Plenty to play for as K-State hosts Kansas (Feb 06, 2017)
An angry Kansas Jayhawks squad travels 90 miles to the west Monday night to face a team with its own motivation in the Kansas State Wildcats.
No. 3 Kansas is fresh off a 92-89 overtime defeat at the hands of Iowa State, a defeat that ended a 54-game home winning streak. Iowa State became the first team to defeat Kansas at Allen Fieldhouse twice under head coach Bill Self. Self has lost just 10 home games in his 15 seasons at Kansas.
"It sucks, but it doesn't suck because it's the end of a winning streak," Self said after the game. "I could care less about that. I just care about our team. We actually played pretty good the first half. But they played with house money today. They came in here and played with a free mind. We told our guys they were going to come in and let it fly. And we didn't defend it."
One of the games that nearly ended the streak earlier this season was a 90-88 victory over Kansas State. With the score tied, K-State forward Dean Wade had an open 3-pointer at the top of the key in the final 10 seconds, but missed it. With both guards covered, Kansas inbounded the ball to forward Sviatoislav Mykhailiuk, who raced end-to-end for the game-winning layup at the buzzer. Kansas State fans will point to the fact that Mykhailiuk took four steps before letting go of the ball, but that just adds to the intrigue.
Rivalry aside, there's plenty to play for, for both teams. Kansas still owns a one-game lead in the conference race, thanks partly to K-State's 56-54 victory at Baylor on Saturday. Kansas is seeking to tie UCLA's record with its 13th consecutive conference championship (shared and solo).
The Jayhawks (20-3, 8-2 Big 12) are one game clear of Baylor, and two games ahead of third-place West Virginia, who also lost at home to an unranked team (Oklahoma State) on Saturday. The Jayhawks have hopes of securing another No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament, and a road victory in its most hostile road environment will certainly aid that effort.
The Wildcats (16-7, 5-5 Big 12) ended a three-game losing streak and solidified its position in most preliminary NCAA tournament brackets. ESPN's Joe Lunardi had them as one of the "last four in" in his projections before the Baylor game. CBS's Jerry Palm had the Wildcats as a 10th seed the day after Baylor.
The Cats now have victories over No. 7-ranked West Virginia and the second-ranked Bears. A win over Kansas would guarantee the Wildcats a split with each of the top three teams in the conference and three top-10 victories on the season.
The Wildcats are a balanced team, with six players averaging between 8.9 and 12.2 points per game. Barry Brown and Wesley Iwundu are at 12.2 and Kamau Stokes is at 12.1.
Kansas relies on its backcourt for most of its scoring. Frank Mason leads the Jayhawks in scoring at 20.4 points per game, followed by Josh Jackson at 16.8 and Devonte' Graham at 13.4. Only Mykhailiuk (10.9) joins them in double-figures.
