Kansas State’s game at Utah is close to a must-win as Wildcats chase NCAA Tournament
It seems appropriate that the Kansas State men’s basketball team is currently away from home and operating on a schedule that resembles the NCAA Tournament.
The Wildcats may need to beat Utah on Monday night, less than 48 hours after losing a game at BYU, to keep their March Madness hopes alive.
“Thankfully, we have got a quick turnaround,” K-State coach Jerome Tang said after an 80-65 loss at Marriott Center. “We don’t have to live with this one for very long. Now we have got to regroup and head down the road — I guess it’s down the road because I’m not positive with the geography around here — to Salt Lake for the next one to play another really good team.”
Provo is located south of Salt Lake City, so K-State will actually drive “up the road” for its next game. But Tang can be forgiven for not knowing that bit of information.
He has bigger things to worry about as the Wildcats look to rebound against the Utes.
This is close to a must-win game. K-State (13-12, 7-7 Big 12) played its way into contention for an at-large berth into the NCAA Tournament by winning six straight conference games before Saturday’s setback at BYU. A losing streak in the Mountain Time Zone would negate much, if not all, of that progress.
K-State can’t afford many more negative results in its final six games. Fourteen losses is usually the cutoff for NCAA Tournament consideration, and the Wildcats already have 12.
They understand the situation. But they are not panicking.
“Guys are still together,” K-State guard Brendan Hausen said. “We’re the same team that just went on that run. Basketball is a game of runs. We have got to stay together because we have a quick turnaround. But we’re fine.”
Interestingly, point guard Dug McDaniel thinks that K-State’s loss at BYU could end up being a blessing in disguise.
“I feel like we needed that game to humble ourselves,” McDaniel said. “It was a learning experience. From the jump, they just wanted it more than us.”
The Saturday/Monday turnaround is nothing new for Big 12 basketball teams. It has been a staple ever since ESPN began showcasing one conference game each week on “Big Monday.” Teams that make the NCAA Tournament also have to be ready to play two games in three days as they advance through the bracket.
This experience is unique for K-State because its quick turnaround will happen without a trip home between games. The Wildcats have been in Utah since Friday and they won’t return to Manhattan until Tuesday morning.
K-State needs to get used to this type of trip, though. To ease travel, Big 12 teams are now playing road swings at Arizona/Arizona State, BYU/Utah and Cincinnati/West Virginia.
Kansas, which is coming off a loss at Utah, is in a similar boat with a road game coming up against BYU on Tuesday.
It’s not an easy turnaround. Tang and his coaching staff must prepare for a game at Utah without any of the benefits of home, while the Utes have been sleeping in their own beds for a week.
But he thinks his team is up for the challenge.
“The good thing about young people is that they get over stuff quicker than us older people,” Tang said. “Hopefully they can move on and do it real quick. Whether you’re winning or losing, whatever happens, you have got to be able to get rid of that and move on to the next game and make it a one-game season. That’s what we’ve been doing. That’s what allowed us to be successful recently ... and that’s what we have to try and do again in a short period of time.”
This story was originally published February 16, 2025 at 12:49 PM with the headline "Kansas State’s game at Utah is close to a must-win as Wildcats chase NCAA Tournament."