The Utes are in their first season with Alex Jensen as head coach. Utah is off to a 9-9 start. It won its first conference game of the season on Saturday when it defeated TCU 82-79 at home. Terrence …
The Kansas State men’s basketball team will be back in action at 8 p.m. Tuesday when it hosts Utah at Bramlage Coliseum.
K-State (9-9, 0-5 Big 12) is coming off five straight losses at the start of conference play. Utah (9-9, 1-4 Big 12) is fresh off a win over TCU.
Here’s everything you need to know before tipoff:
K-State vs. Utah game details
When: 8 p.m. Tuesday
Where: Bramlage Coliseum in Manhattan
TV: CBS Sports Network
Radio: KCSP (610 AM) in Kansas City, KFH (1240 AM and 97.5 FM) in Wichita
Odds: K-State by 8.5 with an O/U of 169.5.
Probable starters
Utah (9-9, 1-4 Big 12)
- F (0) — Seydou Traore, 6-6, Jr., 8.8 ppg
- F (8) — Keanu Dawes, 6-9, Jr., 12.5
- F (32) — James Okonkwo, 6-8, Sr., 2.7
- G (2) — Terrence Brown, 6-3, Jr., 21.6
- G (3) — Don McHenry, 6-2, Sr., 18.2
Kansas State (9-9, 0-5 Big 12)
- F (21) — Khamari McGriff, 6-9, Sr., 10.2
- F (15) — Taj Manning, 6-7, Jr., 3.4
- G (34) — Nate Johnson, 6-3, Sr., 11.3
- G (1) — Abdi Bashir, 6-7, Jr., 13.2
- G (4) — PJ Haggerty, 6-4, Jr., 22.8
About Utah:
The Utes are in their first season with Alex Jensen as head coach. Utah is off to a 9-9 start. It won its first conference game of the season on Saturday when it defeated TCU 82-79 at home. Terrence Brown and Don McHenry give the Utes a potent scoring punch, as both players are averaging more than 18 points per game.
Utah is at its best from the 3-point line, where it is shooting 36% on the season. But the Utes aren’t particularly strong on defense.
About K-State:
The Wildcats are the only team in the Big 12 without a conference victory. They are 0-5 in the Big 12 for the first time since 1997.
PJ Haggerty leads the team in scoring. Abdi Bashir and Nate Johnson are next. Khamari McGriff has delivered back-to-back strong games for K-State down low, but he is continually in foul trouble. Avoiding that will be important against Utah.
CJ Jones could see extra playing time for the Wildcats while Elias Rapieque and Mobi Ikegwuruka remain out. He scored eight points as a reserve against Oklahoma State.
K-State game prediction:
This is an important week of basketball for the Wildcats.
Jerome Tang can build momentum and fan interest with home games upcoming against Utah and Kansas. The Wildcats will be favored against the Utes and Tang is 3-0 at home against the Jayhawks. A pair of wins could help some forget about an 0-5 start in Big 12 play.
First up is a home game against Utah.
On paper, this is the most winnable game remaining on the K-State schedule. The Wildcats need to take advantage.
I think they will. The Utes are due for a letdown after they won their first conference game of the season against TCU on Saturday. And the Wildcats are due for a win-at-all-costs effort as they look to end a five-game losing streak.
Furthermore, this is typically the type of matchup that K-State has excelled against this season. Utah is allowing 87.6 points per game against conference opponents. It is allowing teams to shoot 33.6% from 3-point range and 54.1% from within the arc. The Utes also rarely create turnovers on defense and struggle on the offensive glass. Perhaps best of all for K-State, Utah doesn’t usually shoot many free throws.
One more thing: Utah is 0-4 in true road games.
It’s hard to pick K-State to win right now, but the Wildcats should prevail in this game. Here’s guessing they make perimeter shots and Haggerty has a big day on their way to a home victory.
K-State 88, Utah 80
Last game prediction: Oklahoma State 89, K-State 83 ✅ (actual score: K-State 84, Oklahoma State 83)
Season record: 11-7.
Season record ATS: 7-11.
Season record O/U: 12-6.
Kellis Robinett covers Kansas State athletics for The Wichita Eagle and The Kansas City Star. A winner of more than a dozen national writing awards, he lives in Manhattan with his wife and four children.
Source: Utah News