MANHATTAN, Kan. – Kansas State will travel to historic Hinkle Fieldhouse in Indianapolis on Wednesday, November 30 to take on the Butler Bulldogs as part of the fourth edition of the Big 12/BIG EAST Battle, the two conferences announced on Wednesday (May 18).
The 10 matchups were jointly determined by the two conferences and will be played on various campuses starting on Tuesday, November 29 and running through Sunday, December 4. Since Butler is the home team, the game will be broadcast on one of FOX Sports’ platforms. Specific television information and game time will be released later.
This will be just the second meeting between the programs and the first since Butler knocked off K-State, 63-56, in the NCAA West Regional Final in Salt Lake City to advance to the 2010 Final Four. It will be the first-ever visit to venerable Hinkle Fieldhouse, which is one of the oldest college basketball arenas still in use opening in 1928.
The two teams were scheduled to play in the Big 12/BIG EAST Battle at Hinkle Fieldhouse during the 2020-21 season, but the game was cancelled due to COVID-19 protocols within the Bulldog program.
K-State is 0-2 all-time in the Big 12/BIG EAST Battle following losses to Marquette in 2019 and 2021. This past season, the Golden Eagles posted a 64-63 win over the Wildcats at Bramlage Coliseum.
Overall, K-State is 24-26 all-time against BIG EAST opponents, including 4-15 on the road. The last win against a BIG EAST foe came against Creighton in the first round of the 2018 NCAA Tournament on March 16 in Charlotte.
Like K-State, Butler will be breaking in a new head coach as Thad Matta returned to his alma mater as head coach for a second time on April 3. Matta has won 74 percent of his games (439-154 record) in his 17-year head coaching career, which includes stints at Butler (2000-01), Xavier (2001-04) and Ohio State (2004-17). His teams have won 20 or more games in 16 of his 17 seasons, advancing to the NCAA Tournament 13 times with two appearances in the Final Four (2007, 2012) while at Ohio State.
The Bulldogs are expected to return leading scorer Chuck Harris (11.4 ppg., 2.7 rpg.) and significant contributors Jayden Taylor (8.2 ppg., 2.9 rpg.) and Simas Lukosius (6.8 ppg., 3.3 rpg.) from a team that posted a 14-19 overall record, including 6-14 mark in the BIG EAST. Matta has supplemented that core with the additions of transfers Manny Bates (N.C. State), Eric Hunter, Jr. (Purdue), Jalen Thomas (Georgia State) and Ali Ali (Akron).
K-State will be led by first-year head coach Jerome Tang, who was hired by the school on March 21 after a 19-year stint in helping build Baylor into a national powerhouse. The Wildcats are expected to return All-Big 12 honorable mention selection Markquis Nowell (12.4 ppg., 5.0 apg.) and junior Ish Massoud (6.8 ppg., 2.8 rpg.) in 2022-23. The team has signed five additional players, including transfers Cam Carter (Mississippi State), Jerrell Colbert (LSU) and Nae’Qwan Tomlin (Chipola College) and incoming freshmen Dorian Finister and Taj Manning.
The rest of the 2022-23 men’s basketball schedule will be released as it becomes official.
Big 12/BIG EAST Challenge
November 29 – Baylor at Marquette
November 30 – Providence at TCU
November 30 – Georgetown at Texas Tech
November 30 – K-State at Butler
December 1 – Creighton at Texas
December 1 – Oklahoma State at Connecticut
December 1 – Seton Hall at Kansas
December 3 – Oklahoma at Villanova
December 4 – St. John’s at Iowa State
December 4 – West Virginia at Xavier