On January 9th two 0-2 Big 12 teams met in Manhattan with their seasons on the line. K-State was down 15 at the half and proceed to let WVU score the first 6 points of the 2nd half to fall down 42-21. K-State then scored the next 17 points, Barry took over with 20 in the second half, Mike added 15, and K-State began a 9 game conference winning streak. The Cats did it without Dean Wade and Cartier Diarra playing 13 minutes and scoring 0 points. Meanwhile West Virginia has lost 7 of 9 since (home wins over KU and OU), lost their best guard Beetle Bolden to injury, and booted Esa Ahmad and Wesley Harris off the team. Their last 6 losses are by double digits.
Often times games come down to match ups. Rightfully so, a lot of talk from the ISU game is their ability to make 3s and the Clones winning on the boards. Both were significant factors, but they highlighted a Cyclone strength in that they rarely turn the ball over. K-State's strength on defense has been forcing TOs, so even when teams got hot or boarded well during the winning streak, K-State could often get stops by forcing TOs and yesterday that just wasn't happening at a high rate. It was a big factor in ISU holding us off down the stretch and then pulling away the last 3-4 minutes to win easily.
WVU is a completely different team in that regard; they are worst in the league and #331 nationally for the season in offensive TO%. Much of that is WITH Beetle Bolden, and now they start 2 freshmen guards. Even without Dean and Carti, this is a huge area K-State can exploit as long as they are able to bring some energy and with Barry still in charge, I don't see that as an issue. To go along with that, WVU is a poor shooting team, (worst in 3PT%, 9th in 2PT%), though they can get oboards and do get to the FT line best in the league. Keep in mind, WVU had one of their best 3PT% games of the season in Manhattan (45%). I simply think it will be hard to WVU to score points.
Perhaps the biggest slip for WVU though is on defense. This is one of the worst defensive teams that Huggins has coached. Teams shoot it extremely well against them, especially on 2s, and they foul at an extremely high rate. They still force TOs at a decent clip, but this is hardly Press Virginia, plus K-State takes care of the ball pretty well. The Cats could have another cold night from 3, but scoring 2s and getting to the FT line should offset that.
Culver and West inside are still going to be tough for K-State to guard. Knapper has been a decent scoring guard and Harler off the bench is decent. I kept Bolden on the list because he's a solid player, but even if he tries to play he'll be far from 100%. If the Cats can keep Culver and West under control, they should be fine.
Everyone is rightfully disappointed right now, but I'm sure no one is more disappointed than the team ready to play in West Virginia tomorrow night. I simply don't see another let down coming with guys like Barry, Kam, and X still leading the way. This could be a very ugly game and a real grinder, but I simply think K-State finds a way in this one. This team has been too good in Big 12 play on the road and still has too many good players to go give one away against a bad team.
K-State 68 - WVU 59
Often times games come down to match ups. Rightfully so, a lot of talk from the ISU game is their ability to make 3s and the Clones winning on the boards. Both were significant factors, but they highlighted a Cyclone strength in that they rarely turn the ball over. K-State's strength on defense has been forcing TOs, so even when teams got hot or boarded well during the winning streak, K-State could often get stops by forcing TOs and yesterday that just wasn't happening at a high rate. It was a big factor in ISU holding us off down the stretch and then pulling away the last 3-4 minutes to win easily.
WVU is a completely different team in that regard; they are worst in the league and #331 nationally for the season in offensive TO%. Much of that is WITH Beetle Bolden, and now they start 2 freshmen guards. Even without Dean and Carti, this is a huge area K-State can exploit as long as they are able to bring some energy and with Barry still in charge, I don't see that as an issue. To go along with that, WVU is a poor shooting team, (worst in 3PT%, 9th in 2PT%), though they can get oboards and do get to the FT line best in the league. Keep in mind, WVU had one of their best 3PT% games of the season in Manhattan (45%). I simply think it will be hard to WVU to score points.
Perhaps the biggest slip for WVU though is on defense. This is one of the worst defensive teams that Huggins has coached. Teams shoot it extremely well against them, especially on 2s, and they foul at an extremely high rate. They still force TOs at a decent clip, but this is hardly Press Virginia, plus K-State takes care of the ball pretty well. The Cats could have another cold night from 3, but scoring 2s and getting to the FT line should offset that.
Culver and West inside are still going to be tough for K-State to guard. Knapper has been a decent scoring guard and Harler off the bench is decent. I kept Bolden on the list because he's a solid player, but even if he tries to play he'll be far from 100%. If the Cats can keep Culver and West under control, they should be fine.
Everyone is rightfully disappointed right now, but I'm sure no one is more disappointed than the team ready to play in West Virginia tomorrow night. I simply don't see another let down coming with guys like Barry, Kam, and X still leading the way. This could be a very ugly game and a real grinder, but I simply think K-State finds a way in this one. This team has been too good in Big 12 play on the road and still has too many good players to go give one away against a bad team.
K-State 68 - WVU 59
