1987–88 Kansas State Wildcats men's basketball team

1987–88 Kansas State Wildcats men's basketball
1987–88 Kansas State Wildcats men's basketball
Sun-Met Classic champions
NCAA Tournament, Elite Eight
Conference	Big Eight Conference
Ranking
Coaches	No. 8
AP	No. 20
Record	25–9 (11–3 Big Eight)
Head coach	Lon Kruger (2nd season);
Assistant coaches	Dana Altman (2nd season); Greg Grensing;
Home arena	Ahearn Field House
	Seasons ← 1986–87 1988–89 →

1987–88 Big Eight Conference men's basketball standings
v t e	Conf				Overall
Team	W		L	PCT	W		L	PCT
No. 4 Oklahoma†	12	–	2	.857	35	–	4	.897
No. 20 Kansas State	11	–	3	.786	25	–	9	.735
Kansas	9	–	5	.643	27	–	11	.711
Missouri	7	–	7	.500	19	–	11	.633
Iowa State	6	–	8	.429	20	–	12	.625
Oklahoma State	4	–	10	.286	14	–	16	.467
Nebraska	4	–	10	.286	13	–	18	.419
Colorado	3	–	11	.214	7	–	21	.250

† 1988 Big Eight tournament winner As of March 3, 2012 Rankings from AP poll

The 1987–88 Kansas State Wildcats men's basketball team represented Kansas State University in the 1987-88 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The head coach was Lon Kruger who was in his second of four years at the helm of his alma mater. The Wildcats tied a then-school record with 25 wins and advanced to the Elite Eight of the NCAA Tournament.^[1]

The team played its home games in Ahearn Field House in Manhattan, Kansas. It was the last season the team played in Ahearn Field House before moving into Bramlage Coliseum. Kansas State was a member of the Big 8 Conference.

Roster

Starting line-up

Below is the starting five for the last game of the regular season, against Missouri on March 5, 1988.

Position	Player
Forward	Mitch Richmond
Forward	Charles Bledsoe
Center	Ron Meyer
Guard	Steve Henson
Guard	Will Scott

Class of 1987 recruits

US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes
Name	Hometown	High school / college	Height	Weight
Carlos Diggins SG	South Bend, IN	Clay HS / Butler County CC	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)	200 lb (91 kg)
Carlos Diggins SG	Recruiting star ratings: Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A
Buster Glover SG	Gary, IN	Lew Wallace HS / Allen County CC	6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)	155 lb (70 kg)
Buster Glover SG	Recruiting star ratings: Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A
Fred McCoy PF	Washington, DC	Woodson HS / Allen County CC	6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)	230 lb (100 kg)
Fred McCoy PF	Recruiting star ratings: Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A
John Rettiger C	Strong City, Kansas	Chase County HS	6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)	210 lb (95 kg)
John Rettiger C	Recruiting star ratings: Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A
Overall recruiting rankings:
Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight. In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale. Sources:

