K-State Wildcats vs. Iowa State Cyclones: Basketball game time, odds and pick
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Iowa State enters as a top‑10 team, top‑20 offense and defense, clear favorite.
- Kansas State seeks wins without key players, riding PJ Haggerty’s scoring surge.
- Matchup favors Cyclones with elite shooting, offensive rebounding and turnover creation.
Next up for the Kansas State men’s basketball team is a home game against Iowa State at 1 p.m. on Sunday inside Bramlage Coliseum.
The Wildcats (10-11, 1-7 Big 12) are fresh off a loss against West Virginia. The No. 8 Cyclones (19-2, 6-2 Big 12) enter the weekend on a three-game winning streak.
Here’s everything you need to know before tipoff:
K-State vs. Iowa State game details
When: 1 p.m. Sunday
Where: Bramlage Coliseum in Manhattan
TV: FOX
Radio: KCSP (610 AM) in Kansas City, KFH (1240 AM and 97.5 FM) in Wichita
Odds: TBA. Bart Torvik projects Iowa State as a 10.5-favorite with an O/U of 157.5.
Probable starters
Iowa State (19-2, 6-2 Big 12)
- F (23) — Blake Buchanan, 6-10, Jr., 8.6 ppg
- F (5) — Joshua Jefferson, 6-9, Sr., 17.2
- F (22) — Milan Momcilovic, 6-8, Jr., 18.6
- G (27) — Killyan Toure, 6-3, Fr., 9.9
- G (3) — Tamin Lipsey, 6-1, Sr., 13.2
Kansas State (10-11, 1-7 Big 12)
- C (22) — Dorin Buca, 7-2, Jr., 3.4
- F (15) — Taj Manning, 6-7, Jr., 3.6
- G (34) — Nate Johnson, 6-3, Sr., 11.4
- G (10) — David Castillo, 6-1, So., 11.8
- G (4) — PJ Haggerty, 6-4, Jr., 23.0
About Iowa State:
The Cyclones started the season with 16 straight wins before dropping a pair of games to Kansas and Cincinnati. But they have won three straight games since that slump, and they enter the weekend ranked inside the top 10. TJ Otzelberger has built a consistent winner in Ames behind Tamin Lipsey, Joshua Jefferson and Milan Momcilovic. Iowa State ranks inside the top 20 in both offensive and defensive efficiency. It is shooting 40.6% from 3-point range and 57.3% from within the arc this season. On defense, it creates turnovers and rarely fouls.
About K-State:
The Wildcats are trying to move out of last place in the Big 12 standings. At the start of conference play, they were trying to win high-scoring shootouts. But now that Abdi Bashir and Khamari McGriff have been out of the lineup, they are trying to win low-scoring games with defense. That hasn’t worked out for them, as they lost at West Virginia while holding the Mountaineers to just 59 points. PJ Haggerty has been the team’s only consistent scorer of late. The Wildcats could use more production from their bench as they continue to play shorthanded.
K-State game prediction:
This is the type of mismatch that doesn’t require much analysis.
Iowa State is a top 10 team. The Cyclones can light it up from the 3-point line, and they can pound the ball inside for points in the paint. When they miss, they grab an offensive rebound 37.8% of the time.
K-State has struggled all season against teams that can crash the glass.
But what makes Iowa State such a challenging opponent is that the Cyclones can also play defense, as they are forcing turnovers on 22.9% of all possessions and running shooters off of the 3-point line at an impressive rate.
The Cyclones have lost a pair of road games in conference play this season. So they aren’t invincible. But those losses came against a pair of teams that play strong defense in Cincinnati and Kansas. Both of those teams held Iowa State to 70 or fewer points.
It will be hard for K-State to do the same. Iowa State has averaged 89.3 points in the three games since its mini skid.
I don’t see the Wildcats getting enough stops or scoring enough points to keep pace with an elite opponent.
This has the makings of a blowout.
Iowa State 84, K-State 66
Last game prediction: West Virginia 79, K-State 67 ✅ (actual score: West Virginia 59, K-State 54)
Season record: 14-7.
Season record ATS: 9-12.
Season record O/U: 15-6.