Kansas State Wildcats vs. Alabama State Hornets: Prediction, time, TV and lineups
The details
When/where: 7 p.m. Wednesday at Bramlage Coliseum in Manhattan, Kansas
TV/radio: ESPN+ (streaming only, subscription required); KKGQ (92.3 FM) in Wichita, KCSP (610 AM) in Kansas City.
Projected lineups
P | No. | Alabama State | Ht. | Yr. | PPG |
F | 21 | Mike Stone | 6-9 | Jr. | 2.0 |
F | 1 | Leon Daniels | 6-5 | Sr. | 5.6 |
G | 24 | Kevion Stewart | 6-3 | Jr. | 5.3 |
G | 0 | D.J. Heath | 6-0 | Jr. | 2.9 |
G | 5 | Tobi Ewuosho | 6-5 | Sr. | 13.8 |
P | No. | Kansas State | Ht. | Yr. | PPG |
F | 11 | Antonio Gordon | 6-9 | Fr. | 5.3 |
F | 14 | Makol Mawien | 6-9 | Sr. | 8.8 |
G | 20 | Xavier Sneed | 6-5 | Sr. | 14.5 |
G | 00 | Mike McGuirl | 6-2 | Jr. | 6.5 |
G | 2 | Cartier Diarra | 6-4 | Jr. | 11.8 |
About Alabama State (1-7): Conference play can’t get here soon enough for the Hornets. Alabama State has lost seven of its first eight games with all but two of those defeats coming by more than double digits and the only win coming against Chicago State. Its early schedule doesn’t feature a home game until Jan. 11. The Hornets like to play small and only featured one player taller than 6-foot-5 in its starting lineup during its last game against South Dakota. Tobi Ewuosho is the only Hornets player who averages more than 10 points per game.
About Kansas State (5-3): The Wildcats are coming off a 73-65 home defeat to Marquette and have lost three of their last four games since opening the season at 4-0. They should be able to bounce back against a struggling mid-major opponent like Alabama State. It will be interesting to see if Montavious Murphy plays in this game. The freshman forward hasn’t been on the court since Nov. 13 with a knee injury but is nearing a return. Bruce Weber said Murphy’s status remained up in the air on Tuesday. K-State won its first three games with Murphy in the starting lineup. If he sits again, Makol Mawien and Antonio Gordon could feast in the front court against an undersized opponent.
Prediction: This is little more than a warm-up game for the Wildcats before they head to Newark, N.J. for a neutral-site game against Mississippi State this weekend. The Hornets rank No. 318 out of 353 in Ken Pomeroy’s college basketball database and should not be able to challenge K-State at Bramlage Coliseum.
K-State 75, Alabama State 58.