No. 20 Missouri Tigers (22-6, 8-5) AT Kansas State Wildcats (19-9, 7-6)
Bramlage Coliseum — Manhattan, Kan.
Saturday, Feb. 26, 2011 — 11 AM CST
ESPN | ESPN3.com
Suspending the Unholy Alliance is not an action taken lightly.
It's tantamount to breaking the Treaty of Versailles or dissolving the Khitomer Accords.
For this day, at least, this means war, people.
Cry havoc, and let slip the Dobermans of Doom!
You can read my preview of Missouri here and Ahearn Alley's game preview here, relive our collective anger during the first game here or chat with Tiger fans at Rock M Nation.
Predictions:
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BracketCat: Kansas State 78, Missouri 75
GAMER: Kansas State 83, Missouri 77
Pomeroy: Kansas State 76, Missouri 74
Sagarin: Kansas State 75, Missouri 74
From the K-State Sports Information Department:
Kansas State (19-9, 7-6 Big 12) begins a stretch of consecutive games against ranked foes with a rare Saturday morning game, when the Wildcats will play host to a red-hot Missouri (22-6, 8-5) squad at Bramlage Coliseum at 11 a.m. CT.
K-State will make a quick turnaround with a Monday night contest at No. 5 Texas before a national audience on ESPN at 8 p.m. CT.
Both teams enter Saturday’s contest riding multiple-game winning streaks, including victories in five of their last six games, with the Wildcats the winners of three consecutive and the Tigers on a four-game streak.
The squads also are battling for one of the league’s four first-round byes at the Phillips 66 Big 12 Championship, with Missouri sitting a game ahead of K-State for the fourth and final spot, and just three conference games remaining.
Texas and Kansas (26-2, 11-2) already have claimed two of the byes, with Texas A&M (22-5, 9-4) closing in on the third one.
Saturday’s game will be broadcast nationally on ESPN, with Jon Sciambi (play-by-play) and LaPhonso Ellis (analyst) on the call.
It also will be available on Internet at ESPN3.com.
Fans can listen to the "Voice of the Wildcats," Wyatt Thompson, and analyst Stan Weber throughout the 33-station K-State Sports Network, as well as free of charge online at www.k-statesports.com.
Saturday’s contest continues a difficult stretch for Kansas State to wrap up the regular season, as the squad follows Saturday’s big tilt with a road game against league-leading No. 5 Texas (24-4, 11-1) on Monday night at Erwin Center in Austin, Texas.
The squad will conclude the regular season with a home game against Iowa State (14-14, 1-12) on March 5.
The squad has won 13 of its last 14 games in February, which included a 10-game winning streak between the 2009-10 and 2010-11 seasons.
The team is 21-8 (.724) under head coach Frank Martin in the month, including a 13-2 mark at Bramlage Coliseum.
The Wildcats have won eight in a row at home in February.
The game will mark the 233th meeting between K-State and Missouri, including the 105th in Manhattan, in a rivarly that dates back to 1907.
The series spans five different league affiliations — Missouri Valley, Big Six, Big Seven, Big Eight and Big 12.
It is the second-most played series in school history, trailing the 272 meetings with archrival Kansas.
The schools disagree on the all-time series results, with the Wildcats claiming a 116-116 tie, while the Tigers say they lead the series 117-115.
There is a dispute on the outcome of the Feb. 12, 1913, game in Manhattan, with K-State claiming a 26-25 victory and Missouri saying it won 25-24.
The Wildcats are 61-43 against the Tigers at home, including a 14-8 mark at Bramlage Coliseum.
The team has won six in a row at home in the series, dating back to 2005, while Missouri won the three previous meetings at Manhattan from 2002 to 2004.
The six-game winning streak is the longest in the series since K-State won 10 in a row from 1966-75.
The squads have split the last six meetings, with each team holding serve on its home court.
The Tigers won the first meeting Jan. 17 with a 75-59 victory at Mizzou Arena.
The squad converted 24 Wildcat turnovers into 28 points, the most against a Frank Martin team.
Missouri shot 45.5 percent from the field, including 42.1 percent from 3-point range, while K-State connected on 42.6 percent, including just 18.8 percent from 3-point range.
Senior Jacob Pullen led both teams with 16 points, while sophomore Jordan Henriquez-Roberts added 14 points.