Kansas State Wildcats vs. WVU Mountaineers: Lineups, TV, game time, score prediction
The details
When/where: 6 p.m. Monday at Bramlage Coliseum in Manhattan.
TV/radio: ESPN2; KKGQ (92.3 FM) in Wichita, KCSP (610 AM) in Kansas City.
About West Virginia (14-10, 7-3, 3-8 Big 12): It’s starting to look like this could be a disappointing season for the Mountaineers. Bob Huggins’ team got off to a 13-2 start but has faded hard since then. West Virginia has only won one of its past eight games. It is coming off a 81-58 road loss against Oklahoma State on Saturday.
About Kansas State (13-11, 5-7 Big 12): The Wildcats are coming off one of their best victories of the season, a 75-69 overtime triumph against Iowa State in which they trailed by 15 early in the second half. K-State dropped its first four conference games but has bounced back to win four of its past seven in league play. Bruce Weber’s team should be at full strength for this one. Selton Miguel returned to the rotation against the Cyclones after recovering from an ankle injury. It will be interesting to see if Weber starts Davion Bradford or Ismael Massoud at center. Massoud played well against Iowa State and had 13 points when K-State played West Virginia earlier this season.
Projected lineups
P | No. | West Virginia | Ht. | Yr. | PPG |
F | 11 | Jalen Bridges | 6-7 | So. | 9.2 |
F | 1 | Pauly Paulicap | 6-8 | Sr. | 2.7 |
G | 2 | Kobe Johnson | 6-3 | Fr. | 1.6 |
G | 12 | Taz Sherman | 6-4 | Sr. | 18.4 |
G | 22 | Sean McNeil | 6-3 | Sr. | 13.4 |
P | No. | Kansas State | Ht. | Yr. | PPG |
C | 21 | Davion Bradford | 7-0 | So. | 3.8 |
G | 00 | Mike McGuirl | 6-9 | Sr. | 6.4 |
G | 13 | Mark Smith | 6-4 | Sr. | 12.0 |
G | 24 | Nijel Pack | 6-0 | So. | 17.7 |
G | 1 | Markquis Nowell | 5-8 | Jr. | 11.5 |
Prediction
Kansas State hasn’t won many of its conference games by a comfortable margin this season, but the Wildcats will have an opportunity to beat West Virginia without any last-minute theatrics.
No team in the Big 12 is struggling worse than the Mountaineers at the moment.
They have lost eight of their past nine games and haven’t won away from WVU Coliseum since all the way back on Dec. 18. Taz Sherman and Sean McNeil are two of the best players in the conference, but they simply aren’t getting much help from their supporting cast at the moment.
K-State seems to be heading in the opposite direction. The Wildcats have won three of their past four games to put themselves back in the NCAA Tournament bubble conversation.
West Virginia did manage to beat K-State earlier this season, but the Wildcats led by 17 in that game and lost mainly because they only had seven scholarship players available that day.
Now that its roster is back to full strength, K-State should have a much easier time protecting a lead in the rematch.
K-State 69, West Virginia 64.