K-State Wildcats vs. North Florida: Basketball lineups, TV, time, score prediction
The details
When/where: 7 p.m. Wednesday at Bramlage Coliseum in Manhattan.
TV/radio: ESPN+ (online streaming service, subscription required); KKGQ (92.3 FM) in Wichita, KCSP (610 AM) in Kansas City.
Projected lineups
P | No. | North Florida | Ht. | Yr. | PPG |
F | 24 | Jadyn Parker | 6-10 | Fr. | 8.5 |
G | 5 | Dorian James | 6-7 | So. | 5.1 |
G | 2 | Chaz Lanier | 6-4 | Fr. | 5.1 |
G | 0 | Emmanuel Adedoyin | 6-2 | So. | 7.6 |
G | 15 | Jose Placer | 6-1 | So. | 12.8 |
P | No. | Kansas State | Ht. | Yr. | PPG |
F | 1 | Kaosi Ezeagu | 6-10 | Jr. | 6.9 |
F | 25 | Ismael Massoud | 6-9 | So. | 7.7 |
G | 13 | Mark Smith | 6-4 | Sr. | 9.4 |
G | 24 | Nijel Pack | 6-0 | So. | 14.9 |
G | 1 | Markquis Nowell | 5-8 | Jr. | 12.8 |
About North Florida (4-9): The Ospreys were supposed to play Florida State in their next game, but it was canceled because of COVID-19 issues with the Seminoles. They replaced the game with a road trip to K-State. North Florida has already played Texas Tech, Texas A&M, Arizona State, UCLA, Kentucky and Florida on the road this season, but it lost all six of those games. The Ospreys have won their last two games against Austin Peay and Trinity Baptist, though. Jose Placer is the team’s leading scorer.
About Kansas State (8-3): The Wildcats have won their last three games and six of their past seven. They have been particularly strong against mid-major opponents at home this season, piling up lopsided victories over Florida A&M, Omaha, North Dakota, Albany, Green Bay and McNeese State. K-State will look to add another Wednesday. The back-court combination of Nijel Pack and Markuis Nowell has been effective in recent games. Davion Bradford has also looked good coming off the bench at center. It will be interesting to see if he replaces Kaosi Ezeagu in the starting rotation at some point this season.
Prediction: This could be a rare opportunity for the Wildcats to push the tempo and make a run at 90 points.
K-State hasn’t scored more than 84 in a game this season, but it’s possible that could change against North Florida. The Ospreys tend to struggle on defense and are currently allowing teams to shoot 54% from two-point range and 36.2% from three-point range. Six opponents have eclipsed 80 points against them, with UCLA scoring 98.
If Nowell and Pack can make a few shots from three-point range, this could be a high-scoring game for the Wildcats.
K-State 85, North Florida 59.