#MUBB Travels To Kansas State For BIG EAST/Big 12 Battle

The Marquette University men's basketball team (7-2, 0-0 BIG EAST) wraps up the road portion of its non-conference schedule on Wednesday, Dec. 8 when the program travels to Kansas State (5-2, 0-0 Big 12) for an 8 p.m. CT tip at Bramlage Coliseum in the BIG EAST-Big 12 Battle. ESPN2 will feature the national television broadcast, with Lowell Galindo (play-by-play) and Lance Blanks (analyst) calling the action. Following Wednesday's action, the Golden Eagles return to Fiserv Forum to host No. 4/4 UCLA on Saturday, Dec. 11 in the non-league finale.

Series With Wildcats Spans Nearly 70 Years

The all-time series with the Wildcats consists of just 12 games (Kansas State leads 7-5), but it does span back almost 70 years.

The two programs first met during the 1952-53 campaign, when Marquette dropped an 88-72 decision on the road to the then top-ranked Wildcats. The series is highlighted by a narrow 67-66 victory in the second round of the NCAA tournament in 1977 in Omaha, Nebraska. MU would claim the national title that season, downing North Carolina, 67-59 in the championship game.

Hall of Fame coach Fred "Tex" Winter, who passed away in October of 2018, spent time as a head coach at both Marquette and Kansas State. He was the youngest coach in the country while at MU (1951-53) and led the program to the 1952 National Catholic Tournament title in 1952. He led the Wildcats to two Final Fours and eight Big Seven/Eight titles as head coach from 1954-68.

Wednesday's outing will mark the third in four seasons between the two programs, which competed in a home-and-home series in 2018 and 2019. The most recent matchup on Dec. 7, 2019 was also part of the BIG EAST-Big 12 Battle and marked MU's first win, 73-65, in Manhattan. Guard Greg Elliott is the only current member of the program who played in that game, finishing with nine points on 3-of-3 shooting from long distance in 21 minutes of action.

The four-year BIG EAST-Big 12 Battle agreement between the two conferences will continue through the 2022-23 season with an equal number of games played in each conference's home market each year.

Ighodaro Continues Increased Contributions

Forward Oso Ighodaro entered 2021-22 with six career points and rebounds in five appearances last season and quickly surpassed both of those totals with an increased role this year.

At Wisconsin on Dec. 4, he finished with 11 points on 5-of-7 shooting from the floor, marking the first time in his career he reached double figures in points in back-to-back games. He also chipped in five rebounds, a steal and a blocked shot in 28 minutes of action.

The Chandler, Arizona, native collected his first-career double-double (14 points, 11 rebounds) in the win over Jackson State on Nov. 30 and is also in possession of a 12-board effort against New Hampshire. He has knocked down 20-of-26 (76.9 percent) of his shots and is averaging 4.6 rebounds per game in just 17.4 minutes per night.