#23 Kansas State’s Big 12 Championship Hopes Goes Through Lawrence

Location: Allen Fieldhouse. Lawrence, Kansas.

Date & Time: February, 25th. 8 PM EST. ESPN

All-Time Series: Kansas Leads, 196-94.

Background Information:

Tell me if College Basketball fans have heard of this one before. The Big 12 Championship runs through Lawrence, Kansas. That has been a phrase that has been used for just about a decade and that can’t be more relatable to the Kansas State Wildcats tomorrow night. Kansas State leads the Big 12 by a game, but has a 2 game lead over the Kansas Jayhawks. Kansas has been in this situation before, but never coming off of a 29 point loss the game before.

Kansas went into Lubbock looking for a seed raising win over a very good Texas Tech team. But instead, left with their tails tucked between their legs after being thrashed by the Red Raiders, 91-62. For Kansas State, they are on the other side of the spectrum after blowing out Oklahoma State at home. Kansas State gave up just 46 points as the Wildcats had a field day with a 39 point home beatdown. Even with Kansas’s road woes, they are still the most dangerous team in the country, when in Allen Fieldhouse.

All 7 of Kansas’s losses are on the road and have been perfect at home on the season. Some say that with the crowd and the referees on their side, it’s nearly impossible to win in Allen Fieldhouse, but it has been done before. Kansas State is without Cartier Diarra , but has been healthy outside of that and has been playing some of their best basketball recently.

Dedric Lawson was the only scorer in double figures in the Texas Tech contest with just 14. Kansas is going to have to have guys like Freshman Quentin Grimes and other guards like Charlie Moore and Marcus Garrett to come off the bench and make big time contributions to the game. Kansas State is going to have to try and take the crowd out of the game early and force Kansas to feel uncomfortable. But cannot be aggressive, because if that does happen, fouls will be coming left and right and Kansas State will be in big trouble real quick.

Keys to a win for Kansas:

Field Goal Defense and the crowd. It was surprising to see that Kansas put up 62 points. It was even more surprising to see the Top 25 defense in the nation give up 91 points to the 7th best 3 point shooting team in the Big 12. Even as how good Kansas State is, I highly doubt this turns into a shootout where Kansas State reaches the 90 point mark, especially in Lawrence.

The crowd will be there so that’s not too much of an issue. But defending the 3 point line and the inside matchup of Dean Wade vs. Dedric Lawson will be a very interesting matchup to look to. 2 of the best players in the Big 12 will be going at it down lowin the paint.

Keys to a win for Kansas State:

Experience and recent shooting success. With Dean Wade back in the lineup, Kansas State looks like a completely different team and they’ve played like one ever since that awful loss to Texas A&M back in late January. Kansas State is built for a game like this due to the amount of upperclassmen and experience that all of these players have, playing together for so long.

5 of their top scorers are upperclassmen and 3 of them are seniors. It’s not as many as a mid-major powerhouse like Hofstra or Buffalo, but those 5 have played a ton of games together and know what a big time stage looks like. This will also be their 3rd or 4th time playing in Lawrence, so they know what to expect when they step onto the floor.

Final Verdict:

With a loss, this isn’t the end of the world for Kansas State as they have the tiebreaker over Texas Tech and have a one game lead over Kansas. But with a Kansas loss, they would be 3 games back of the Wildcats and are in serious danger of losing the streak. With the atmosphere and Bill Self having his players ready to go, I think Kansas will get a huge win and for yet another season, sneak their head back into the Big 12 Championship. Kansas 71, Kansas State 60.

Image Credit: https://www.si.com/college-basketball/2018/11/06/quentin-grimes-devon-dotson-kansas-michigan-state-champions-classic