🏀 Casey Alexander Era Tips Off Tuesday vs. South Dakota State

GAME 1

KANSAS STATE (0-0, 0-0 Big 12) vs. SOUTH DAKOTA STATE (0-0, 0-0 Summit)

Tuesday, November 3, 2026  |  7:01 p.m. CT  |  Bramlage Coliseum (11,010)  |  Manhattan, Kan.

Season Opener

TICKETS (Men's Basketball Ticket Hub)

1. GA tickets priced starting at $14 (seating in Section 22-25, first-come, first-served)
2. Student Promotion: ICAT Jersey Pickup #1 (ICAT members only)
3. Junior Wildcat members receive free ticket at NW Ticket Booth

PROMOTION

Flashlight Sticker Giveaway

Bring the Octagon of Doom to life with flashlight stickers. The first 3,000 fans in attendance will receive K-State flashlight stickers to put over your phone to illuminate Bramlage purple! 

TELEVISION

ESPN+ (online link)

1. Ben Boyle (play-by-play)
2. Missy Heidrick (analyst)
3. Addison Lowe (sideline reporter)
4. Alex Karbach (producer)

RADIO

K-State Sports Network

Flagships: // KMAN 1350 & WIBW 580

Satellite Radio: Sirius 269

Online: Varsity Network [free] / kstatesports.com/watch [free]

1. Wyatt Thompson (play-by-play)
2. Stan Weber (lead analyst)

LIVE STATS

kstate.statbroadcast.com

COACHES

K-State: Casey Alexander [Belmont ‘95]

Record at K-State: 0-0/1st Year

Career Record: 303-180/16th Year

South Dakota State: Bryan Peterson [Iowa State ‘09]

Record at SDSU: 14-18/2nd year

Career Record: 14-18/2nd Year

SERIES HISTORY

Overall: K-State leads 4-0

In Manhattan: K-State leads 4-0

In Brookings: n/a

Active Streak: Nebraska, 4

Last Meeting: K-State won 91-68 (11/13/2023 in Manhattan)

Casey Alexander vs. Bryan Peterson: 0-0

HISTORY IN SEASON OPENERS

Overall: K-State leads 95-27

In Manhattan: K-State leads 83-10

At Bramlage Coliseum: K-State leads 31-3

Active Streak: K-State, 2

Last Opener: K-State 93, UNC Greensboro 64 (11/4/2025)

Casey Alexander: 0-0 at K-State / 11-4 in career

K-STATE OPENS SEASON, CASEY ALEXANDER ERA TUESDAY VS SOUTH DAKOTA STATE

The teams will meet for the first time since 2023

MANHATTAN – The Kansas State men’s basketball team officially tips off the Casey Alexander era with a matchup against Summit foe South Dakota State (0-0) on Tuesday night (November 3) at Bramlage Coliseum. The opener tips off at 7:01 p.m., CT on ESPN+.

This will be the fifth matchup between the schools and the first since a 91-68 win by the Wildcats at Bramlage Coliseum on Nov. 13, 2023.

General admission tickets can be purchased for $14 through the K-State Athletics Ticket Office.

ALEXANDER ERA TIPS OFF

1. Tuesday’s season opener will mark the official debut for head coach Casey Alexander, who was hired as the school’s 27th head men’s basketball coach on March 13. Alexander has 303 games in 15 seasons as a head coach at Stetson, Lipscomb and Belmont.
2. Alexander, who led Belmont to 166 wins and four conference titles in the last seven seasons (2019-26), guided the Bruins to a 26-6 record and their first-ever Missouri Valley Conference regular-season title in 2025-26.
3. Alexander has led teams to 10 consecutive 20-win season (238-91; . 723 winning percentage), which includes double-digit conference win totals each season despite navigating three different conferences (Atlantic Sun, Ohio Valley and MVC). He is one of four coaches to win 20 or more games in 10 consecutive seasons, joining Gonzaga’s Mark Few, Houston’s Kelvin Sampson and Kansas’ Bill Self.
4. Belmont is one of 16 Division I programs with 165 or more victories since the start of the 2019-20 season, which includes the likes of Houston, Gonzaga, Duke and Kansas. The Bruins are one of only four teams outside the traditional multi-bid leagues (Akron, Drake, Liberty and VCU) in the fraternity.

