K-State Wildcats vs. KU Jayhawks: Who will win round 2 of the Sunflower Showdown?
The Kansas State Wildcats and the KU Jayhawks will both try to bounce back from discouraging losses when they meet in the Sunflower Showdown on Tuesday night at Allen Fieldhouse.
Here’s everything you need to know before tipoff, plus a score prediction:
When: 8 p.m. Tuesday
Where: Allen Fieldhouse (Lawrence)
TV: ESPN
Radio: KCSP (610 AM) in Kansas City, KFH (1240 AM and 97.5 FM) in Wichita
Betting line: KU by 10.5
Over/Under: 142.5
K-State at KU prediction
This is an important game for both teams.
Kansas is trying to bounce back from a rare losing streak under Bill Self in hopes of finishing the regular season strong and entering the NCAA Tournament with momentum.
K-State is clinging to March Madness hope and badly needs to win this game in order to have a chance at earning an at-large berth into the Big Dance later this month.
Motivation shouldn’t be an issue for either side, so let’s explore some other aspects of this matchup — starting with how the Wildcats defeated the Jayhawks in overtime earlier this season at Bramlage Coliseum.
Tylor Perry led K-State with 26 points that night, while Cam Carter (19) and Arthur Kaluma (13) also had solid games. But the Wildcats won from the 3-point line, where they drained nine of 26 attempts and the Jayhawks only made three of 15.
If K-State can continue to score from the outside and limit turnovers on Tuesday, the Wildcats will have a shot at winning in Lawrence for the first time since 2006. K-State’s been shooting better from downtown lately (36 of 86 in the past four games), and Perry has been especially hot.
But turnovers have been a major problem. During a recent loss at Cincinnati, K-State committed 19 turnovers and allowed the Bearcats to score 29 points off of those giveaways. On the season, K-State ranks 354th nationally with a turnover rate of 21.5%. If that continues, the Jayhawks could get the home crowd going with fast-break points and win rather easily.
Unfortunately for K-State, Allen Fieldhouse is not a good place to visit when you turn the ball over and rely on streaky shooting to win games.
The Jayhawks are only allowing opponents to make 45.2% of their shots from within the arc this season, which is not good news for a K-State roster that likes to set up its offense with paint touches and drives to the basket.
The law of averages is also not on K-State’s side in this one.
KU rarely loses at home. Big 12 teams almost never sweep KU during the regular season. And three-game losing streaks are practically unheard of under Self.
Furthermore, K-State has lost seven straight road games.
Assuming Kevin McCullar is healthy and in the starting lineup, this seems like a game the Jayhawks should win. But it might be hard for them to cover the large spread. You know the Wildcats are going to play hard. Even if they are down by 18 with 5 minutes remaining, Perry could make things interesting late by knocking down some 3-pointers.
Kansas 77, K-State 70
Last game prediction: Cincinnati 67, K-State 65 (Actual result: Cincinnati 74, K-State 72)
Season Record: 23-6
Season Record ATS: 14-15
Season Record O/U: 19-10