The Wildcats struggled in Morgantown, can they turn the tables on the Mountaineers in Kansas City?
It wasn’t always pretty, but the Kansas State Wildcats ended up putting their foot down and pulling away late to take a 80-65 win over UCF in the Big 12 Tournament and advance to a quarterfinal matchup with West Virginia.
K-State struggled mightily in Morgantown just a couple weeks ago, coupling a cold-shooting night with 21 turnovers to fall 70-57 to the host Mountaineers. The Cats struggled with WVU’s pressure defense (which collected 13 steals among the 21 turnovers), and especially senior guard JJ Quinerly who led all scorers with 26 points. WVU is a guard-heavy team, and like K-State very veteran heavy, starting three juniors and two seniors.
Of course, West Virginia will not have the home-court advantage this time, and the T-Mobile Center should have a decidedly purple flavor to the crowd — but at worst, it will create an even environment for this game. Regardless, K-State can’t go long stretches without scoring, and the ‘Eers are far too god to give up turnovers in bunches. The MittieCats need to value the ball on offense, and even a bad shot is better than a loose-ball turnover.
K-State can win this game. K-State should win this game. But West Virginia will not make it easy. This is the kind of Quad 1 win that could push K-State back up into the realm of hosting the first-round in a couple weeks. But they have to play with high effort all game.
Keep playing like there is no tomorrow, leave it all out on the court. Just win.
We’ve got an 11:00am CT tipoff for the Big 12 Tournament game today at the T-Mobile Center in Kansas City, and you can catch the action on ESPNU with Eric Frede (play-by-play) and Christy Thomaskutty (analyst) on the call.
If you don’t get ESPNU or can’t access the stream, the game can be heard across portions of the 28-station K-State Sports Network with Brian Smoller (play-by-play) and Kristin Waller (analyst) calling the action. The game will also be available online at K-Statesports.com and via the Varsity Network app. Live stats are also available at k-statesports.com, and social media updates (@KStateWBB) will also be a part of the coverage.
Go Cats!