GAME NOTES: The Kansas State Wildcats return home from their trip to Hawaii to host the Nebraska Omaha Mavericks in a non-conference bout at Bramlage Coliseum.

Omaha played only its second home game of the season this past Saturday, and the homecourt advantage certainly helped as the Mavericks routed Nevada, 78-54. They are now 3-2 overall, which includes a 1-2 mark on the road. They will visit Air Force in their next bout.

Kansas State took part in the MAui Invitational last week and returns home worse for the wear. The Wildcats may have gotten the three-day trip started with an 88-79 win over Purdue, but they were then defeated by Arizona (72-68) and Pittsburgh (70-47). They will be on the road against Tennessee next as part of the SEC/Big 12 challenge.

This game marks the first-ever meeting between these two schools on the hardwood.

A strong second half led Omaha past Nevada last time out. The Mavericks were actually trailing at halftime (32-31), but they turned things around over the final 20 minutes, connecting on 60.7 percent of their field goal attempts in the final half, while limiting the Wolf Pack to just six field goals. Omaha did suffer from a 40-30 deficit on the boards, but it outscored Nevada in the paint, 32-20. Tre'Shawn Thurman netted 18 points and blocked five shots to lead the way.

Scoring points has proven to be no problem for the Mavericks, even during an uneven start to the campaign. They are producing an impressive 83.2 points per game, while shooting a shade above 45 percent from the floor. Unfortunately, the offensive success has been coupled with less-than-ideal defensive resistance (79.2 ppg, .459 FG percentage). Thurman (10.8 ppg) may be averaging in double figures, but he isn't usually the top scoring threat. CJ Carter (!6.6 ppg, 3.6 apg) and Devin Patterson (16.4 ppg, 5.4 rpg, 5.6 apg) typically serve in those roles. Patterson still makes an impact when he isn't scoring, as he proved by logging nine assists and five steals against Nevada. Carter tallied only six points on 3-of-10 shooting in the win.

The Wildcats will likely be eager to wash the bitter taste left behind from their last outing, when they were defeated by 23 points by Pittsburgh. They only made 32.5 percent of their shots from the floor, while surrendering a 55.3 percent effort from the Panthers, who also enjoyed a 24-6 scoring advantage from 3-point range. Thomas Gipson finished with 13 points as the lone double-digit scorer for K-State.

Although the Wildcats own a positive scoring differential this season, scoring 74 points per game while allowing 71.8, they have surrendered a 49.1 percent success rate on field goal tries to their opponents. Staying ahead of the curve will be extremely difficult if they can't find a way to whittle that number down. Marcus Foster (14.7 ppg) and Gipson (13.7 ppg) are the top scoring threats, with Gipson connecting on nearly 70 percent of his shots from the field.

Prior to boarding the plane for Hawaii, K-State had enjoyed a 2-1 start to the season, with a pair of wins at home. Returning to Bramlage Coliseum should get them back on track.