# 1986–87 Kansas State Wildcats men's basketball team

The 1986–87 Kansas State Wildcats men's basketball team represented Kansas State University as a member of the Big 8 Conference during the 1986-87 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The head coach was Lon Kruger who was in his first of four years at the helm of his alma mater. The team played its home games in Ahearn Field House in Manhattan, Kansas. The Wildcats finished 4th in the Big 8 regular season standings and fell to conference champion Missouri in the semifinal round of the Big 8 Tournament. K-State received an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament as No. 9 seed in the West region. After an opening round win over Georgia in overtime, the Wildcats were beaten by eventual Final Four participant and No. 1 ranked UNLV in the round of 32.

## Schedule

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site city, state |
| Regular Season ||||||
| Nov 29, 1986* | | South Dakota | W 95–45 | 1–0 | Ahearn Field House Manhattan, Kansas |
| Dec 1, 1986* | | Grand Canyon | W 93–57 | 2–0 | Ahearn Field House Manhattan, Kansas |
| Dec 4, 1986* | | at Texas Tech | W 73–72 | 3–0 | Lubbock Municipal Coliseum Lubbock, Texas |
| Dec 6, 1986* | | Texas State | W 98–83 | 4–0 | Ahearn Field House Manhattan, Kansas |
| Dec 9, 1986* | | Creighton | W 81–64 | 5–0 | Ahearn Field House Manhattan, Kansas |
| Dec 11, 1986* | | Abilene Christian | W 90–67 | 6–0 | Ahearn Field House Manhattan, Kansas |
| Dec 13, 1986* | | at Wichita State | L 60–63 | 6–1 | Levitt Arena Wichita, Kansas |
| Dec 19, 1986* | | vs. Illinois State Music City Invitational | W 87–86 | 7–1 | Memorial Gymnasium Nashville, Tennessee |
| Dec 20, 1986* | | at Vanderbilt Music City Invitational | L 72–79 | 7–2 | Memorial Gymnasium Nashville, Tennessee |
| Dec 23, 1986* | | at Northern Illinois | W 81–79 | 8–2 | Rockford MetroCentre Rockford, Illinois |
| Dec 27, 1986* | | vs. No. 4 North Carolina | L 62–81 | 8–3 | Kemper Arena Kansas City, Missouri |
| Jan 7, 1987* | | at Marquette | W 85–84 | 9–3 | MECCA Arena Milwaukee, Wisconsin |
| Jan 10, 1987 | | Nebraska | W 114–82 | 10–3 (1–0) | Ahearn Field House Manhattan, Kansas |
| Jan 12, 1987* | | Wichita State | W 79–67 | 11–3 | Ahearn Field House Manhattan, Kansas |
| Jan 17, 1987 | | Iowa State | W 68–65 | 12–3 (2–0) | Ahearn Field House Manhattan, Kansas |
| Jan 21, 1987 | | at Colorado | W 92–61 | 13–3 (3–0) | Coors Events Center Boulder, Colorado |
| Jan 24, 1987 | | No. 11 Oklahoma | L 78–81 | 13–4 (3–1) | Ahearn Field House Manhattan, Kansas |
| Jan 28, 1987 | | at Oklahoma State | W 88–77 | 14–4 (4–1) | Gallagher-Iba Arena Stillwater, Oklahoma |
| Feb 1, 1987 | | at Missouri | L 64–68 | 14–5 (4–2) | Hearnes Center Columbia, Missouri |
| Feb 4, 1987 | | No. 18 Kansas | L 75–80 | 14–6 (4–3) | Ahearn Field House Columbia, Missouri |
| Feb 7, 1987 | | at Iowa State | W 87–75 | 15–6 (5–3) | Hilton Coliseum Ames, Iowa |
| Feb 11, 1987 | | at Colorado | W 74–56 | 16–6 (6–3) | Coors Events Center Boulder, Colorado |
| Feb 14, 1987 | | at Nebraska | L 76–78 | 16–7 (6–4) | Bob Devaney Sports Center Lincoln, Nebraska |
| Feb 17, 1987 | | Oklahoma State | W 81–60 | 17–7 (7–4) | Ahearn Field House Columbia, Missouri |
| Feb 19, 1987 | | at No. 15 Kansas | L 67–84 | 17–8 (7–5) | Allen Fieldhouse Lawrence, Kansas |
| Feb 25, 1987 | | Missouri | L 75–80 | 17–9 (7–6) | Ahearn Field House Columbia, Missouri |
| Feb 27, 1987 | | at No. 12 Oklahoma | W 90–89 | 18–9 (8–6) | Lloyd Noble Center Norman, Oklahoma |
| Big 8 Tournament ||||||
| Mar 6, 1987* | | vs. Nebraska Quarterfinals | W 47–45 | 19–9 | Kemper Arena Kansas City, Missouri |
| Mar 7, 1987* | | vs. No. 19 Missouri Semifinals | L 69–72 | 19–10 | Kemper Arena Kansas City, Missouri |
| NCAA Tournament ||||||
| Mar 12, 1987* | (9 W) | vs. (8 W) Georgia First round | W 82–79 $^{OT}$ | 20–10 | Jon M. Huntsman Center Salt Lake City, Utah |
| Mar 14, 1987* | (9 W) | vs. (1 W) No. 1 UNLV Second round | L 61–80 | 20–11 | Jon M. Huntsman Center Salt Lake City, Utah |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. ||||||
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