K-State Wildcats vs WVU Mountaineers: Big 12 Tournament lineups, TV, time, prediction
The details
When/where: 6 p.m. Wednesday at T-Mobile Center in Kansas City.
TV/radio: ESPNU; KKGQ (92.3 FM) in Wichita, KCSP (610 AM) in Kansas City.
About West Virginia (15-16, 4-14 Big 12): The Mountaineers enter the Big 12 Tournament as the No. 9 seed coming off a last-place finish in the conference standings. But West Virginia is riding some momentum to Kansas City, as it won its final game of the regular season, 70-64 against TCU. Taz Sherman is the player who makes West Virginia go. Sean McNeil is also one of the best guards in the Big 12. West Virginia and K-State split their regular season meetings with the Mountaineers winning 71-68 at WVU Coliseum and the Wildcats winning 78-73 in Manhattan.
About Kansas State (14-16, 6-12 Big 12): The Wildcats lost their final five games of the regular season to earn the No. 8 seed at the Big 12 Tournament. Defense was a big issue for K-State during that stretch, as it allowed opponents to score an average of 81.8 points in those games. It is unclear if point guard Markquis Nowell will play against West Virginia. The Wildcats are 0-4 without him in the lineup this season. Nijel Pack earned first-team All-Big 12 honors over the weekend and Mark Smith was named to the league’s third team. They will need to play at a high level if Nowell is once again sidelined.
Projected lineups
P | No. | West Virginia | Ht. | Yr. | PPG |
F | 11 | Jalen Bridges | 6-7 | So. | 8.5 |
F | 3 | Gabe Osabuohien | 6-7 | Sr. | 5.0 |
G | 12 | Taz Sherman | 6-4 | Sr. | 18.3 |
G | 22 | Sean McNeil | 6-3 | Sr. | 12.2 |
G | 0 | Kedrian Johnson | 6-3 | Sr. | 5.3 |
P | No. | Kansas State | Ht. | Yr. | PPG |
F | 25 | Ismael Massoud | 6-9 | So. | 6.6 |
G | 00 | Mike McGuirl | 6-9 | Sr. | 7.9 |
G | 13 | Mark Smith | 6-4 | Sr. | 12.6 |
G | 24 | Nijel Pack | 6-0 | So. | 17.4 |
G | 3 | Selton Miguel | 6-3 | So. | 7.3 |
Prediction
This is a difficult game to predict without knowing if Nowell will be healthy enough to play.
If the junior point guard recovers from his hamstring injury and starts, then the Wildcats are obvious favorites against the Mountaineers. But if he remains sidelined for a third straight game then the first game of the Big 12 Tournament will be a toss-up.
K-State is 0-4 this season when Nowell isn’t in the lineup. But West Virginia hasn’t won a game away from home since Dec. 18.
In other words, this isn’t going to be a battle of Big 12 heavyweights.
Expect the team that plays the most defense to win. K-State has surrendered an average of 81.8 points over its past five games, and that is not going to be good enough to beat West Virginia. But the Mountaineers haven’t exactly been stingy lately, either.
The lower the score the better for K-State. The higher the score the better for West Virginia.
Bruce Weber has a knack for getting the Wildcats to play well in their opening game of the Big 12 Tournament. In his previous nine seasons at K-State, his teams have only been eliminated once before the quarterfinals. Last year, K-State thumped TCU 71-50 in this round.
K-State players have been looking forward to the Big 12 Tournament for a while, knowing it was their only chance to salvage a lost season. Expect that motivation, and a little defense, to propel them past West Virginia.
K-State 75, West Virginia 73.
This story was originally published March 9, 2022 at 5:00 AM.