HISTORY IN SEASON OPENERS

1. K-State has a 95-27 all-time record in season openers, including an 83-10 record at home and 31-3 at Bramlage Coliseum.
2. The Wildcats have won 10 of their last 12 season openers, including each of the last two with wins over New Orleans (89-65) in 2024 and UNC Greensboro (93-64) in 2025.
3. The last loss in a season opener came against USC, 82-69, on Nov. 6, 2023 at the Hall of Fame Tipoff Classic in Las Vegas, while the last loss in a home season opener came against Drake, 80-70, on Nov. 25, 2020.
4. K-State’s 3 losses in season openers at Bramlage Coliseum have come to Southern Miss, 74-60, on Nov. 27, 1993, Northern Colorado, 60-58, on Nov. 8, 2013 and Drake in 2020.
5. First-year head coaches have won their last 5 season openers (Jim Wooldridge, Bob Huggins, Frank Martin, Bruce Weber and Jerome Tang) with the last loss coming in 1994 when Tom Asbury lost his debut at Alabama (Nov. 16, 1994).
6. Head coach Casey Alexander is 11-4 in season openers in his career, including 1-1 at Stetson, 5-1 at Lipscomb and 5-2 at Belmont. He has won each of his last 4 season openers, including a 79-63 win over Air Force last season.

NOTABLE K-STATE HEAD COACHES IN THEIR DEBUT

(Record in Season Openers)

Jack Gardner (9-1)

Defeated Baker, 35-33, 12/6/1939

Tex Winter (11-4)

Defeated Denver, 70-41, 12/5/1953

Jack Hartman (13-3)

Defeated TCU, 79-70, 12/1/1970

Lon Kruger (4-0)

Defeated South Dakota, 95-45, 11/29/1986

Dana Altman (3-1)

Defeated Akron, 61-54, 11/24/1990

Bob Huggins (1-0)

Defeated William & Mary, 70-60, 11/11/2006

Frank Martin (5-0)

Defeated Sacramento State, 94-63, 11/9/2007

Bruce Weber (8-2)

Defeated North Dakota, 85-52, 11/9/2012

Jerome Tang (3-1)

Defeated UTRGV, 93-59, 11/7/2022

SEASON OPENERS UNDER CASEY ALEXANDER (11-4)

Stetson

11/11/11

Bethune-Cookman

W, 65-60

11/9/12

at Miami (Fla.)

L, 79-87

Lipscomb

11/8/13

Belmont

L, 83-87

11/14/14

Berry

W, 91-70

11/13/15

at Santa Clara

W, 65-63 (2 OTs)

11/11/16

Sewanee

W, 96-53

11/10/17

Emory

W, 98-83

11/6/18

Sewanee

W, 97-53

Belmont

11/6/19

at Illinois State

L, 72-79

11/26/20

at Howard

W, 95-78

11/9/21

at Ohio

L, 80-92

11/7/22

Ohio

W, 70-69

11/6/23

Georgia State

W, 89-87

11/4/24

Maryville

W, 93-70

11/3/25

Air Force

W, 79-63

SCOUTING K-STATE

1. K-State returns just one lettermen – rising sophomore Andrej Kostic – from last season, in which the team posted a 12-20 overall record, including a 3-15 mark in Big 12 play, under head coaches Jerome Tang and Matthew Driscoll.
2. Tang became the first Wildcat head coach to be dismissed during the season.
3. The 12 wins represented the third-fewest in the last 25 seasons, only surpassed by 9 in 2020-21 and 11 in 2019-20, while the 3 Big 12 wins tied for the second-fewest since the league’s inception and the lowest since winning 2 games in 1999-2000.
4. It was just the fourth 20-loss season in school history.
5. In addition to Kostic, the Wildcats welcome 13 newcomers, including 10 Division I transfers and three true freshmen.
6. Among those prominent Division I transfers are captains Brandon Rechsteiner (Colorado State), Jaden Schutt (Virginia Tech) and Brock Vice (Murray State) as well as Isaiah Abraham (Georgetown), Dez Lindsay (Oregon), Pape N’Diaye (Xavier), JT Rock (New Mexico) and Montana Wheeler (Bradley).
7. The three freshmen include guards Jaylen Alexander, Devin Hutcherson and Nash Stark.

