K-State Wildcats vs. Arizona: Big 12 basketball game time, TV, odds and pick

Kansas State is about to play its first men’s basketball game against a No. 1 team since 2020.

K-State (9-5) will face top-ranked Arizona (14-0) in its first conference road game of the year at 8 p.m. Wednesday at McKale Center.

Jerome Tang’s team is coming off an 83-73 home loss to BYU. Tommy Lloyd’s squad is fresh off a road win at Utah.

Here’s everything you need to know before tipoff:

K-State vs. Arizona Game details

When: 8 p.m. Wednesday

Where: McKale Center in Tucson

TV: FS1

Radio: KCSP (610 AM) in Kansas City, KFH (1240 AM and 97.5 FM) in Wichita

Odds: Arizona by 20.5 with an O/U of 168.5

Probable starters

Arizona (14-0)

• F (8) — Ivan Kharchenkov, 6-7, Fr., 9.3 ppg
• F (10) — Koa Peat, 6-8, Fr., 14.4
• C (13) — Motiejus Krivas, 7-2, Jr., 10.3
• G (5) — Brayden Burries, 6-4, Fr., 14.2
• G (0) — Jaden Bradley, 6-3, Sr., 13.7

Kansas State (9-5)

• F (21) — Khamari McGriff, 6-9, Sr., 10.2
• F (0) — Elias Rapieque, 6-9, Jr., 3.8
• G (34) — Nate Johnson, 6-3, Sr., 11.5
• G (1) — Abdi Bashir, 6-7, Jr., 13.1
• G (4) — PJ Haggerty, 6-4, Jr., 23.0

About Arizona:

The Arizona Wildcats are undefeated after 14 games, boasting a roster that seems to excel in nearly every aspect. Tommy Lloyd’s team ranks inside the top 20 nationally on offense and the top 10 on defense. They are shooting 37.8% from 3-point range and 57.9% from 2-point range. But what makes them hard to guard is their ability to grab offensive rebounds on 41.8% of all possessions.

Koa Peat is the team’s leading scorer, but Arizona has size at every position. That has allowed it to also excel on defense.

About K-State:

The Wildcats are looking for their first conference win of the season after falling at home to BYU on Saturday. K-State went cold from the outside and struggled to grab rebounds in that game. The Wildcats will need to hope for better results against Arizona.

PJ Haggerty leads the team in scoring. David Castillo has become a steady contributor off the bench. Elias Rapieque didn’t play against BYU. His status will need to be monitored before tipoff. Nate Johnson is coming off his first scoreless game with K-State. The Wildcats will be counting on more from him in this game.

K-State game prediction:

Things did not go well for Kansas State the last time it was a 20-point underdog in Big 12 basketball action.

The year was 2021, and the Wildcats were getting 23.5 points from the oddsmakers when they hit the road for a game against No. 2 Baylor. The Bears won easily 107-59.

Much has changed since then. For example: Jerome Tang was an assistant coach at Baylor for that game, and he is now the head coach at K-State. So history may not repeat itself when K-State heads to McKale Center for a daunting game against No. 1 Arizona on Wednesday.

Tang owns a 7-7 record against top-10 teams for K-State, and he led the Wildcats to a road upset over No. 3 Iowa State last season when they were 14.5-point underdogs heading into that matchup. So he won’t be intimidated by this type of opponent.

Still, it’s hard to like much about this matchup if you’re a K-State fan.

Arizona is the top-ranked team in the country for a reason. It shoots the ball well from the perimeter, it scores in the paint, it dominates the glass and it plays solid defense with a long and athletic rotation of players.

K-State will struggle mightily to get stops in this game. Even when it does, Arizona will give itself ample second chances with offensive rebounds.

K-State will need to get red hot from 3-point range and/or benefit from cheap points in transition.

I don’t see either happening, especially on the road.

Give me Arizona to win comfortably.

Arizona 99, K-State 76

Last game prediction: K-State 92, BYU 88 ❌ (actual score: BYU 83, K-State 73)

Season record: 9-5.

Season record ATS: 6-8.

Season record O/U: 10-4.

Kellis Robinett

The Wichita Eagle

Kellis Robinett covers Kansas State athletics for The Wichita Eagle and The Kansas City Star. A winner of more than a dozen national writing awards, he lives in Manhattan with his wife and four children.