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Just a few weeks ago, it seemed like Bruce Weber the Wildcats were starting to figure something out. After a close road loss to Alabama, K-State rode a revamped starting lineup to a tough, but hopeful, 61-53 win over Oklahoma in Bramlage. It’s all been close but no cigar since then.
Certainly going on the road to Top 25 WVU and then facing the #1 team in the land at home are going to be tough games, and losses were not unexpected. But two subsequent duds, a road loss at Iowa State and a home loss to then-last-place Oklahoma State have shaken the confidence of Wildcat fans in this team. And it’s not just the losses that hurt, it’s how they’ve happened. The Wildcats went down big early to WVU, Baylor, and Iowa State before clawing back in to the game, only to come up short in the end. In the loss to OSU, the Cats actually led early on before collapsing, and then clawing back before succumbing to defeat.
They’ve also looked flat-out bad in the last few games. Especially against the Cowboys, who came into last Tuesday’s game as statistically the worst defensive team in the Big 12, the Wildcats couldn’t break the 60-point mark and looked like they were playing against All-Stars instead of a team that’s generally struggling as much as the Wildcats.
Luckily for the Wildcats, TCU comes in to this afternoon’s game struggling almost as much as the Wildcats. This is not the same team that came to Manhattan in early January brimming with confidence. The Horned Frogs haven’t won a game in three weeks, since they upset Texas Tech in Ft. Worth, and, like the Wildcats, only have that one win in their last nine games. Desmond Bane is still a beast, but the rest of his supporting cast has disappeared of late.
So one of these purple teams will end their losing streak today, it’s just a matter of which one of them can play less-bad for 40 minutes.
We’ve got a 4:01pm CST start time for today’s game at Schollmaier Arena in Ft. Worth. Today’s game can be see on Big 12 Now on ESPN+ with Clay Matvick (play-by-play) Bryndon Manzer (analyst) 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 Stan Weber (analyst) call the game on much of the K-State Sports Radio Network,on satellite on XM 384, and also available online via the TuneIn App and at K-StateSports.com.
PROJECTED STARTING LINEUP
Kansas State Wildcats (9-15, 2-9)
G: #2 Cartier Diarra
G: #3 DaJuan Gordon
G/F: #20 Xavier Sneed
F: #23 Montavious Murphy
F: #14 Makol Mawien
TCU Horned Frogs (13-11, 4-7)
G: #1 Desmond Bane
G: #3 Francisco Farabello
G: #22 RJ Nembhard
F: #10 Diante Smith
C: #21 Kevin Samuel
Go Cats!
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