GAME NOTES: The Kansas State Wildcats are coming off a NCAA Tournament bid while Southern Utah is coming off a two-win season. The two will open their respective 2014-15 seasons against one another on Friday night at Bramlage Coliseum.

Southern Utah's 2013-14 campaign was every bit as dreadful as the team's 1-19 Big Sky Conference record would indicate. In fact, head coach Nick Robinson is a mere 13-47 in two seasons in Cedar City. But there is a bit of hope on the horizon as the Thunderbirds bring back all five starters and look to build on that chemistry.

Meanwhile, former longtime Illinois head coach Bruce Weber has guided Kansas State to a 47-21 overall record and consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances during his first two seasons at the helm. In fact, his 47 wins are the most through two seasons by any coach in school history. Last season, K-State went 20-13 and lost to Kentucky in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.

Kansas State has won all three prior meetings in the series with the Thunderbirds.

Tracing back five seasons, the T-birds have not finished at or above .500, coming close in 2011-12 with a mark of 14-17 while competing in the Summit League. Unfortunately, while there will be some measure of improvement this season compared to last, Southern Utah is expected to finish at the bottom of its league standings yet again, even with Trey Kennedy (9.5 ppg), A.J. Hess (9.3 ppg) and Casey Oliverson (7.0 ppg, 5.3 rpg) inserted back into the starting lineup. It is important to remember that even though there is experience coming back to SUU, this is a team that had the worst record in all of Division I last season, and was next-to-last in scoring with a mere 59.0 ppg.

The Wildcats welcome back three starters from last season's NCAA Tournament squad. Sophomore combo guard Marcus Foster, a Preseason All-Big 12 pick, headlines the roster. Foster averaged a team-best 15.5 ppg and shot 40 percent from the perimeter as a freshman, and now he has what many believe is a deeper supporting cast. Thomas Gipson is back for his senior campaign after averaging 11.7 points on 56.2 percent shooting from the floor to go along with a team- best 6.5 rebounds. Justin Edwards, an athletic transfer from Maine who averaged 16.7 ppg there, can help shoulder some of the scoring load. Coach Weber also brought on board 6-foot-11 Stephen Hurt, the Atlantic Sun Freshman of the Year at Lipscomb, along with Georgetown transfer Brandon Bolden to help solidify the frontcourt.

If the Wildcats get the expected contributions from their newcomers, and assuming Foster continues his development, the team has a very good shot at making its sixth straight NCAA Tournament appearance. That journey starts here with what should be an easy win over a growing, but overmatched Southern Utah squad.