Kansas State vs Saint Louis: Open Game Thread

Things certainly haven’t gone as well as hoped for Kansas State headed into the season.

While Bruce Weber teams start notoriously slow, there was at least a reasonable expectation that a solid returning core plus a heralded freshman class would at least not make the 2019-20 season feel like a rebuilding year after losing a core that led the Wildcats to a Big 12 title at the end of the 2018-19 season. But so far, even lowered expectations have not helped make this season more palatable. And this is the time of the year when most Bruce Weber teams have suffered a total head-scratcher loss. So it could get worse before it gets better.

And the Wildcats aren’t likely to buck that trend tonight against Saint Louis. Travis Ford has the Billikens headed back towards the top of the A-10, being picked in the top-half of the preseason poll in the A-10, and sitting at 9-2 right now with their only losses so far this year on the road to 2019 NCAA Tournament teams. For normal teams, this would bode well for the Wildcats; but this team is notorious for bucking normal trends and playing flat against teams that they should beat.

The Wildcats should win tonight, but history says that the Wildcats will manage to lose this game, and look bad doing so.

Tonight’s game, scheduled for a 6:02pm CST tip, can be see on Big 12 Now on ESPN+ with Ben Boyle (play-by-play), Stan Weber (analyst), and Bridget Howard (sidelines) on the call. If you haven’t signed up for ESPN+ yet (and you can do so right here), you can listen to Wyatt Thompson (play-by-play) and Matt Walters (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 (6-4)

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

Saint Louis Billikens (9-2)

G: #1 Yuri Collins
G: #15 Demarius Jacobs
G: #0 Jordan Goodwin
F: #11 Hasahn French
F: #32 Jimmy Bell Jr.

Go Cats!

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