RECAPPING EXHIBITION PLAY

1. K-State lost both exhibition games, falling to Missouri at home, 71-67, on Oct. 23 before dropping an 88-84 decision to Nebraska in Grand Island, Neb., on Oct. 26.
2. The Wildcats averaged 75.5 points in exhibition play, connecting on 43.7 percent shooting, including 35.2 percent from 3-point range, and 80 percent from the free throw line.
3. Senior Brandon Rechsteiner averaged 16 points on 44.4 percent (12-of-27) from the field, including 42.1 percent (8-of-19) from 3-point range, while fifth-year Jaden Schutt averaged 14 points on 46.7 percent (7-of-15) shooting, including 50 percent (7-of-14) from 3.

Exhibition 1 – Missouri 71, K-State 67 (view stats, highlights, etc. here)

1. In the exhibition against Missouri, K-State nearly fought back from a 14-point second half, closing the deficit to one possession several times in the final minute, before falling 71-67 at Bramlage Coliseum.
2. McDonald’s All-American Jason Crowe Jr. led the Tigers with a game-high 21 points to go with 5 assists, while three Wildcats scored in double figures led by fifth year Jaden Schutt  and sophomore Montana Wheeler, who had 12 points each. Senior Brandon Rechsteiner added 11 points to go with team-highs in both rebounds (8) and assists (5).
3. The Tigers scored the first 13 points of the second half to quickly erase a 5-point halftime deficit to the Wildcats. The lead ballooned to 14 points at 61-47 with 6:38 remaining after an 11-1 run that was capped by a 3-pointer freshman Toni Bryant. However, the new-look Wildcats wouldn’t go away, slowly chipping away behind the play of Rechsteiner, Wheeler and junior Isaiah Abraham, who accounted for the team’s last 20 points.
4. Rechsteiner answered the Bryant 3-pointer right before a K-State timeout with 6:04 to play. He added another 3-pointer following jumpers from Wheeler and Abraham that cut the lead to 63-57, forcing a Missouri timeout with 2:44 remaining. Following a pair of Crowe free throws, Rechsteiner had a layup to go with two free throws from Wheeler that made it 65-61. The teams traded free throws before a steal and layup by Abraham closed to one possession at 67-65 with 27 seconds.
5. Fifth year Dez Lindsay forced a bad pass by sophomore Bryson Tiller on the next possession, but Tiller recovered to block Abraham’s layup with 17 seconds. Tiller grabbed the defensive board and fed it to senior Kennard Davis Jr., who converted on a layup on the other end to put the Tigers up 69-65 with 13 seconds. Abraham’s dunk with 5 seconds pulled the Wildcats to within 69-67 but two free throws from Crowe with 2.3 seconds provided the final points.

Exhibition 2 – Nebraska 88, K-State 84 (view stats, highlights, etc. here)

