Kansas State vs. Pittsburgh basketball lineups, tipoff time, TV info and prediction
The details
When/where: 5 p.m. Monday at Suncoast Credit Union Arena, Fort Myers, Fla.
TV/radio: Fox Sports 1; KKGQ (92.3 FM) in Wichita, KCSP (610 AM) in Kansas City.
Projected lineups
P | No. | Pittsburgh | Ht. | Yr. | PPG |
F | 21 | Terrell Brown | 6-10 | Jr. | 6.7 |
G | 11 | Justin Champagnie | 6-6 | Fr. | 10.8 |
G | 24 | Ryan Murphy | 6-5 | Jr. | 11.7 |
G | 1 | Xavier Johnson | 6-3 | So. | 10.3 |
G | 2 | Trey McGowens | 6-4 | So. | 12.3 |
P | No. | Kansas State | Ht. | Yr. | PPG |
F | 34 | Levi Stockard | 6-8 | Jr. | 6.3 |
F | 14 | Makol Mawien | 6-9 | Sr. | 9.5 |
G | 20 | Xavier Sneed | 6-5 | Sr. | 16.0 |
G | 00 | Mike McGuirl | 6-2 | Jr. | 3.5 |
G | 2 | Cartier Diarra | 6-4 | Jr. | 12.5 |
About Pittsburgh (4-2): The Panthers are led by second-year coach Jeff Capel. They opened the year with an impressive victory over Florida State but have since lost to Nicholls and West Virginia. Trey McGowens is their top player, averaging 12.3 points per game. The sophomore was a four-star recruit coming out of high school and is now making the Pittsburgh offense go. Pittsburgh likes to play four guards around 6-10 big man Terrell Brown.
About Kansas State (4-0): The Wildcats have been up and down in all four games, struggling throughout the first half and then pulling away in the final 20 minutes. They will hope for a more complete effort against the Panthers. This game should capture their attention, as Pittsburgh is easily the best team they have faced. Xavier Sneed and Cartier Diarra have carried the scoring load thus far. It remains unclear if freshman forward Montavious Murphy will be healthy enough to play in this game. He missed K-State’s last game against Arkansas-Pine Bluff with a knee injury. Levi Stockard should take his place in the starting lineup if he can’t go, with Antonio Gordon helping off the bench.
Prediction: The first team to 50 could win this game. Neither K-State nor Pittsburgh has eclipsed 75 points in a game this season and that’s unlikely to change on a neutral court with both sides motivated to play quality defense. Give Bruce Weber’s team a slight edge in a close matchup.
K-State 55, Pittsburgh 53.