019, 2021, and 2022). He’s wasted no time building momentum with the Bulldogs.
Drake enters the game following a dominant 90-35 win over NAIA opponent St. Ambrose, a tune-up that McCollum deemed essential as preparation for Kansas State.
“You’ve got K-State coming up,” Drake head coach Ben McCollum said after the Bulldogs’ 90-35 win over St. Ambrose. “I think if you come out of finals and just jump right into K-State, you don’t have that good rhythm. I thought this was the perfect game for that.”
Drake enters Tuesday’s matchup led by a trio of double-digit scorers. Bennett Stirtz paces the team with 17.8 points per game, followed by Daniel Abreu at 13.9 ppg and Mitch Mascari at 12.2.
Meanwhile, Kansas State is looking to rebound after an 88-71 loss at St. John’s on Dec. 7. The Wildcats held a 39-35 lead at halftime but were outscored by 21 points in the second half, dropping their record to 6-3.
Despite recent struggles, head coach Jerome Tang remains optimistic. “I really feel like the guys have bought into what we want to do moving forward,” he said Monday.
The Wildcats also boast three double-figure scorers. Brendan Hausen leads the way with 15.2 points per game, while David N’Guessan adds 14.2. Hausen has been particularly lethal from beyond the arc, averaging 3.67 made 3-pointers per game — good for ninth in Division I.
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