Kansas State vs Bradley: Open Game Thread

Well, that stinks.

It had been fairly ugly, but Kansas State had managed to start the season 4-0. And for the first time all regular season, the Wildcats started strong and held a halftime lead. Maybe that was the problem. Because the Pitt Panthers played the part of the Wildcats and came back from a halftime deficit to earn the victory. It was still an ugly game, made worse by the Wildcats inability to hit arguably one of the easiest shots in the game of basketball, but it was a game that the Wildcats should have won. They didn’t and now K-State is no longer among the unbeatens.

But fear not, for it was just the fifth game of the season, and even the best WeberCat units have dropped head-scratchers early in the season. For example, the Big 12 Champions lost last year in a miserable-looking effort in December on the road against Tulsa. Bruce Weber-coached teams start slowly, but usually don’t let one loss turn into two, at least not in the non-conference.

This evening’s contest should go better for the Wildcats. No, Pitt is not a great team, but Bradley is definitely the weakest team of the “top group” participants of the Fort Myers Tipoff. The Braves are 4-2 on the young season, but dropped their semifinal game 78-51 to an also not-great Northwestern team. It’s still not going to look pretty, and it likely won’t resemble a blow-out, but it’s a game the Wildcats should win, sending them to the Thanksgiving break with a positive end to their road trip.

Exact same set-up as yesterday, with a 5:00pm CST tip that will be aired on FS1 with Dave Ryan (play-by-play) and Bill Raftery (analyst) on the call. You might be able to stream the game via FoxSportsGo if you are in the correct market. If you don’t get FS1, or can’t access the stream, you can listen to Wyatt Thompson (play-by-play) and Stan Weber (analyst) call the game on much of the K-State Sports Radio Network and also available online via the TuneIn App and at K-StateSports.com.

PROJECTED STARTING LINEUP

Kansas State Wildcats (4-1)

G: #00 Mike McGuirl
G: #2 Cartier Diarra
G/F: #20 Xavier Sneed
F: #11 Antonio Gordon
F: #14 Makol Mawien

Bradley Braves (4-2)

G: #5 Darrell Brown
G: #0 Danya Kingsby
G: #25 Nate Kennell
F: #10 Elijah Childs
F: #12 Koch Bar

Go Cats!