K-State Wildcats vs. Texas Longhorns: Basketball lineups, TV, time, odds, prediction
THE DETAILS
When: 8 p.m. Tuesday
Where: Moody Center, Austin
TV: Longhorn Network
Radio: KCSP (610 AM) in Kansas City, KKGQ (92.3 FM) in Wichita
Betting line: Texas by 10
Over/Under: 139
STARTING LINEUPS
P | No. | Kansas State | Ht. | Yr. | PPG |
F | 23 | Abayomi Iyiola | 6-10 | Sr. | 4.3 |
F | 35 | Nae’Qwan Tomlin | 6-10 | Jr. | 11.6 |
F | 11 | Keyontae Johnson | 6-6 | Sr. | 17.7 |
G | 5 | Cam Carter | 6-3 | So. | 6.1 |
G | 1 | Markquis Nowell | 5-8 | Sr. | 14.4 |
P | No. | Texas | Ht. | Yr. | PPG |
F | 23 | Dillon Mitchell | 6-8 | Fr. | 8.0 |
F | 1 | Dylan Disu | 6-9 | Sr. | 6.9 |
F | 0 | Timmy Allen | 6-6 | Sr. | 10.1 |
G | 4 | Tyrese Hunter | 6-0 | So. | 10.8 |
G | 5 | Marcus Carr | 6-2 | Sr. | 17.5 |
About Texas (12-1):
The Longhorns are off to one of their best starts in school history, despite not having the services of coach Chris Beard over the past several weeks. Texas administrators suspended him after he was arrested on an assault charge earlier this season. Texas is a balanced team that ranks within the top 15 nationally of adjusted offensive and defensive efficiency, per Ken Pomeroy. The Longhorns are particularly strong on offense from two-point range, hitting 58.5% of their shots behind a talented front line. Texas has won six straight games since suffering its lone loss against Illinois. Marcus Carr is the team’s leading scorer.
About Kansas State (12-1):
The Wildcats keep finding ways to win. K-State fell behind against West Virginia in its Big 12 opener and was playing without starting center David N’Guessan over the weekend, but it didn’t matter. Markquis Nowell and Keyontae Johnson led the Wildcats to an overtime victory that pushed their winning streak to six. They will now see if they can keep that momentum going in their first trip to the Moody Center, which is now home to Texas basketball. Abayomi Iyiola is once again likely to start inside while N’Guessan recovers from an undisclosed injury.
Prediction
It could be hard for K-State to keep its winning streak going on Tuesday.
A road trip to Texas feels like its most challenging game yet. Ken Pomeroy projects the Longhorns to win by 11, which makes sense based on how stingy they have been at home this season. Texas is 9-0 inside the Moody Center this year with seven of those victories coming by double digits. Gonzaga left Austin on the wrong end of a 93-74 beat down.
Conversely, K-State lost its only road game against a top 100 KenPom team 76-64 earlier this season against Butler.
The Longhorns will have advantages in both size and depth. The Wildcats will miss David N’Guessan if he is unable to play against the Texas frontcourt.
Markquis Nowell and Keyontae Johnson will make enough plays to keep this game competitive and potentially cover the spread, but Texas seems like the pick here.
Texas 73, K-State 65
Season record: 11-1.
Season record against the spread: 7-5.