Kansas State Wildcats basketball coach Frank Martin will kick off his first season in Manhattan without star PG Jacob Pullen in a home game against Charleston Southern on Friday.
The game will be televised at 7:00 PM CT on Fox Sports Kansas City.
After losing Pullen and Curtis Kelly to graduation, as well as seeing big men Wally Judge and Freddy Asprilla transfer in the middle of last season, Martin will have a tough task if he wants his fifth 20-win season in as many years at Kansas State.
Their top returning scorer is junior SG Rodney MacGruder, who averaged 11.1 points on 43.9% shooting last year.
The Wildcats will also be expecting big contributions from two young guards who learned under Pullen -- sophomore Will Spradling and junior Martavious Irving -- and a talented but inconsistent front-court headlined by senior PF Jamar Samuels and 7'0 junior Jordan Henriquez.
The Buccaneers, who finished 16-16 last year in the Big South Conference, aren't expected to be a tough test.
It's the first in a slate of four non-conference games against mid-major and low-major teams before Kansas State travels to West Virginia to play their old coach Bob Huggins on Dec. 8.
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