1. Junior Braden Frager and senior Pryce Sandfort combined for 51 points, as Nebraska out-dueled Kansas State, 88-84, in a high-flying, high-scoring exhibition on Oct. 26 before 5,338 fans at the BigIron Events Center in Grand Island, Neb.
2. In a back-and-forth affair that lived up to the billing as the “Battle at the BigIron,” the teams combined for 29 made 3-point field goal on 80 attempts, including 16 by the Wildcats. Nine different players connected from long range, including a combined nine by senior Brandon Rechsteiner and fifth-year Jaden Schutt.
3. The 16 made 3-pointers were the most-ever by a Wildcat team in an exhibition game.
4. Frager and Sandfort accounted for nine of the Huskers’ 13 triples, as Frager led all scorers with 28 points, while Sandfort added 23 points. Rechsteiner paced three Wildcats in double figures with 21 points to go with 7 assists, while Schutt and freshman Jaylen Alexander accounted for 16 and 11 points, respectively.
5. Fitting for a game in which the teams combined to make 29 3-pointers, it was a stretch of 3-point makes that gave the Huskers the edge they needed in an up-and-down affair.
6. After Rechsteiner connected on his fifth triple of the game that pulled the Wildcats to within 58-57 at the 11:36 mark, three different Huskers – freshman Jacob Lanier, junior Taj DeGourville and Frager – knocked down long range shots that extended the lead to 67-59 with just over 9 minutes remaining. They extended the lead to as many as 13 points at 75-62 after a 7-0 run capped by a fifth Frager 3-pointer with 4:15 left.
7. However, the never-say-die Wildcats kept chipping away at the deficit, using an 18-7 run to close to within 82-80 after back-to-back layups by Alexander with 25 seconds. DeGourville knocked down a pair of free throws to extend the Husker lead to 84-80 with 18 seconds but Alexander made it a one possession game at 84-82 with a layup with 11 seconds to go before a K-State timeout.
8. Two more free throws by Frager followed by a Rechsteiner layup once again made it a one possession game at 86-84 with 3 seconds. However, Lanier put the game out of reach with two more free throws at 88-84 with 2 seconds remaining.

TRIO NAMED CAPTAINS

1. Senior guard Brandon Rechsteiner, fifth-year guard Jaden Schutt and senior forward Brock Vice were selected as team captains for the 2026-27 season in a team-wide vote, it was announced on Sept. 24.
2. The trio are all in their first years at K-State after transferring this past spring.
3. Rechsteiner is entering his fourth season of college basketball after playing at both Colorado State (2025-26) and Virginia Tech (2023-25). He has played in 92 games with 51 starts while scoring nearly 700 points on 41.2 percent shooting. He is coming off a career year at CSU, where he earned honorable mention All-Mountain West honors after leading the Rams in scoring (12.0 ppg.), double-digit scoring games (24) and 3-pointers (86).
4. Schutt arrived at K-State after two seasons at Virginia Tech (2024-26) and one season at Duke (2022-24). He has played in 78 career games with 31 starts while scoring more than 500 points on 37 percent shooting from 3-point range. He led the Hokies in 3-pointers in each of his two seasons, including 65 on 38.5 percent shooting in 2025-26.
5. Vice arrived at K-State after stints at Creighton (2023-24), North Texas (2024-25) and Murray State (2025-26). He is coming off his best season while playing Murray State, where he saw action in 30 of 33 games for a Racer squad that won 20 games in 2025-26.

SCOUTING SOUTH DAKOTA STATE

1. South Dakota State enters year two under head coach Bryan Peterson after posting a 14-18 overall record in 2025-26, including a seventh-place finish in the Summit League at 7-9.
2. The Jackrabbits return 4 lettermen, including two starters (Joe Sayler and Kalen Gerry), and welcome 7 newcomers.
3. SDSU was picked third in the preseason Summit League poll with 396 total points and seven first-place votes. They trailed 2026 champion North Dakota State (418 and 13 first-place votes) and St. Thomas (410 and 11 first-place votes) in the preseason vote.
4. Three Jackrabbits were selected to the Preseason All-Summit League headlined by Preseason Player of the Year and First Team pick Joe Sayler as well as senior Kalen Gerry and junior newcomer Jesse Van Kalsbeek, who were tabbed to the Preseason Second Team. Sayler is the school’s first Preseason Player of the Year since Zeke Mayo in 2023-24.
5. An honorable mention pick a year ago, Sayler averaged 14.5 points on 43.2 percent shooting, including 41.2 percent from 3-point range, to go with 3.5 rebounds and 2.4 assists per game. He averaged 17.9 points per game in league play, connecting on 46.6 percent from the field, including 47.1 percent from 3-point range.
6. Garry, also named honorable mention All-Summit League, started all 32 games while averaging 10.7 points, 5.2 rebounds, 3.2 assists per game.
7. Van Kalsbeek transferred from Northwestern College, where he led the NAIA level in scoring at 27.8 points per game to go with 12.4 rebounds. He was the Bevo Francis Award winner, which goes to the best small college player.
8. A former player at Iowa State, Peterson was elevated to head coach in March 2025 after spending six seasons (2019-25) as an assistant coach under Eric Henderson (now the head coach at Drake). He won two NJCAA Division II National Championships (2016, 2019) as head coach at Kirkwood Community College from 2013-19 while compiling a 157-38 record. He was a graduate assistant at ISU under Greg McDermott and Fred Hoiberg.