Schedule

Date time, TV	Rank^#	Opponent^#	Result	Record	Site city, state
Regular Season
11/27/87*		vs. San Diego State Sun Met Classic	W 79-68	1–0	Selland Arena Fresno, CA
11/28/87*		vs. Fresno State Sun Met Classic	W 65-50	2–0	Selland Arena Fresno, CA
11/30/87*		Cal-State Northridge	W 79-68	3–0	Ahearn Field House Manhattan, KS
12/2/87*		UMKC	W 81–54	4–0	Ahearn Field House Manhattan, KS
12/5/87*		at Creighton	W 88–78	5–0	Omaha Civic Auditorium Omaha, NE
12/8/87*		Southwest Missouri State	L 80–82 (4OT)	5–1	Ahean Field House Manhattan, KS
12/17/87*		Southern Miss	L 69–71	5–2	Ahearn Field House Manhattan, KS
12/20/87*		at No. 12 Purdue	L 72–101	5–3	Mackey Arena West Lafayette, IN
12/31/87*		at Utah State	W 81–69	6–3	Smith Spectrum Logan, UT
1/3/88*		vs. Marquette	W 78–57	7–3	Kemper Arena Kansas City, MO
1/11/88*		at Southern Miss	L 89–91 (OT)	7–4	Reed Green Coliseum Hattiesburg, MS
1/16/88		No. 3 Oklahoma	W 69–62	8–4 (1–0)	Ahearn Field House Manhattan, KS
1/19/88*		Wichita State	W 58–47	9–4	Ahearn Field House Manhattan, KS
1/23/88		at Oklahoma State	W 76–60	10–4 (2–0)	Gallagher-Iba Arena Stillwater, OK
1/27/88		at Colorado	W 68–60	11–4 (3–0)	CU Events/Conference Center Boulder, CO
1/30/88		at Kansas Sunflower Showdown	W 72–61	12–4 (4–0)	Allen Fieldhouse Lawrence, KS
2/3/88		No. 16 Iowa State	W 79–68 (OT)	13–4 (5–0)	Ahearn Field House Manhattan, KS
2/6/88		Nebraska	W 65–63	14–4 (6–0)	Ahearn Field House Manhattan, KS
2/9/88	No. 14	at Missouri	L 75–79	14–5 (6–1)	Hearnes Center Columbia, MO
2/13/88	No. 14	at No. 4 Oklahoma	L 95–112	14–6 (6–2)	Lloyd Noble Center Norman, OK
2/16/88		Colorado	W 83–65	15–6 (7–2)	Ahearn Field House Manhattan, KS
2/18/88		Kansas Sunflower Showdown	L 63–64	15–7 (7–3)	Ahearn Field House Manhattan, KS
2/22/88*		Northern Illinois	W 88–67	16–7	Ahearn Field House Manhattan, KS
2/24/88		at Iowa State	W 83–66	17–7 (8–3)	Hilton Coliseum Ames, IA
2/27/88		Oklahoma State	W 59–58	18–7 (9–3)	Ahearn Field House Manhattan, KS
3/2/88		at Nebraska	W 77–67	19–7 (10–3)	NU Sports Complex Lincoln, NE
3/5/88		Missouri	W 92–82	20–7 (11–3)	Ahearn Field House Manhattan, KS
Big 8 Tournament
3/11/88		vs. Nebraska Big 8 Tournament	W 75–70	21–7	Kemper Arena Kansas City, MO
3/12/88		vs. Kansas Big 8 Tournament	W 69–54	22–7	Kemper Arena Kansas City, MO
3/13/88 ABC		vs. No. 4 Oklahoma Big 8 Tournament	L 83–88	22–8	Kemper Arena Kansas City, MO
NCAA Tournament
3/17/88	No. 20	vs. La Salle NCAA Tournament Opening Round	W 66–53	23–8	Edmund P. Joyce Center South Bend, IN
3/19/88 CBS	No. 20	vs. DePaul NCAA Tournament Second Round	W 66–58	24–8	Edmund P. Joyce Center South Bend, IN
3/25/88 CBS	No. 20	vs. No. 3 Purdue NCAA Tournament Sweet Sixteen	W 73–70	25–8	Pontiac Silverdome Pontiac, MI
3/27/88 CBS	No. 20	vs. Kansas NCAA Tournament Elite Eight	L 58–71	25–9	Pontiac Silverdome Pontiac, MI
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses.

References

^ "Schedule". Archived from the original on 2016-03-03. Retrieved 2010-01-26.

[1] "Schedule". Archived from the original on 2016-03-03. Retrieved 2010-01-26.

[1]

v t e Kansas State Wildcats men's basketball
Venues	Manhattan YMCA (1902–1911) Nichols Hall (1911–1950) Ahearn Field House (1950–1988) Bramlage Coliseum (1988–present)
Rivalries	Kansas
Culture & lore	Willie the Wildcat "Kansas Wildcats" "Wabash Cannonball" Wildcat Victory The Pride of Wildcat Land
People	Head coaches NBA players Statistical leaders
Seasons	List of seasons 1902–03 1903–04 1904–05 1905–06 1906–07 1907–08 1908–09 1909–10 1910–11 1911–12 1912–13 1913–14 1914–15 1915–16 1916–17 1917–18 1918–19 1919–20 1920–21 1921–22 1922–23 1923–24 1924–25 1925–26 1926–27 1927–28 1928–29 1929–30 1930–31 1931–32 1932–33 1933–34 1934–35 1935–36 1936–37 1937–38 1938–39 1939–40 1940–41 1941–42 1942–43 1943–44 1944–45 1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50 1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25
NCAA Final Four appearances in italics