The Wildcats open Big 12 play against a Top 25 Bearcats squad.
Hey, we’ve got a Kansas State basketball game tonight?!
You might have forgotten as well, it’s fine. We’ve missed the thread for the last couple games, but the TangCats also haven’t played in nine days, and have only played two games in the last three weeks. Very weird scheduling for sure, but maybe the breaks could help this amalgamation of basketball players that we’re calling a “team”.
And they need all the help they can get.
Sure, some rough patches were to be expected early in the season, but eleven games in it does not appear like these Cats are gelling into a team. And there’s no more time to fix things. Big 12 Conference play starts today, and there are no off nights in the Big 12….well, for K-State maybe, who is currently playing like the group that is the other team’s off-night.
In Manhattan this evening are the Bearcats of Cincinnati (10-1). They are currently ranked 17th in the nation, and are easily the best team that K-State (6-5) has played all season. K-State is coming off a horrendous 19pt loss at Wichita State, meanwhile the Bearcats have wins over Xavier and #22 Dayton, and just pasted Grambling State 84-49 just over a week ago. Their lone loss was 68-60 at Villanova — not exactly cause for too much concern for Cincy fans.
The Bearcats are led by senior forward Simas Lukošius (pronounced “See-moss Lew-koh-shiss”), who is 2-0 versus K-State in his career, including a win while he was at Butler in the 2022-23 season, and is dropping in nearly 15ppg on 42% 3pt shooting and 47% overall from the floor. Also a returning starter, Edgerrin “Jizzle” James (and yes, he is the son of that Edgerrin James) is averaging 12ppg. A new face for the Bearcats is junior transfer Dillon Mitchell, who grabbed 10 rebounds and put in 8 points against the Cats last year while playing for the Longhorns.
Unless K-State has done some serious regrouping in the last nine days, this one could get ugly in a hurry. The Cats started off strong enough against the Shockers, but decided not to play defense at all in and absolutely terrible second half. Maybe it was just the Shockers going off, but the TangCats have yet to beat a decent team this season (0-5 against Q1 & Q2), and all but two games (currently) remaining are against Q1 or Q2 opponents.
Can the TangCats compete in this one, or will they be run out of their own gym? The latter is feeling most probable, though the odds makers somehow feel this one will be close, favoring the Bearcats on the road by just 3.5 points — though the Cats have been atrocious against the spread this year.
Regardless, don’t expect a fun basketball game today.
We’ve got an 6:00pm CT tipoff for the game this evening from Bramlage Coliseum, and you can catch the action on CBS Sports Network with Chris Lewis (play-by-play) and Mike O’Donnell (analyst) on the call.
If you don’t have that in your provider package (looks like at least YTTV carries it), the game can be heard across portions of the 28-station K-State Sports Network with Wyatt Thompson (play-by-play) and Stan Weber (analyst) calling the action. The game will also be available online at K-Statesports.com and via the Varsity Network app, as well as on satellite radio on SiriusXM Ch. 382. Live stats are also available at k-statesports.com, and social media updates (@KStateMBB) will also be a part of the coverage.
Go Cats!