West Virginia at Kansas State

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The Lowdown: Kansas State is coming off its biggest win of the season, a 91-75 victory at Iowa State that got the Wildcats off to a 1-0 start in Big 12 play. Following that up with a win over West Virginia would put them in terrific shape for the remainder of the conference race. West Virginia hasn?t lost since its opening game against Texas A&M and is coming off a win at Oklahoma State. The Mountaineers are looking to start Big 12 play 2-0 on the road.

K-State player to watch: Kamau Stokes. K-State?s point guard will need to play well against West Virginia?s full-court press. If he can beat that pressure and make good reads, he could pile up assists in this game.

West Virginia player to watch: Lamont West. Iowa State forced K-State?s entire front line into foul trouble on Friday. Starting forward Makol Mawien fouled out in just five minutes and the Wildcats had to switch to a small lineup. Expect West Virginia to attack the Wildcats inside, too. West could get extra looks.


K-State will have momentum and home court on its side, while West Virginia has been on the road since Thursday. If the Wildcats score at anywhere near the level they did against Iowa State they can win this game.

 

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No, WVU basketball coach Bob Huggins said, there were no New Year?s plans in place for him.

?This,? he said, ?is a business trip.?


One, that is, that?s stretched from Dec. 28 when the Mountaineers flew west for the first of two away games. And now, on Monday, while many recover from New Year?s Eve parties and watch College Football Playoff games, the Mountaineers face off against Kansas State in a 5 p.m. ET game tucked away on ESPNU.

Coincidentally, this one sets up in similar fashion to West Virginia?s league opener at Oklahoma State, a game won by the Mountaineers 85-79 on Friday.

While OSU was picked to finish last in the Big 12, yet hung tough against WVU, Wichita State and defeated now-No. 24 Florida State, this Kansas State team faces No. 7 WVU at 11-2 after being picked to finish eighth among the league?s 10 teams.

Yes, K-State?s nonconference schedule is one of the nation?s softest, but look closer and you?ll find the Wildcats defeated Vanderbilt in Nashville and then won against their last two opponents in Washington State and Iowa State.

Kansas State, in fact, pounded ISU 91-75 in its Big 12 opener at the Hilton Coliseum in Ames behind a 34-point outburst from junior forward Dean Wade.

Wade made 13 of 16 shots against the Cyclones, including 6 of 8 from three-point range. He also had seven rebounds.

Huggins said Wade looks like a different player than last year.

?They all do,? said the Mountaineer coach. ?Wade is playing really well. And yet [Barry] Brown is their leading scorer.?

Indeed, Brown, a 6-foot-3 junior guard, is leading KSU in scoring at 14.9 points. Also, Wade is but tied at No. 2 in scoring with a 14.8 average. Brown?s backcourt mate, Kamau Stokes, is also at the number.

?They have four guys averaging double figures,? Huggins pointed out.

Xavier Sneed, a 6-5 sophomore forward, is at 11.4.

?All four starters are averaging double figures,? said the coach. ?We have to do a good job on those four guys.?

It should be interesting. West Virginia (12-1, 1-0) also boasts four players averaging double digits in scoring: Jevon Carter at 17.7, Dax Miles at 14.6, Lamont West at 12.1 and James ?Beetle? Bolden at 10.9.

Also, while West Virginia entered the weekend No. 33 in scoring defense, allowing 64.6 points a game, K-State was No. 25, allowing 63.2.

In addition, while WVU was No. 3 nationally in turnovers forced, averaging 20.92 and No. 2 in turnover margin at 9.3, Kansas State was No. 22 in turnover margin at 4.5.

?They?ve done really well,? Huggins said. ?And obviously they run good offense if they have four guys in double figures.?

In K-State?s win at Iowa State, Stokes had 23 points and seven assists to go with Wade?s outburst. Brown added 21, mostly via attacking the rim.

In WVU?s win at Oklahoma State, freshman Teddy Allen had 15 points to lead a balanced Mountaineer attack that saw six players score in double figures.

West Virginia?s averaging scoring margin is plus-20.2 after 13 games. Its average rebounding margin is plus-5.7. The one area of concern, as is usually the case considering WVU?s ?Press Virginia? defensive style, is the fewest fouls statistic. The Mountaineers are No. 289 of 351 teams nationally with 274.

After the Kansas State game, WVU will have off until a 7:15 p.m. Saturday home game against No. 12 Oklahoma.