1987–88 Kansas State Wildcats men's basketball team

1987-88 Kansas State Wildcats men's basketball
NCAA Tournament, Elite Eight
Conference	Big Eight Conference
Ranking
Coaches	#8
AP	#20
1987-88 record	25–9 (11–3 Big Eight)
Head coach	Lon Kruger
Assistant coach	Dana Altman
Assistant coach	Greg Grensing
Home arena	Ahearn Field House

	Conf				Overall
1987–88 Big Eight Conference men's basketball standings
Team	W		L	PCT	W		L	PCT
#4 Oklahoma†	12	–	2	.857	35	–	4	.897
#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 the Wildcats. The team 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. 1988 was the last year the team played in Ahearn Field House. 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

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	Scout: N/A 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	Scout: N/A 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	Scout: N/A 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	Scout: N/A 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	Rank^#	Opponent^#	Result	Record	Site
Regular Season
11/27/87*		vs. San Diego State (Sun Met Classic)	W 79-68	1–0	Selland Arena
11/28/87*		vs. Fresno State (Sun Met Classic)	W 65-50	2–0	Selland Arena
11/30/87*		Cal-State Northridge	W 79-68	3–0	Ahearn Field House
12/2/87*		UMKC	W 81–54	4–0	Ahearn Field House
12/5/87*		at Creighton	W 88–78	5–0	Omaha Civic Auditorium
12/8/87*		Southwest Missouri State	L 80–82 (4OT)	5–1	Ahean Field House
12/17/87*		Southern Miss	L 69–71	5–2	Ahearn Field House
12/20/87*		at #12 Purdue	L 72–101	5–3	Mackey Arena
12/31/87*		at Utah State	W 81–69	6–3	Smith Spectrum
1/3/88*		vs. Marquette	W 78–57	7–3	Unknown
1/11/88*		at Southern Miss	L 89–91 (OT)	7–4	Reed Green Coliseum
1/16/88		#3 Oklahoma	W 69–62	8–4 (1–0)	Ahearn Field House
1/19/88*		Wichita State	W 58–47	9–4	Ahearn Field House
1/23/88		at Oklahoma State	W 76–60	10–4 (2–0)	Gallagher-Iba Arena
1/27/88		at Colorado	W 68–60	11–4 (3–0)	CU Events/Conference Center
1/30/88		at Kansas (Sunflower Showdown)	W 72–61	12–4 (4–0)	Allen Fieldhouse
2/3/88		#16 Iowa State	W 79–68 (OT)	13–4 (5–0)	Ahearn Field House
2/6/88		Nebraska	W 65–63	14–4 (6–0)	Ahearn Field House
2/9/88	#14	at Missouri	L 75–79	14–5 (6–1)	Hearnes Center
2/13/88	#14	at #4 Oklahoma	L 95–112	14–6 (6–2)	Lloyd Noble Center
2/16/88		Colorado	W 83–65	15–6 (7–2)	Ahearn Field House
2/18/88		Kansas (Sunflower Showdown)	L 63–64	15–7 (7–3)	Ahearn Field House
2/22/88*		Northern Illinois	W 88–67	16–7	Ahearn Field House
2/24/88		at Iowa State	W 83–66	17–7 (8–3)	Hilton Coliseum
2/27/88		Oklahoma State	W 59–58	18–7 (9–3)	Ahearn Field House
3/2/88		at Nebraska	W 77–67	19–7 (10–3)	NU Sports Complex
3/5/88		Missouri	W 92–82	20–7 (11–3)	Ahearn Field House
Big 8 Tournament
3/11/88		vs. Nebraska (Big 8 Tournament)	W 75–70	21–7	Kemper Arena
3/12/88		vs. Kansas (Big 8 Tournament)	W 69–54	22–7	Kemper Arena
3/13/88		vs. #4 Oklahoma (Big 8 Tournament)	L 83–88	22–8	Kemper Arena
NCAA Tournament
3/17/88	#20	vs. La Salle (NCAA Tournament Opening Round)	W 66–53	23–8	Edmund P. Joyce Center
3/19/88	#20	vs. DePaul (NCAA Tournament Second Round)	W 66–58	24–8	Edmund P. Joyce Center
3/25/88	#20	vs. #3 Purdue (NCAA Tournament Sweet Sixteen)	W 73–70	25–8	Pontiac Silverdome
3/27/88	#20	vs. Kansas (NCAA Tournament Elite Eight)	L 58–71	25–9	Pontiac Silverdome
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP Poll. ( ) Tournament seedings in parentheses.

References

↑ Schedule

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 (results)

Culture & lore	History Willie the Wildcat "Wabash Cannonball" Wildcat Victory The Pride of Wildcat Land

People	Head coaches Honored players

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 1999–00 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

NCAA Final Four appearances in italics