KU Jayhawks at K-State Wildcats basketball: Probable starters, time, TV, prediction
THE DETAILS
When: 6 p.m., Tuesday
Where: Bramlage Coliseum, Manhattan
TV: ESPN
Radio: KU games are aired on WHB (810) in Kansas City; KFH (1240 AM, 97.5 FM) in Wichita; K-State games are aired on KCSP (610) in Kansas City, KKGQ (92.3 FM) in Wichita.
PROBABLE STARTERS
P | No. | Kansas | Ht. | Yr. | PPG |
F | 24 | KJ Adams | 6-7 | Soph. | 10.7 |
F | 10 | Jalen Wilson | 6-8 | Jr. | 19.8 |
G | 15 | Kevin McCullar | 6-6 | Sr. | 10.8 |
G | 4 | Gradey Dick | 6-8 | Fr. | 14.6 |
G | 3 | Dajuan Harris | 6-1 | Jr. | 8.1 |
P | No. | Kansas State | Ht. | Yr. | PPG |
C | 23 | Abayomi Iyiola | 6-10 | Sr. | 4.6 |
F | 11 | Keyontae Johnson | 6-6 | Sr. | 18.4 |
F | 35 | Nae’Qwan Tomlin | 6-10 | Jr. | 10.9 |
G | 5 | Cam Carter | 6-3 | Soph. | 6.6 |
G | 1 | Markquis Nowell | 5-8 | Sr. | 17.1 |
About No. 13 Kansas State (15-2, 4-1):
K-State had its nine-game winning streak snapped Saturday at TCU, 82-68. The TCU loss was K-State’s first in almost seven weeks. The nine-game win streak had been the program’s longest since a 10-game streak from Nov. 24, 2013, to Jan. 7, 2014…. K-State’s 15-2 start under head coach Jerome Tang is the best by a first-year coach in school history with Zora G. Clevenger (1916-17) and Bruce Weber (2012-13) each starting their tenures at 13-2. … K-State is off to its best start since the 1958-59 season when it opened 24-1. …
K-State beat Baylor on Jan. 7 for its first win as a ranked team since a 70-61 win over TCU in the Big 12 tournament quarterfinals on March 14, 2019. … K-State has played over 400 games vs. ranked teams in its history, posting a 125-283 record, including 25-84 vs. the top 5, 50-145 vs. the top 10 and 73-202 vs. top 15. K-State has 32 wins vs. ranked foes in the last 11 seasons, including 11 vs. the top 10 (one over No. 1) and 22 top 25 wins at home. …
Tang served as athletics director and head coach at Heritage Christian Academy in Cleveland, Texas, from 1993-2003, leading the school to five TAPPS Division A State Championships. Tang spent 19 seasons as an assistant and associate head coach at Baylor. … Senior Markquis Nowell has scored in double figures 13 straight games … Nowell posted K-State’s first 30-point/10-assist game in a win over the Baylor Bears. He scored a game-high 32 points to go with a career-best 14 assists. … K-State’s overtime 96-87 win over Nevada in the semifinals of the Cayman Islands Classic represented the 1,700th win in school history. The Wildcats are the 43rd Division I team to eclipse 1,700 wins, including the sixth Big 12 school.
About No. 2 Kansas (16-1, 5-0):
KU leads the all-time series, 203-94. KU has won seven in a row and 15 of the last 16 meetings vs. K-State dating to Feb. 3, 2016. … KU is 29-5 in Bramlage Coliseum. … KU is 16-1 or better for the seventh time in head coach Bill Self’s 20 seasons at KU. … KU is 5-0 in Big 12 play for the 10th time in the Self era and the first time since the 2016-17 season. … KU has won 10 straight games, its longest winning streak of the season. …
The Jayhawks are 2,373-878 all-time. … Kansas is 15-0 when leading at the half. … KU is 6-0 in games decided by five points or less or overtime. The Jayhawks have won the last 10 contests decided by five points or less or overtime dating back to Feb. 7, 2022 at Texas. …
Freshman guard Gradey Dick has scored 20+ points four times and has made 47 threes. He passed Andrew Wiggins (43) and tied Sherron Collins (47) for ninth on the all-time KU freshman three-point field goals list. …. Redshirt junior Jalen Wilson has 24 double-doubles in his career and conference-high eighth this season. Wilson has now scored 1,088 points in his career, passing Charlie Black (1,082) to move into 49th on the all-time scoring list. Wilson is No. 24 on the KU all-time career rebounds list, passing Greg Dreiling (650). Sophomore forward KJ Adams has now scored in double-figures for the 10th game in a row, after not scoring in double-figures the first seven games. … Senior Kevin McCullar has 30 steals in his last nine games.
Kellis Robinett’s prediction
No one would have blamed the oddsmakers had they thrown up their hands at this year’s first edition of the Sunflower Showdown and made it a pick ‘em.
But they decided to give Kansas (-2.5) a small edge.
That is probably a good thing for K-State, which can go back to its preferred role of hunter after playing its past two games as the highest-ranked team on the court.
K-State is off to its best start in a decade at 15-2 and the home crowd is going to be off the charts for Jerome Tang’s inaugural game against KU inside Bramlage Coliseum.
Even though the Wildcats are coming off their worst effort of the season, an 82-68 blowout loss against TCU, this is a good bounce-back spot for them. They will be focused and ready for this matchup more than any other game on the schedule. If Markquis Nowell and Keyontae Johnson combine for something in the neighborhood of 50 points and K-State limits turnovers against the Jayhawks, they can absolutely pull off an upset.
But it won’t be easy. Rowdy crowds have done little to faze KU this season. The Jayhawks have already won road games at Missouri, West Virginia and Texas Tech. They won’t be intimidated by the Octagon of Doom.
KU is also capable of beating K-State the same way that TCU did over the weekend. The Jayhawks force their opponents into turnovers on 21.6% of their possessions. Bill Self’s team has also benefited from the excellent play of forward KJ Adams in recent games.
Slowing him down inside will be a priority for the Wildcats. But they also have to worry about Gradey Dick and Jalen Wilson.
This is a tricky game to predict, as K-State will almost certainly win if it brings its “A” game. But there are more paths to victory for KU. All things considered, I give Kansas a small edge.
KU 76, K-State 73
Last game prediction: K-State 80, TCU 77
Season record: 13-4
Season record against the spread: 11-6.
Shreyas Laddha’s prediction
Read Shreyas’ full KU-K-State breakdown, here.
Not only is K-State good on both sides of the ball, but the ‘Cats come in with extra motivation. Not only did they just have their first conference loss, but they’ve lost seven straight times to the Jayhawks.
The biggest focus for Kansas’ defense should be on the dynamic duo of Johnson and Nowell, who combine for an average of more than 35 points per game. Nowell is an elite shooter and ranks second in the nation in assists per game (8.5). The recipe for success is KU’s defense limiting the duo’s impact and forcing other players to beat them.
On the offensive side, the Jayhawks’ biggest worry will be limiting turnovers. Kansas did a great job of that against Iowa State (one of the best in the nation at forcing turnovers), so the Jayhawks should be OK here.
The Jayhawks have a difficult task playing against one of their biggest rivals on the road. But if the Jayhawks have shown anything this year, they tend to show up for big conference road games.
Kansas 75, K-State 70
Season record: 8-1
Season record against the spread: 7-2
