K-State Wildcats vs. OU Sooners: Basketball lineups, tipoff time, TV and prediction
The details
When/where: Noon Saturday at Lloyd Noble Center, Norman, Oklahoma.
TV/radio: Streaming on ESPN+ (subscription required); KKGQ (92.3 FM) in Wichita, KCSP (610 AM) in Kansas City.
Projected lineups
P | No. | Kansas State | Ht. | Yr. | PPG |
F | 14 | Makol Mawien | 6-9 | Sr. | 7.8 |
F | 23 | Montavious Murphy | 6-9 | Fr. | 3.8 |
G | 20 | Xavier Sneed | 6-5 | Sr. | 14.4 |
G | 00 | Mike McGuirl | 6-2 | Jr. | 7.2 |
G | 2 | Cartier Diarra | 6-4 | Jr. | 12.8 |
P | No. | Oklahoma | Ht. | Yr. | PPG |
F | 35 | Brady Manek | 6-9 | Jr. | 15.4 |
F | 21 | Kristian Doolittle | 6-7 | Sr. | 16.7 |
G | 12 | Austin Reaves | 6-5 | Jr. | 16.3 |
G | 15 | Alondes Williams | 6-5 | Jr. | 6.5 |
G | 24 | Jamal Bieniemy | 6-5 | So. | 4.5 |
About Kansas State (7-5): The Wildcats had a mostly disappointing run through their first 12 nonconference games, but they enter Big 12 play with some momentum following a 69-67 victory over Tulsa in which Cartier Diarra and Makol Mawien made clutch plays at the end of the game. Xavier Sneed also had one of his best games against the Golden Hurricane. K-State will hope for more of that against Oklahoma on Saturday. Bruce Weber is expecting freshmen forwards Montavious Murphy and Antonio Gordon to be in the rotation, which should help K-State as it goes against Oklahoma’s skilled front court. It’s also worth pointing out how well Weber has historically performed against Oklahoma coach Lon Kruger. Weber is 11-4 against him.
About Oklahoma (9-3): The Sooners are hoping to make a case for the NCAA Tournament during Big 12 play. Oklahoma has some nice victories over Minnesota, Oregon State and Missouri. It also has losses against Creighton, Wichita State and Stanford. Oklahoma is once again a fast-faced team under Kruger. It scored 91 points in its last game. Kristian Doolittle is the team’s top offensive player and a mismatch at the four. But Brady Manek and WSU transfer Austin Reaves are also averaging right around 16 points. Weber has said it will be difficult to stop Manek, but he’s also worried about the rest of Oklahoma’s roster.
Prediction: This is an interesting matchup. Oklahoma can score the basketball as well as any team in the Big 12 but ranks near the bottom of the conference when it comes to defense. K-State plays good defense but has trouble on offense. Which of those conflicting styles will prevail on Saturday? The odds point toward Oklahoma, especially at home. The Sooners can create problems for the Wildcats if Kristian Doolittle and Brady Manek both have good games.
Oklahoma 71, K-State 66