Kansas State at Iowa State: Open Game Thread

We pull you away from XFL football action this evening to bring you a basketball game. Seriously, if you haven’t watched any then you really should. The football has been good (not like that WWE “football” from the first go-round or the “okay-ness” of the AAF earlier this year), the rules changes are helpful, open mics let you in on both play-calling and referee decisions, and you can tune in tomorrow at 1:00pm CST to your local FOX affiliate to see Ryan Mueller, Matt McCrane and the New York Guardians take on the Tampa Bay Vipers. You’ll be glad you did.

But tonight we’ve got basketball, Kansas State basketball. The second half of the conference slate begins today, and the Wildcats take their show on the road to Ames to face an Iowa State team with an identical 9-13 (2-7 Big 12) record. Both teams have some surprising wins, both teams have head-scratching losses, and neither are where they expected to be when the season began.

Both teams will be looking to start a run similar to the 2016-17 Oklahoma State Cowboys, when Brad Underwood took his Pokes from a 2-7 start to the conference slate to a 9-9 finish and a berth in the NCAA Tournament. Of course both teams had more losses in the non-con than that OSU team, but at 16-15 overall, either team would technically qualify for the big dance — though if either team finished at 16-15, 9-9, they would likely end up in the NIT, which would be a big win for either team at this point of the season.

Ames is a tough place to play, even when the Clones are bad. And these Wildcats have not fared well away from Bramlage. So if either of these teams is going to start a winning streak tonight, it’s likely going to be the Cyclones. But maybe these Wildcats are ready to turn things around. We shall see.

We’ve got the later start tonight with an 7:05pm CST tip that can be seen on ESPN2 with Mark Neely (play-by-play) and Jon Sundvold (analyst) on the call. You might be able to stream the game via WatchESPN if you are in the correct market.

If you don’t get ESPN2, 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, and satellite radio on XM 380.

PROJECTED STARTING LINEUP

Kansas State Wildcats (9-13)

G: #4 David Sloan
G: #3 DaJuan Gordon
G/F: #20 Xavier Sneed
F: #23 Montavious Murphy
F: #14 Makol Mawien

Iowa State Cyclones (9-13)

G: #33 Tyrese Haliburton
G: #3 Tre Jackson
G: #45 Rasir Bolton
F: #12 Michael Jacobson
F: #4 George Conditt IV