Kansas State Wildcats vs. Iowa State Cyclones: Lineups, TV, time, score prediction
The details
When/where: 1 p.m. Saturday at Bramlage Coliseum in Manhattan.
TV/radio: ESPNU; KKGQ (92.3 FM) in Wichita, KCSP (610 AM) in Kansas City.
About Iowa State (19-9, 6-9 Big 12): The Cyclones have bounced back from a four-game losing streak to win their last three and potentially solidify themselves an at-large berth into the NCAA Tournament. Iowa State has beaten TCU, Oklahoma and West Virginia to enter this weekend with some momentum. Izaiah Brockington is the player that makes the Cyclones go. He is one of the top scorers in the Big 12 and is coming off a 35-point effort against West Virginia earlier this week.
About Kansas State (14-13, 6-9 Big 12): The Wildcats will be fighting for their NCAA Tournament lives on Saturday. Consecutive losses to Oklahoma State and Kansas have put them on the wrong side of the bubble. They need to beat Iowa State to buoy their postseason chances. Nijel Pack is expected to play against the Cyclones, but he may be somewhat limited with a thigh bruise he suffered against the Jayhawks. Reserve guard Luke Kasubke may also be limited, as Bruce Weber said he came down with the flu earlier this week.
Projected lineups
P | No. | Iowa State | Ht. | Yr. | PPG |
F | 5 | Aljaz Kunc | 6-8 | Sr. | 6.3 |
F | 4 | George Conditt | 6-9 | Sr. | 5.1 |
G | 11 | Tyrese Hunter | 6-0 | Fr. | 11.0 |
G | 22 | Gabe Kalscheur | 6-4 | Sr. | 9.6 |
G | 1 | Izaiah Brockington | 6-4 | Sr. | 18.0 |
P | No. | Kansas State | Ht. | Yr. | PPG |
C | 21 | Davion Bradford | 7-0 | So. | 3.6 |
G | 00 | Mike McGuirl | 6-9 | Sr. | 7.0 |
G | 13 | Mark Smith | 6-4 | Sr. | 12.3 |
G | 24 | Nijel Pack | 6-0 | So. | 17.3 |
G | 1 | Markquis Nowell | 5-8 | Jr. | 12.4 |
Prediction
Kansas State rallied from a 15-point deficit in the second half to beat Iowa State earlier this month at Hilton Coliseum.
Expect the rematch to go much differently.
Aljaz Kunc made his first start of the season against K-State and completely took the Wildcats by surprise, as the big man stepped outside to drain a bunch of uncontested threes. That gave the Cyclones a double-digit lead that the Wildcats had to fight back from the rest of the day.
This game should be closer at the start, especially with K-State playing at home.
Izaiah Brockington is a difficult matchup for everyone, but there’s really nothing else scary about the Cyclones. They shoot 33.1% from three-point range and are one of the Big 12’s least efficient teams on offense. They are at their best when they slow the game down and play well on defense. That has been a struggle for them at times recently.
K-State has everything to play for in this game. Here’s guessing it gets off to a fast start and does enough things right to pull off the season sweep of Iowa State.
K-State 67, Iowa State 60.