#7 Kansas St. Wildcats (21-4 | 8-3) AT Oklahoma Sooners (13-12 | 4-7)
Lloyd Noble Center — Norman, Okla.
Saturday, Feb. 20, 2010 — 5:05 PM CST
ESPNU
Well, you'll all have to enjoy this one without me tonight.
That's right — I'll be attending my first Wildcat basketball game since the 2008 NCAA Tournament. Long overdue, I know.
Also, this will be the first road basketball game I've ever attended. Should be an easy baptism, considering the LNC ain't exactly the most hostile place in the Big 12.
I'll pop in from time to time today to see how you're all holding up and maybe report on some stuff from the ground, but mostly I plan to cheer my ass off, so don't expect too much out of me. Panjandrum and TB will have to hold down the fort in my absence.
For my previous analysis of the Sooners, click here. For K-State's game notes, follow the jump.
From the K-State Sports Information Department:
Kansas State (21-4, 8-3 Big 12) begins a big stretch of back-to-back road trips this weekend, when the Wildcats travel to Norman, Okla., to face Oklahoma (13-12, 4-7 Big 12) at the Lloyd Noble Center on Saturday at 5 p.m.
The squad will play three of its next four games on the road, which includes an excursion to Texas Tech (16-9, 4-7 Big 12) on Tuesday, before a showdown at No. 1 Kansas (25-1, 11-0 Big 12) on March 3.
Long-time rivals dating back to the old Missouri Valley Conference, this will be the 192nd meeting between K-State and Oklahoma in a series that has been played every year since 1920.
The Sooners, who own a 102-89 edge in the series, including a 59-24 mark at home, are one of only two Big 12 teams to hold an advantage in an all-time series against the Wildcats.
Oklahoma has won 10 of the 14 meetings in the Big 12 era, including five of the six at the Lloyd Noble Center.
The game will be broadcast nationally on ESPNU, with Clay Matvick (play-by-play) and Stephen Howard (analyst) on the call.
K-State moved further up in the Top 10 on Monday, ranking seventh in both the Associated Press and ESPN/USA Today Coaches' polls.
It marked the third time this season that the Wildcats have been ranked in the Top 10 in both polls, including the second straight week.
It is the highest AP ranking since also placing sixth on March 13, 1962, while it is the highest ranking in the coaches' poll since USA Today took over ownership of the poll in 1991-92.
It marks the first time that the program has ranked among the AP Top 15 for seven consecutive weeks since the 1961-62 squad was ranked among the AP Top 10 for 15 weeks, while the team's current 10-week stay in the AP Top 25 is the longest since the 1972-73 squad was ranked for 16 straight weeks.
The Wildcats are off to their best start in nearly 50 years with their current 21-4 record.
The mark ties for the fifth-best start in school history and the best since the 1961-62 squad finished the year at 22-3.
The team posted its 23rd 20-win season on Feb. 13, becoming the first Wildcat squad to tally 20 or more wins in four consecutive seasons.
In addition, Frank Martin became the first head coach in school history to post three 20-win seasons to start a career, while Wednesday's win over Nebraska tied him with Lon Kruger (64) for the most wins by a coach in his first three seasons.
K-State swept the season series from Nebraska for the first time since 2004 with a gutsy 91-87 win on Wednesday night at home.
After seeing a nine-point advantage evaporate in the last 1:04, senior Chris Merriewether calmly hit a pair of free throws with 26 seconds left and fellow senior Jacob Pullen made a big steal of a deflected pass with six seconds left to clinch the win.
The Wildcats were led by senior Denis Clemente and junior Dominique Sutton, who each tallied 21 points in the contest, while Pullen added 18 points and a team-high six assists.