Kansas State vs Florida: Big 12/SEC Challenge

Well, things didn’t exactly go to plan for your Kansas State Wildcats on their foray into Iowa earlier this week. It wasn’t all bad in the 80-76 loss, but a few things definitely stood out that need to be improved if the Wildcats want to stay at the top of the Big 12.

They’ll get a chance today to show if they worked on those things in practice this week, with a solid, if not great, Florida Gators team in Manhattan today as part of the Big 12/SEC Challenge. The Gators enter today winners of five of their last six, with a win over Missouri in Gainsville a couple weeks ago as part of that run. But they also have losses to Oklahoma and West Virginia on their resume, and the Gators have definitely not played as well on the road as at home.

But they will pose a challenge for the Wildcats especially because they are led by senior forward Colin Castleton, and the 5th-year senior is currently averaging 15 points per game and 7.6 rebounds per game. If there is one thing that the TangCats have consistently struggled with this season it’s solid interior play, and the Gators have one of the better guys in the country. But beyond Castleton, the Gators don’t exactly light things up, and if the Wildcats can play good defense, it should be an easy victory.

And that will be what we want to see from K-State as they return home. Can the Cats improve defensively, especially preventing second-chance points and grabbing a few more defensive rebounds?

Also, how will Keyontae Johnson perform against his former team, and former teammates? It’s going to be tough for him, without a doubt.

Today’s matchup is scheduled for a 5:05pm CT tip from Bramlage and will be aired on ESPN2 with Rich Hollenberg (play-by-play) and Chris Spatola (analyst) on the call. You’ll also be able to hear the game online at K-StateSports.com (and via the Varsity Network app), plus parts of the K-State Sports Radio Network and on SiriusXM 84 with Wyatt Thompson (play-by-play) and Stan Weber (analyst) calling the action over there.

Go Cats!

Hey, are you on Discord? We are now, too! Feel free to join us! (Make sure you click the reaction button on the rules notice though, or you won’t see anything.) We’ll have a game thread there as well!