SERIES HISTORY

1. K-State is 4-0 all-time vs. South Dakota State with home wins in 1959, 1963 and 2023.
2. The schools are meeting for the second time in four seasons after not previously matching on the hardwood for 60 years.
3. The series dates to the first meeting on Jan. 31, 1959 when the Wildcats posted a 91-65 win at Ahearn Field House. The teams met less than a year later on Dec. 1, 1959 when the Wildcats once again won 85-52 at home. A third meeting came four years later on Dec. 3, 1963 when the Wildcats won 87-59 at home.
4. The latest meeting came on Nov. 13, 2023 when the Wildcats shot 57.4 percent from the field with 14 3-pointers to win 91-68 at Bramlage Coliseum.
5. K-State is 52-3 all-time vs. Summit League teams, including 45-0 at home.

LAST MEETING:

K-STATE 91, SOUTH DAKOTA STATE 68 (Nov. 13, 2023 at Bramlage Coliseum)

1. K-State connected on 14 3-point field goals, including a combined 10 from senior Tylor Perry and junior Cam Carter, as the Wildcats led from wire-to-wire in an impressive 91-68 win over South Dakota State in the last meeting on Nov. 13, 2023 at Bramlage Coliseum.
2. The 14 made 3-point field goals still ranks tied for ninth in school history.Carter scored a career-high 25 points, hitting on 10-of-20 field goals, including 4-of-8 from 3-point range, while Perry also netted 20 points, tying his season-high with 22 points on 7-of-9 shooting, including 6-of-7 from beyond the arc.
3. Two other Wildcats – freshman R.J. Jones (14 points) and senior Will McNair Jr. (10 points) also had double figures, while senior David N’Guessan had 11 rebounds.
4. Buoyed by the stellar night from beyond the arc, K-State scored a season-high 91 points on a season-best 57.4 percent (35-of-61) shooting from the field, including 56 percent (14-of-25) from 3-point range, and 77.8 percent (7-of-8) from the free throw line. The Wildcats scored 40 points in the paint, while they had 17 fast-break points, 16 second-chance points and 15 points off turnovers. They had an assist on 24 of their 35 field goals.
5. The defense was equally impressive, holding the Jackrabbits (1-2) to 41.5 percent (27-of-65) shooting, including 33.3 percent (7-of-21) from long range, while they made just 46.7 percent (7-of-15) from the free throw line.
6. SDSU saw three players score in double figures led by senior Charlie Easley’s 21 points on 9-of-13 field goals to along with 4 rebounds and a career-best 6 steals. Fellow senior Luke Appel posted 16 points on 5-of-13 shooting with a team-high 7 rebounds.

NEXT UP

K-State returns to action on Friday, November 6 when the Wildcats play host to Cal State Northridge (CSN) at 8 p.m., CT at Bramlage Coliseum. It will be the second game of a doubleheader with the Wildcat women’s volleyball team playing Cincinnati at 5 p.m., CT at Morgan Family Arena. It will be a Wildcat Weekend with discounted tickets ($9 in advance, $12 at the door) available with the purchase of a ticket for Saturday’s football game with Oklahoma State.